Photo By Eric Bartelt | More than 1,250 new cadets streamed through the gates of West Point on June 26 for...... read more read more
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Every year, new cadets the size of a regiment descend upon the U.S. Military Academy to begin their 47-month journey with the ultimate goal of becoming members of the Long Gray Line. More than 1,250 new cadets streamed through the gates of West Point on June 26 for Reception Day to begin the mission at hand, which is to strive toward their personal ambitions of becoming commissioned officers.
For the new cadets in the USMA Class of 2027 to achieve success, outside of their own motivation, they need a group to direct and guide them toward their first goal of gaining acceptance into the Corps of Cadets. For that to happen, over the next six weeks of Cadet Basic Training (CBT), also known as “Beast,” these energetic newbies will be led by an enthusiastic group of cadet cadre from the USMA Classes of 2024 and 2025.
The cadet cadre during the first iteration of CBT is led by Class of 2024 Cadet and Beast commander Isabella Sullivan. Sullivan, who was a team captain for the Army West Point volleyball team during her junior season, fulfilled her goal of being named Beast commander, which she dreamed about since her own Beast experience in July 2020.
Sullivan gave much recognition to two of her cadre leaders back then for influencing her on the path she is on today – now 2nd Lts. Kersten Douglas and Evan Walker.
“I was blessed with an amazing set of cadre,” Sullivan said. “My squad leader (Douglas) when I was a new cadet really impacted how I perceived leadership from then onward. (Douglas and Walker) were amazing and both influenced me, so from then on, I knew I wanted to give back and pay that forward and come back to Beast as a leader. I’ve been so excited for this opportunity, and I’ve loved getting to work with our cadre so far.”
Sullivan is the leader of a group of 277 cadet cadre for the CBT I detail and complimented them by stating, “They’re so eager to lead our new cadets. It’s really exciting to see that.”
“What I’ve been most proud of is our cadet cadre is so committed to this detail and they’re committed to developing our new cadets,” Sullivan said. “All 277 of us arrived on day one, we were eager, and we were ready, and that’s continued for the last two weeks, which has been hard. It’s been a really intensive training detail to get ready for our new cadets.
“From 5:30 a.m. (June 26), when our first new cadets arrived, each of our cadet cadre were ready and committed to doing this for our new cadets,” she added. “Ultimately, we are serving the Class of 2027.”
Prior to the new cadets’ arrival, the cadet cadre spent two weeks training during the Leadership Training Program (LTP), which is meant to focus them on leadership training for squad and platoon-sized elements.
“The biggest thing during our leadership train-up is we were rehearsing on teaching the new cadets, so we spent a lot of time with drill and ceremony and ensuring that it’s perfected,” said Sullivan, who is an International History major. “We spent a lot of time with customs, courtesies, standards and discipline – these are things we want to model for the new cadets as we want to be the standard, so we had to revisit those things. We went back to physical readiness training, preparatory drills and some of our drill stuff that we spent a lot of our time focusing on during LTP.”
The native of San Antonio is responsible for the training and development of not only the new cadets but also the cadet cadre through the duration of the detail.
“This is a crucial and fundamental leadership opportunity for them, so over the last two weeks we’ve been rehearsing and training all the things we’re going to teach our new cadets – that’s been a major point of development for both myself and them,” Sullivan explained. “Ultimately, I’m responsible for our new cadets, all 1,258 of them, making it to the Acceptance Day Parade (in August).”
As Sullivan and the cadet cadre ramped up their training during the LTP to transition into R-Day, she said it was a good learning experience about “understanding your purpose and understanding your why,” to being an effective leader.
“Sometimes in the academic year, we have so many commitments that are all very important but we forget what drew us here to serve but also what kept us here and what is our call to serve,” Sullivan said. “The biggest thing that we’ve learned and continued to emphasize is we want each one of our cadet cadre to have purpose and meaning in all that they do, so understanding what service means to each and every one of us has been the biggest learning point for, I think, both myself and the cadre.”
Sullivan got a taste of being a leader as captain of the volleyball team during the 2022-23 season and said the last 13 months has taught her considerably on her leadership ability and it extended into this opportunity as CBT I regimental commander.
“The things that are continuously reinforced are the importance of having a growth mindset of being resilient, ensuring that all of us know that we are to be humble teammates, and just to continue to seek and find the answer to what does service mean to you and what does service mean to each and every one of our cadet cadre,” said Sullivan, who hopes to branch Military Intelligence.
While Sullivan said being a team captain didn’t help her seamlessly transition into being a CBT commander, it helped her step into the job quicker as a leader.
“What I’ve learned as a volleyball captain is to wake up every day and be a leader, to get results and to best develop the people I’m leading,” Sullivan said. “There is a need to have a sense of purpose and need to understand the why, so I was able to figure out how to fill my position to serve and what that call is for me while I’m trying to impart that upon each and every one of my cadre members as they’re about to lead at least nine new cadets, if not more (per squad/platoon).”
Sullivan gave much thanks to the Department of Military Instruction and several officers for their mentorship and support during the LTP. Nonetheless, she would be remiss if she didn’t mention the cadet cadre for their hard work through the process.
“I’m so proud of them for all the work that they’ve put in,” Sullivan said. “I’m really grateful for this experience that they’ve been able to shape. The biggest thing I want to emphasize is even though I have the title of regimental commander, there is a whole support system of people who are really carrying the brunt of the workload, and I’m grateful to all of them.”
One of the cadre members Sullivan is leading is Class of 2024 Cadet Jack Mays, who is the CBT I platoon leader for Delta Company.
Mays job entails leading his platoon’s cadre of a platoon sergeant and four squad leaders, a total of five.
“It’s our job to transition these new cadets from civilians into cadets,” said Mays, Stillwater, Oklahoma, native. “In order to do that, we need to motivate them to be better than themselves to own the mission of West Point.”
One of the renowned parts of the R-Day experience for all new cadets is reporting to the cadet in the red sash. Mays had the chance to be on the other side of the coin as a Firstie and platoon leader in dealing with the stammering and frustration that comes with the mistakes made by the new cadets when verbally reciting a phrase verbatim to receive a “go” into the CBT company.
“It’s really cool and awesome to be on the other side,” Mays said. “Three years ago, I was in the same shoes as these new cadets, and I was terrified of the cadet in the red sash. However, being on the other side now, and seeing how far I’ve come, it has enabled me to see how West Point has developed me as a leader.
“As the cadet in the red sash, it’s been really fun challenging new cadets to report 100% correctly,” he added. “I’m not accepting any failures, any mishaps, any stuttering, just them building confidence. It’s a really great way to start the detail.”
Though with the new cadets there is some trepidation, and a Delta Company new cadet did have to do remedial training and report 15 times during the course of reporting to the cadet in the red sash, but, in the end, there is a rhyme and reason to the method of the seemingly crazy madness of the situation.
“We all come from different places and different backgrounds. We have (USMA Prep Schoolers) coming in, we have people coming in from civilian military academies and we have people like me who are directs from high school, so there are a lot of different personalities and you’re able to read that with most of the new cadets,” said Mays, who is an International Relations major. “With the new cadet (who reported 15 times), it was just a confidence thing but we’re going to get him there. Some new cadets are cocky, so they’re going to be worked on to be humble.
“Everybody who comes in is very impressive that they made the academy, but now it’s a big pond and so we need to humble everybody and being humble leads to character,” he added. “However, I can still feel the pain, especially when it’s his 15th time and being discouraged, but we’ve just got to push him and push him hard (in the right direction).”
This experience as platoon leader has helped Mays continue to build his foundation and refine his skills as a leader working toward becoming a commissioned officer.
“It’s been helpful for me in terms of confidence,” said Mays, who hopes to branch Infantry in the fall. “It’s the first time at West Point that I’ve been able to go out in front of a unit and have a unit under me for a detail. Being a platoon leader was absolutely my first choice. I knew on R-Day (in 2020) that I wanted to come back and be like the cadre that I had. Being here in the red sash, it feels like it was yesterday when I was a new cadet and I’m really looking forward to the detail.”
Much like Sullivan, the two-week LTP experience prepared Mays well for CBT I as “it really got us on our feet.”
“We learned how to interact with the new cadets. We learned that it’s not all about swarming the new cadets,” Mays said. “It’s not just about completely breaking them down, but rather working as teams and one of the events during the LTP that we had was called ‘The First 100 Yards,’ which is a new thing the Army is doing where the platoons are pitted against each other in the company and they’re forced to work as a team.
“Instead of degrading the new cadets, we’re teaching them discipline and teamwork, there is no ‘I,’ there is only ‘we,’” Mays added. “The individual goes out the door as soon as he or she walks into the academy. Everyone is only as good as their unit is.”
Mays gave much praise to his regimental commander, Sullivan, and all the leaders who helped them and the work they did behind the scenes and it “wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
He also praised the group of drill sergeants who was sent to West Point to help with the training of the cadet cadre and oversee those cadets work as they lead the new cadets.
“The drill sergeants have been extremely helpful for our platoon,” Mays said. “They have not relented and pushed us very far and we wouldn’t be where we are today with these new cadets without them, and they’re going to continue to support us throughout the detail. I know that our cadets on regiment and our officers on regiment are working as hard as they can, and when there are issues, we are all human and work through that together.”
Mays gave credit to Drill Sergeant Jacob Pelletier for being a great leader in helping Mays with his own leadership skills.
“He is somebody who helps build you up, encourages and is locked in when he needs to be locked in,” Mays said. “He was disciplined when he needed to be disciplined, but also took the (drill sergeant) hat off and was humble and personal with us.”
Cadre’s own R-Day, CBT experiences and words of advice for the USMA Class of 2027
This year’s R-Day was memorable because of the constant thunderstorms and downpours that created some havoc and cancelled the ceremonial oath ceremony on The Plain at the end of the day. Conversely, members of the Class of 2024 had to deal with their own memorable scenes from R-Day as they arrived during COVID in July 2020.
Mays elaborated that one of the big differences was seeing the new cadets being dropped off by their families as he was dropped off at a hotel in New York and not accompanied by his family due to the beginning months of COVID.
“They should be really thankful for that because we didn’t all get to experience that,” he said.
Mays recalled that when he reported to the cadet in the red sash, he had a mask on and he was yelling so loud that his mask fell off, but there was a screen buffer between him and the cadet in the red sash.
“Times have changed completely. That was a very hard time for many people at the academy, but it’s shifted back and people are back on their feet now in terms of discipline and motivation,” Mays said.
One of the things Sullivan asked the CBT I company commanders the night before R-Day was “What stood out most from your R-Day experience?”
Sullivan mentioned the first impressions of the Corps of Cadets on R-Day and how that in turn impacted her class on how each one of them would lead on R-Day on June 26.
For Sullivan, she said she had a squad leader who was very strict and the best disciplinarian who was definitely hard on her and her CBT company mates.
“He was definitely hard on us on R-Day, and I was really struggling to understand something. I knew the knowledge really well and that is a point of strength for me, but I was really struggling with drill and ceremony,” Sullivan said. “He saw that I was struggling and saw I was also working hard, then he pulled me aside and he was really patient with me and really kind – I think that stood out to me and understanding the importance of balance in a leader and the importance of being flexible.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to train, instruct and inspire our new cadets, so if we can take a step back and figure out the best way to do that – we need to,” she added. “That is something that stood out to me the most that I want to continue to impart on our cadet cadre today.”
As time passes the new cadets will slowly become acclimated to West Point, but through their own experiences, Sullivan and Mays offered words of advice to the members of the Class of 2027.
“The biggest thing I learned that took me too long to learn was the importance of your mindset and to have that growth mindset, and there are going to be so many things that they have setbacks and failures with and really the way you approach them at West Point completely changes your development,” Sullivan said. “The commander’s four priorities for this detail are be resilient, be a humble teammate, selfless service and understanding what service means to you, but most importantly have a growth mindset and take everything in stride and every day we just want to get 1% better and that would make me happy as the regimental commander.”
Mays believes the one thing the new cadets should focus on is legacy and that cadets, in general, don’t think much about it.
“It is about understanding where you are,” Mays said. “As soon as you lose your hair and you step (into your CBT company), don’t forget where you are. This is the U.S. Military Academy, and the best of the best comes to this place and so not forgetting that is something I’m going to instill to my platoon about legacy. We’re going to go around to the monuments and statues and talk about the people who came before us … and our job moving forward is to be the best in the world.”
| Date Taken: | 06.29.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2023 08:52 |
| Story ID: | 448375 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 1,329 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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