Today was a historic day for West Point and the Nation. For West Point, the Class of 2014, with its 1,064 members, extends the Long Gray Line beyond 50,000 living graduates. This is the first time in history the Long Gray Line has reached this milestone. For the Nation, President Barrack Obama gave a commencement speech that made several proclamations regarding 21st century U.S. foreign policy, while at the same time defending several of his Administration’s past foreign policy decisions, namely Syria and Ukraine. This is the second time in his presidency that Obama gave the commencement address at the United States Military Academy. As he himself noted in today’s speech, much of the national landscape has changed since he last spoke at West Point. In 2009, more than 100,000 troops were still in Iraq, the surge in Afghanistan was still being planned, and the Nation was still trying to climb out of the economic crisis. Now, building on his recent announcement to remove all troops from Afghanistan by 2016, the President told the graduates from the Class of 2014, “You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.” While most of his 45-minute speech was aimed at his foreign policy critics, he did address the Class of 2014 in a few key instances. First, he challenged the graduates to lead the world, seeing it as it should be seen—“a place where the aspirations of individual human beings really matters, where hopes and not just fears govern; where the truths written into our founding documents can steer the currents of history in the direction of justice.” Then, in his conclusion, he gave the Class of 2014 his official charge: “…[to] not only to protect our country, but to do what is right and just.” Whether Obama’s policy on diminished military force lasts or not, only time will tell. But as LTG Robert L. Caslen ’75, the Military Academy’s 59th Superintendent, told the members of the Class of 2014 before the President spoke, “You have the trust and confidence of the American people.” USMA graduates always have and always will. Congratulations Class of 2014: “Forever One Team!”
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