(PatriotWise.com) — The Military Academy at West Point has removed from its mission statement the three words “Duty, Honor, Country,” which enjoyed renewed emphasis after Gen. Douglas MacArthur included them in his 1962 farewell speech to cadets, the Washington Times reported.
“Duty, Honor, Country,” was first established as the motto of West Point in 1898, five years before the noted World War II commander graduated from the military academy.
West Point superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland introduced the academy’s new mission statement last week, which states that academy cadets would be grounded in “US Army Values,” which include duty, loyalty, honor, respect, integrity, selfless service, and personal courage.
In a March 11 letter addressed to “The Long Gray Line” and West Point supporters, Lt. Gen. Gilland noted that the change to West Point’s mission statement was approved by Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.
However, Gilland stressed that West Point’s motto would remain “Duty, Honor, Country,” saying it was “foundational” to West Point’s culture and would “always remain our motto.”
Gilland explained that the wording of the mission statement was part of West Point’s effort to regularly assess itself. He said the change comes after 18 months of work with West Point leaders and “external stakeholders” who reviewed the academy’s mission, vision, and strategy “to serve this purpose.”
Gilland closed his letter with West Point’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.”
The change in West Point’s mission statement was first reported by the Armed Forces Press, which included information from the group The MacArthur Society of West Point Graduates.
The MacArthur Society has criticized the change, describing it as a symptom of a greater problem in the US Army.
The group argued that the “progressive ideology” that has eroded many great US institutions has also affected West Point. It warned that the country’s progressive “adversaries” were “co-opting our good intentions” through a “slow but methodical march” toward “cultural Marxism.”
Copyright 2024, PatriotWise.com
