Army Football Is a West Point Team

This one’s for all the non-Army folks out there: Someone recently said to me, ‘I bet you’re happy this year for Army—they’ve got a strong football team.’ I just laughed and shook my head. Most people don’t realize that Army Football is a West Point team, and not everyone in the Army feels connected to West Point—or is necessarily cheering them on.

I spent 30 years in the military, and during my time at West Point, I wasn’t just training cadets—it was clear we were there to serve them, and they made sure we knew it. Living at Camp Buckner (affectionately known as Camp Nasty Bridge) while the rest of West Point looked like something out of a glossy brochure only reinforced that feeling. I’ll never forget watching cadets casually walk by us at Camp Nasty to drop off their laundry while we struggled with broken-down washers and dryers that barely worked.

And being told my job was to train my future bosses? At first, I laughed—I thought it was funny. Then came the real test: a board of colonels had to sharp-shoot my qualifications to approve me to teach a class to cadets. Thankfully, I passed the review on the first try and was even recognized as the top instructor for the summer of ’93. But early in my career, it was easy to spot a West Point graduate, and I was rarely wrong about who went there and who didn’t. I’m thankful that, over the years, it’s become harder to tell.

That said, I want to make it clear that I respect Army officers who graduated from West Point. Three of my top five all-time leaders were West Point grads, and they earned that respect through their leadership. Let’s just say that when it comes to football, my enthusiasm might not always align with the Army side of the field! For me, my teams are the University of Hawaii and UCLA—I taught ROTC at UCLA and am proud to call Hawaii home. Go Bows!