Attribution: This list was created by LTC Jay Olejniczak ‘61. It was originally printed by our friends over at WP AOG. Jay adds: With special thanks to Larry Davis ’71, for suggesting the topic initially, and to John Downing ‘45, Gerald Richardson ’56, Howard Haupt ’57, Dick Mollicone ‘57, Bob Scully ’65, Gus Lee x-’68, Eric Jensen ‘71, Bruce Ritter ’72, Bob Jarrell ’73, Ken Westlund ’81

Read, laugh, smirk and enjoy. Add yours at the end and always remember to Beat Navy!

1. You attended the Army-Navy football game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The last game played in November was in 1983, although several games were played in early December previously, including 1982.
2. You water skied on Lake Popolopen. The Class of 1978 was the last, due to water pollution concerns (outboard motors prohibited).
3. Your Cullum Number has only four digits (the youngest grad with that distinction is in the Class of 1934).
4. You attended movies at the gym. In the mid-sixties, the movies began showing in Thayer Hall.
5. You stored your car in Thayer Hall. Until the renovations began in the late fifties, first classmen were allowed to secure their personally owned vehicles in the old riding hall.
6. You rode horses in Thayer Hall. The end of World War II saw the end of riding horses in the old riding hall, with the Class of 1948 receiving the last mandatory training with horses. The Class of 1950 apparently still had limited training available.
7. You were issued brown combat boots in Beast Barracks. The Class of 1961 was issued brown boots in Beast Barracks but had to dye them black prior to training at Camp Buckner the following summer.
8. You were issued an M-1 Garand in Beast Barracks. The Class of 1963 was the first to qualify with the M-14.
9. You were issued a Springfield rifle in Beast Barracks. The Class of 1944 received them in Beast Barracks and traded them for the M-1 Garand the following year.
10. You marched in parades and qualified with the same rifle. The Class of 1978 was the last to fire the M-14 in field training. The M-16 was then used for qualification but the M-14 was retained for parades and inspections.
11. You know what “Maggie’s Drawers” means. The use of this large, red flag to signal a complete miss on the old known distance target range terminated in the sixties.
12. You think that there are 2,240 names on Battle Monument (there are only 2,230). The wrong number was in the Bugle Notes for, as a minimum, the Classes of 1922 to 1949. From the mid-fifties onward, the correct number is given.
13. You took four semesters of a foreign language (other than English). The Class of 1980 was the last to do so. Now, however, some cadets take six semesters in certain language-related majors.
14. You had no academic electives other than a foreign language. The Class of 1958 was offered three electives in the Social Sciences, but the Class of 1961 received a full slate of choices while allowed to select only one.
15. You remember Ladycliff College. This nearby women’s college in Highland Falls closed in 1980 and granted its last degrees in 1981. West Point purchased the campus, and it is now known as Pershing Center.
16. You spent Christmas Leave at West Point as a Plebe. The Class of 1967 was the last to do so.
17. You spent Spring Leave at West Point as a Plebe. The Class of 2001 did; the following year, a Plebe Parent Weekend was substituted and the Class of 2002 was the first Plebe class to take Spring Leave.
18. You braced as a Plebe. For all year it was the Class of 1972; during Beast Barracks alone, it was the Class of 1973. Certain individuals and certain units may have extended the practice a bit.
19. You heard GEN MacArthur deliver his Duty, Honor, Country speech. If so, you were in the Classes of 1962-65.
20. Your USMA Library had turrets and spiral staircases. The Old Cadet Library was lost during the expansion of the early sixties.
21. Your USMA Library had turrets, spiral staircases, and an observatory. Although the old library survived into the sixties, the observatory was moved to the Lusk Reservoir area in 1881, courtesy of the West Shore Railroad that had dug a tunnel under the Plain for their right of way. The vibrations from the passing trains interfered with precision observations.
22. You appeared in a crowd scene in a motion picture called “The Long Gray Line.” This John Ford classic, the story of Marty Maher, was filmed at West Point in the early spring of 1954. That would be the Classes of 1954-57.
23. Your West Point ring has the eagle and helmet facing the wearer’s left. The Class of 1924 was the last to wear the incorrectly facing crest.
24. Your Mom and Dad did not have a West Point Parents Association/Club to join. The Class of 1956 was the last; the first official meeting was held in 1954.
25. Your Corps had only two regiments. The Class of 1968 was the last.
26. Your Corps had only one regiment. The Class of January 1943 was organized into two regiments, so the Class of 1942 was the last class to see a one-regiment Corps of Cadets.
27. You were issued Stetson campaign hats during Beast Barracks. The Class of 1945 was the last to receive them.
28. You learned cadet drill with eight-man squads that could execute “right by squads” and “squads left.” The Class of 1968 was the last to do so. Earlier, this 19th Century drill was phased out in 1940 in favor of the then-current Army massed formations, only to return in 1956. Why? Because the Corps of Cadets trained in the outmoded drill to appear in the motion picture The Long Gray Line in 1954 thought the drill more precise and military than standard Army drill. LTG Blackshear Bryan, who became Superintendent on 3 September 1954, agreed.
29. You graduated in fewer than four years. The Class of 1947 is the last class to have graduated in three years (World War II era). Half of this class was split off to form the Class of 1948 and graduated in four years. Otherwise, there would have been no Class of 1948.
30. You were assigned to your regular cadet company by height alone. The Class of 1960 has this honor, although some efforts were made within this restriction to equally distribute athletes, scholars and older cadets.
31. You recognize the name “Keuffel & Esser” and know what they made. The Class of 1978 was the last to have been issued these slide rules.
32. You did not receive a baccalaureate degree upon graduation. The Class of 1933 was the last to receive a diploma with no mention of a degree. Later, all living graduates from 1933 and earlier received a retroactive degree.
33. You remember Pine Camp in upstate New York.
34. You flew in a BT-13 for air observer training.
35. Your Plebe Hike included five nights in “shelter half” tents along the route.
36. You survived “Bloody Friday” during boxing.
37. You played on the clay “Corps Squad Tennis Courts.”
38. You know what a “grind” is.
39. You stood outdoor reveille formation.
40. You stayed in the same cadet company for all four years.
41. You remember the “Rock Squad.”
42. You flipped your knife for seconds in the mess hall.
43. You know what a “beno” is.
44. You know what a hop card is—and actually filled one out.
45. Your cadet battalion selected a Homecoming Queen.
46. You had no female classmates.
47. You saluted all vehicles with an officer license plate bracket, regardless of occupants.
48. You prayed before all meals.
49. You marched to mandatory chapel on Sunday.
50. Your mess hall had only three wings.
51. You marched to all meals (except Sunday breakfast).
52. All your meals were mandatory (except Sunday breakfast).
53. Cold cuts were often the main course on Sunday evenings.
54. You know what a “Band Box Review” is—and participated in one or more.
55. You know what MT&G stands for—a.k.a. “Squint and Print.”
56. You wore a tie to class every day—unless medically excused.
57. As a Plebe, you formed in Central Area to march to most classes.
58. As a Plebe, you formed on Thayer Road (“Tenth Avenue”) to march to language classes.
59. Your Computer Science class involved countless punch cards.
60. You pulled Cadet in Charge of Quarters carrying a huge key ring.
61. The West Point golf course had only nine holes.
62. You wore garters to hold up your socks.
63. You know what “P.D.A.” means.
64. You water skied at Camp Buckner.
65. Michie Stadium had no upper deck.
66. Michie Stadium had no visiting team side.
67. The Crest Room at the Hotel Thayer was your refuge on weekends.
68. You still speak of the Hotel Thayer rather than the Thayer Hotel.
69. You were issued a stamp with a four-digit number that you used to sign up for trip cash and make purchases at the Cadet Store.
70. You always could get a room in NYC at the “Pic.”
71. You met friends at the Astor Bar in NYC.
72. You rode the Alexander Hamiliton to the Army-Notre Dame game in NYC.
73. You remember the Alexander Hamilton bringing tourists to West Point.
74. You graduated with a Regular Army serial number that began with the letter “O.”
75. You climbed the hill to the Boodler’s in Bldg. 720, behind South Area.
76. Your Goat-Engineer game was played on Thanksgiving Day.
77. You rode to the Army-Navy game in trains.
78. Your Army-Navy game was played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
79. You remember beating Navy five years in a row under Coach Bob Sutton.
80. You remember beating Navy five years in a row under Coaches Biff Jones (1), Ralph Sasse (3), and Gar Davidson (1).
81. You marched in an Armed Forces Day parade in NYC.
82. Washington Monument was located near Trophy Point.
83. Thayer Monument was located in front of Washington Hall.
84. The French Monument was located on Diagonal Walk.
85. Your PX was located behind the Cemetery.
86. Busses to and from NYC stopped in front of Grant Hall.
87. Bosch taxis cost $0.25 per passenger to any place on post.
88. You remember West Point as an open post.

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