USMA IN THE NEWS

Fort Gordon pays tribute to West Point

FORT GORDON — The commandant of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point visited Fort Gordon Sunday as part of a Founder's Day celebration honoring both the graduates of West Point and the institution itself.  

Brig. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. addressed a group of about 40 fellow West Point graduates and their spouses as part of his role as keynote speaker for the event.

 "Founder's Day is an opportunity to recognize those that came before us and those that came after us," said Caslen. "It is a chance to get together with other graduates, both retired and active, to commemorate the values of what West Point stands for." 

In attendance at Sunday's formal dinner were active and retired officers that spanned more than six decades of academy graduates – from Ret. Col. Ford Fuller of the class of 1940 to 2nd Lt. Ryan Collins of the class of 2006. 

The annual celebration included a variety of good-natured contests, including an award for who in attendance graduated the highest in his or her own class, as well as who graduated the lowest. 

"There is plenty of reminiscing and story-telling," said Caslen, himself a member of the class of 1975. "It lets the next generation of leaders see what the brotherhood and sisterhood is about." 

While the dinner was a time for catching up and reliving days spent on the academy's New York grounds, Caslen also wanted to use it to assure those in attendance that the institution's values are the same as they have always been, and that they need not worry about the future of "The Long Gray Line." "We aren't compromising anything," he said. "We're still producing great officers." 

Founder's Day celebrations are held across the country at more than 300 different military societies and about 50 or so other informal gatherings of graduates, said Brig. Gen. Randolph Strong. 

"Personally, it is an opportunity for me to remember the institution that I spent four years at, and that really changed my life," said Strong. "I wouldn't be here today, I wouldn't have had the successes that I have had, if it was not for that institution."