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On 7 October, cadets in Patrick Query's Seminar in Advanced Literary Study (EN433), "The Arts of Work," visited the Alamo Farmworkers Community Center, in Goshen, NY. The class is studying representations of labor in literature, and the trip afforded them the opportunity to learn firsthand about the lives and working experience of the people who harvest and process the produce of the Black Dirt region. The Alamo offers a food pantry, educational and tutoring supports, clothing assistance, a lending library, a New York State Department of Labor office, and many other resources for farmworkers and their families. It is now also a partner with HRHCare Community Health, which provides discounted health services to the farmworker community. Alamo founder and Director Stash Grajewski gave the cadets a tour and explained some of the fascinating history of the center. Story

Cadets enrolled in EP343, American Literature 1, recently visited the homes of two prominent 19th Century American authors, Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving. Cadets first traveled to the Bronx, where they received a presentation by Mr. Angel Hernandez, director of the Bronx Country Historical Society’s education department, on the years Poe and his wife and mother-in-law resided in what was then the countryside outside New York City. Cadets then traveled to Tarrytown, where they toured Washington Irving’s fanciful home, Sunnyside. Visiting these two homes underscored Poe’s poverty and Irving’s success. Whereas Poe struggled to make ends meet, Irving earned a good living from the proceeds of his writing alone—the first American author to do so. Visiting these two sites helped the Cadets to gain greater understanding and appreciation of these two authors’ lives and works. Story

ANNAPOLIS, MD – After entering the individuals round of the Army-Navy Star Match all-square, the Army West Point golf team defeated the Midshipmen by a score of 6.5-4.5 to earn its fourth-straight Star over Navy. "I am so proud of the team, the guys played great today," said head coach Brian Watts. "They stayed patient and focused on their own game, and were not distracted by anything that was going on around them. They had to battle hard, but they hung on. It was one of the best team efforts I have witnessed in an Army-Navy Star Match, it was incredible.

"We knew the hole locations were going to be extremely difficult today. We discussed staying patient and that every hole would be a new opportunity. Our guys did a great job, played with heart and had a great overall attitude, while never getting down. The team got off to a good start and through nine holes we were very close, either all-square or up. On holes 10-13 we struggled a bit, but our guys hit some clutch shots and putts coming down the stretch to earn the win." Eric Peng clinched for the Black Knights on the seventeenth hole and brings the all-time series within seven at 41-34-1, in favor of the Mids. This is the fifth victory for Army in the rival's last seven meetings. Read More

WEST POINT, N.Y.– The Army West Point football team used a late scoring drive in the fourth quarter to close out a 21-14 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium. Army improves to 2-5 after the victory, while Bucknell moves to 3-3. Click here to watch the highlights. Army quarterback A.J. Schurr completed three passes for 100 yards, including a 68-yard completion to Edgar Poe for a score with 4:44 remaining in the game. Schurr also rushed 31 times for 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Poe hauled in three passes for 100 yards, Jeremy Timpf led the Black Knights' defense with six tackles and Chris Carnegie finished with an interception. Read More

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball team blanked Bucknell Saturday night, 3-0, at Gillis Field House to improve its winning streak to five in a row. The Black Knights did not drop a set all weekend with 3-0 wins over Lehigh and the Bison. Army improves to 15-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play with tonight's win.

"I am very proud of the team," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "They did an incredible job today. I thought our blocking got a lot better and we are becoming more efficient. Vanessa Wesley did a terrific job, there were some critical matchups and she did well. Our back row game was great. Amber's defense and all around game was good tonight, she stepped up for us. We are still taking it one game at a time, but we are happy with where we are right now."

Vanessa Wesley led the Black Knights with 14 kills and four block assists. Nicole Perri and Carolyn Bockrath tallied 10 kills each in the win, while Vanessa Edwards recorded 31 assists. Defensively, Amber Clay led Army with 24 digs. Read More

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Competing in the final tune up before the ITA Regionals next weekend, the Army West Point women's tennis team posted a dominant performance at the Patriot League Kickoff, hosted by Lehigh over the weekend. Army competed in a series of duals against Colgate, Lehigh and Lafayette, earning a total of 10 doubles victories and 19 singles wins.

Against Colgate, the Black Knights captured all but one victory, sweeping doubles action and earning six solo wins. Carolyn Pitman and Eva Sung teamed up for a 6-2 win over Jen Ho and Lauren Hyland, while Nancy Porter and Julian Mok earned a 6-3. Bridget Guenard and Allyson Hayley captured a 6-1 win over Nicole Szczech and Cheyenne Brown and Leslie Frankland and Caroline Lorenzini walked away with a 6-2 victory. Read More

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point sprint football team etched its name in the record books after a 24-point shutout victory over Franklin Pierce at Sodexo Field Saturday afternoon. The win marks the first time in the program's 58-year history that the Black Knights (5-0, 5-0 CSFL) have started a season with five consecutive shutouts. The previous record was set in the program's second season in 1958 when the Black Knights notched four consecutive shutouts.

"I'm really proud of the team for getting our fifth win and fourth on the road of the year," said head coach Mark West. "It's been a tough road trip, and this was the longest of the four games. I'm proud of how we hung tough today. Defensively, to get another shutout and to set a school record is something special. Franklin Pierce had a pretty good offense. Their quarterback is a gamer and scrambled well all day. Our defensive backs did a great job plastering the receivers when they got the ball."

The defensive was able to prevent the opposition from gaining anything on the ground for the third time this season as Franklin Pierce (2-3, 2-3 CSFL) netted -31 rushing yards. Forcing the Falcons to use their passing game played right into the hands' of Army's speedy defensive backs and relentless front. The Black Knights recorded seven sacks as a team, including three from senior defensive lineman Philip Choi who is among the league-leaders in the category. They also earned seven turnovers with three fumbles and four interceptions. Full Story»

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Clinching two critical points during the Army West Point golf team's Star Match win has earned cow Peter Kim the title of Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week. Kim was one of two Army West Point golfers to win both his four-ball and individual matches, which propelled the Black Knights to win 6.5-4.5 over the Midshipmen. This was Army's fourth-straight win over Navy. During four-ball, Kim was partnered with plebe Nick Turner. The two defeated the pair of Midshipmen 2 up with a birdie on the 18th hole. In the individual round, the Metuchen, N.J., native, defeated his opponent on the 16th hole, 4-and-2. The golf team will participate in its last event of the fall Oct. 23-25 in El Paso, Texas, at the UTEP Invitational. Read More

After leading the Army West Point volleyball team in a pair of sweeps last weekend, Vanessa Wesley has been tabbed the Patriot League Athlete of the Week, it was announced by the conference Monday. We are very proud of Vanessa Wesley," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "She works hard and has improved a lot this season. What is impressive about Vanessa is that she is a great student of the game. She can tell you exactly what the opponent is trying to achieve and has started to own the net and that includes both attacking and blocking. Vanessa picks up information quickly and is very coachable. Her work ethic is outstanding. If she continues to work like she is now, the sky is the limit for her." The middle blocker led the Black Knights in kills and blocks against Patriot League foes Lehigh and Bucknell this past weekend. Wesley tallied 13 kills against the Mountain Hawks to average 4.33 per set. She also added two solo and one assisted block. Read More

Arabic: In the first week of October, Arabic major Nicole Carter and Political science major Andrew Park traveled to the Zawiyat Ahansal region of Morocco, to speak with Cloe Erickson, the founder of the Atlas Cultural Foundation. This American non-governmental organization is working to develop the region by collaborating with local Moroccans in the realms of public health, cultural preservation, and education. As a part the excursion, Cadets Park and Carter taught English to local to local school children. Cadets Carter and Park are Semester Abroad students at the American-Middle East Educational and Training Services' (AMIDEAST) intensive Arabic program.

Cadets attending the French Military Academy at St Cyr participated in a trip section to Paris, where they were able to experience some of the traditions of St-Cyr. They attended a promotion ceremony for the first year cadets and participated in a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. They were also given a tour of L’Hotel des Invalides and participated in a formal dinner with other international cadets. Earlier in the week, the cadets participated in a weapons qualification course at St Cyr in order to familiarize themselves with the French FAMAS rifle.

Cadets studying abroad (SAP) in Hamburg, Germany met with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges ’80 and the current Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR). LTG Hodges provided a briefing at the Helmut Schmidt University (German Armed Forces University in Hamburg) on NATO security in Europe, the threat of Russian aggression, and the current immigration situation for the European Union. Following the briefing, USMA cadets had the opportunity to meet with LTG Hodges in the university’s Officer's Club to discuss European issues in depth.

The Robotics Lab at West Point would like to make a general announcement of some upcoming initiatives of the Unmanned Systems Working Group (USWG). Currently there are two pilots ongoing in DEP and Math. LTC Mike Saxon, the PY201 course director, is piloting a three-lesson robotics laboratory that explores the intersection of ethics, law of war, robotics, and AI. After completing the course's formal instruction on ethics in war, often described as the jus in bello, cadets will form into teams and be responsible for examining and improving the algorithms and performance of a small, camera-enabled robot on the "battlefield," given requirements for military utility, discrimination and non-combatant immunity, and proportionality.

In D/Math, Dr. Frank Wattenberg is conducting a pilot project with one section of MA103. The purpose is to get some experience with Robotics and Artificial Intelligence as an interdisciplinary theme across the 47 month USMA experience. This is in addition to the normal content of MA103. Cadets were each given a "personal robotics laboratory" and are experimenting with building and programming a simple robot based on the Arduino Uno board and the Parallax BOE Robot kit. The section has already had one very stimulating discussion on autonomous weapons systems and the Law of Armed Conflict lead by Dr. Robert Goldstein from D/Law. The next discussion will be led by CPT Kyle Greenberg from SOSH on the economic and social impact of previous advances in automation. The culminating term end event will be the IROC -- Indoor Robot Obstacle Course.

On Wednesday, 2 OCT 2015 Environmental Science majors from the Class of 2016 visited the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) in New Salem, NY as part of their EV471 Ecology field trip. The WCC was established to promote wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future. The WCC accomplishes their mission through on-site and off-site education programs emphasizing wolf biology, the ecological benefits of wolves and other large predators, and the current status of wolf recovery in the United States. Environmental Science majors were exposed to wolf biology, habitat requirements, and issues for and against the reintroduction of wolves.

On 13 October, 2015, approximately 60 cadets turned out for October’s installation of “Trivia Night at the Firstie.” As always, questions came from four categories: general history, history of sports, history of arts and entertainment, and history of science and technology. Competition was fierce, but team “Dregs of Society” prevailed in the end, winning $100 of gift certificates provided by DCA.

On Wednesday, 07 OCT, the History Department hosted a screening of the French movie Capitaine Conan for interested cadets, faculty, and guests. Based on the eponymous book by World War I veteran Roger Vercel, the movie examines the struggles French soldiers faced following the end of the Great War, as they transition to a garrison environment while waiting to be demobilized following an extended campaign on the Salonikan Front, located in northern Greece. Capitaine Conan is particularly valuable as a case study in leadership, presenting a wide spectrum of command styles, from the weary dedication to duty and earnest morality of the main protagonist, Lieutenant Norbert, to the ruthless ferocity and uncompromising loyalty of his best friend—the title character, Conan.

Following the screening, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions of a diverse panel of faculty and cadets. MAJ (P) Andrew Visser and CDT Joshua Johnstone (Class of 2016), from the Department of History’s International History Division, provided context for this little-known theater of operations in World War I. LTC Andrew Hagemaster, head of the Center for Professional Development, examined the French soldiers’ adaptation to a peacetime environment, focusing particularly on combat stress and PTSD. CPT Ky Fehlbaum and CDT Kevin Fidler ‘16, from the Department of Foreign Languages, analyzed the discrepancies between the English subtitles and the French script to shed additional light on key plot points. CDT Emily Speziale ’16, from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, illuminated the difficulty of identifying ideal leadership characteristics, pointing out that different situations emphasized the need for radically different attributes. CDT Alex Duffy ’16, from the Department of Strategic Studies, studied the challenges posed by special operations, as evidenced by the violent and even criminal behavior of Conan and his “free corps” of battle-hardened veterans following the armistice. Finally, CDT Bryan-Matthew McKeen ‘15, of the Department of English and Philosophy, addressed the conflict between loyalty, morality and professional ethics, admitting that Conan’s commitment to his troops resonated with him before acknowledging the slippery slope of covering for one’s subordinates no matter the infractions they committed.

US District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff visited with cadets in the Constitutional and Military Law course taught by Department of Law Asst. Professor and Constitutional Law Chair, Tony DiSarro.

Judge Rakoff was appointed to the federal bench by President Clinton in 2000 and is a leading authority on white collar criminal law and corporate sentencing. Prior to his appointment, he practiced criminal law as both a federal prosecutor and a defense attorney. He also teaches criminal law topics at Columbia Law School. Judge Rakoff discussed the Self-incrimination Clause and the 5th Amendment.

On Tuesday October 6, 2015, Dr. Edray H. Goins visited the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He presented the inaugural talk of Minorities in Mathematics Speaker Series. Over sixty cadets attended his talk on ‘Fuchsian Differential Equations with Prescribed Monodromy: An Introduction to Solving a Quintic Without Using Radicals’.

Dr. Goins grew up in South Los Angeles, California. The product of the Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) public school system, he attended the California Institute of Technology, where he majored in mathematics and physics, and earned his doctorate in mathematics from Stanford University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He works in the field of number theory, as it pertains to the intersection of representation theory and algebraic geometry.

WORCESTER, MA – The Army West Point volleyball team improved its winning streak to six-straight with a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross on the evening of 10-20. Army improves to 16-6 on the season, and holds an 8-1 record in Patriot League matches. Three Black Knights recorded double-doubles in the win. Nicole Perri led the offense with 18 kills and a career-high 14 digs. Amber Clay chipped in 17 kills and 14 digs and Vanessa Edwards recorded 55 assists and 12 digs. Olivia Fairfield added nine kills, while Carolyn Bockrath tallied eight. Vanessa Edwards recorded 55 assists and 12 digs for a double-double. Ellie Petersen led the defense with 16 digs. Read More