US Army At West Point Removes ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ From Mission Statement

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, decided this week they will officially be making a change to their mission statement, removing their longstanding three words – “Duty, Honor, Country” – from their motto, and replaced with much more broader and vague terminology.

The original statement read: “To educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.”

But on March 11th Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland announced in a press release the changes that will be made. He wrote in an one-page letter:

To the Long Gray Line and all USMA Supporters:

Duty, Honor, Country is foundational to the United States Military Academy’s culture and will always remain our motto. It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point. These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history.

Our responsibility to produce leaders to fight and win our nation’s wars requires us to assess ourselves regularly. Thus, over the past year and a half, working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders, we reviewed our vision, mission, and strategy to serve this purpose. We believe our mission binds the Academy to the Army – the Army in which our cadets will serve…