U.S. Military Academy

The United States Military Academy (USMA), alternately known as “West Point,” is the oldest federal military academy in the United States, founded in 1802 during the first administration of President Thomas Jefferson. The military post here, located on the “West Point” of the Hudson River in the Hudson Highlands of New York, is the longest active-serving cantonment in the U.S. Army, having been continuously garrisoned since the War for Independence. West Point trains only approximately 20% of the junior officers commissioned annually, but the academy plays a disproportionate role in training future officers who emerge as the nation’s senior military officers. West Point enrolls about 4,400 cadets drawn from all 50 states and a number of foreign countries. Although historically a rigid color bar limited ...