Return to Pointer View home page July 1,  2005

Combat vet set to tackle West Point

With battlefield experience and prep school knowledge new cadet feels he is ready to face the future 

Story and photos by Eric S. Bartelt
Senior Staff Writer

New cadet A. J. Pulaski stands in front of the Soldiers Memorial here.  Pulaski, who entered the U.S. Military Academy Monday as a member of the Class of 2009, arrived here from the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School in Fort Monmouth, N.J. He is a combat veteran of two tours in Iraq.

One hundred eighty-five cadet candidates arrived here Monday from the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, N.J. , to take part in Reception Day for the Class of 2009.

Of the 185 new cadets from USMAPS, 19 are combat veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq or both.

Add to that the 11 direct admits from the field and you have 30 combat veterans in the Class of 2009.

A.J. Pulaski is a combat veteran of two tours in Iraq , first with the 173rd Airborne Brigade out of Italy and then with 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. Now he’s at West Point as a new cadet.

Pulaski, who will turn 23 in two weeks, knew coming to West Point was an opportunity too good to pass up. And, he added, his decision was influenced by his friendship with a U.S. Military Academy graduate.

“My platoon leader, 1st Lt. David Bernstein, was an extremely smart guy and we jumped into Iraq with the 173rd Airborne Brigade,” Pulaski said. “Sitting around in Iraq , we always talked about my wanting to go to school and he said I should think about West Point and he recommended it to me.”

Bernstein (who was killed October 18, 2003 when his platoon was ambushed) and Pulaski parachuted into Iraq three days after the war started.

“We flew out of Aviano AFB in Italy March 26, 2003 and, at 1 a.m., jumped into Bashar Airfield,” Pulaski said. “We seized and secured the airfield so we could fly C-17s and C-5s for the next three weeks to bring in tanks, supplies to open the northern front.”

A forward observer, Pulaski spent seven months in Iraq on his first mission and then another five months during his second tour with the 2-504th PIR. The former sergeant has felt the stresses of war and suffered through the pain of deaths among good friends during his 5 1/2 years in the Army.

New cadet A. J. Pulaski (front) stands at ease with the other Prep School members who arrived at West Point this week for Reception Day. There are 30 combat veterans in the Class of 2009, including Pulaski.

“Once I got back to Italy , I left early to go to Fort Bragg ,” he said. “My roommate who I shared an apartment with in Italy was killed the week after I left Iraq .

“He had turned 20 just four days before he got killed,” Pulaski continued. “It was sad to pack all his stuff and call his parents to send it home.”

His second experience in Iraq , he said, was as different as night and day. He was stationed in Baghdad , south of the green zone.

“It was a horrible, horrible place, there were IEDs every day, we lost many great guys, it was much worse than the first time I was there,” Pulaski said. “Our mission for five months was to perform combat operations and raids, but also to rebuild the community.”

Pulaski said his second experience in Iraq was a real eye-opener and that the new cadets should take their time at West Point seriously.

“They should realize they’ll probably be deploying in four years, it’s almost certain, especially coming out of here,” Pulaski said. “The best thing to do is prepare for it and take it seriously because this will be their only experience before they get deployed as second lieutenants.”

Pulaski is the son of Marine officers, his dad was force recon and mom was a backseat fighter pilot. He grew up in Hawaii and then lived in Singapore for seven years until he was 17.

He felt the USMAPS offered a great chance for him to succeed academically at West Point . While he said he knows many of the new cadets might be smarter than he is, he also feels he benefits from his military experience.

“If I applied to West Point without having my Army background, I seriously doubt I would have gotten in, I’m not the smartest guy,” Pulaski said. “I’m glad I went to the Prep School because it gave me some insight to how things work here.”