Superintendent of the United States Military Academy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Logo of the Military Academy

The superintendent of the United States Military Academy is the academy's commanding officer. This position is roughly equivalent to the

president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is, by tradition, a graduate of the United States Military Academy
, commonly known as "West Point". However, this is not an official requirement for the position.

The

John McAllister Schofield, John Moulder Wilson. The post is now a terminal assignment in the Army; as a condition for detail to the position, officers are required by law to acknowledge that they will retire at the end of their appointment.[1] This formulation was meant to secure the independence of superintendents from unlawful command influence; however, in practice the resulting "lame duck" status restricts their power and influence in the Army.[2] Since 2010, the army has considered reverting to the previous system or recalling a retired officer to fill the post.[2] The mandatory retirement precedent was not followed when Darryl A. Williams was nominated in June 2022 to serve as Commanding General, United States Army Europe and Africa.[3]

The billet carries the rank of lieutenant general, and is not counted against the Army's statutory limit on the number of active-duty officers above the rank of major general. For example, General Andrew Goodpaster originally retired from active duty as a full general, was recalled to assume the superintendency as a lieutenant general, and reverted to his four-star rank upon his second retirement.

Superintendents

Note: "Class year" refers to the alumnus's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early.
A "—" in the class year column indicates a superintendent who is not an alumnus of the academy.
# Start End Name Class year Notability References
1 1801 1803 Jonathan Williams  —
Fourteenth United States Congress
in 1815 		[4][5][6]
(acting) 1803 1805
Decius Wadsworth
 		 — Colonel; appointed 1st Chief of Ordnance in 1812; invented Wadsworth's cipher in 1817 [7][8][9]
2 1805 1812 Jonathan Williams  —
Fourteenth United States Congress
in 1815 		[4][6]
3 1812 1814 Joseph Gardner Swift 1802
Chief of Engineers
 [a][6]
4 1814 1817 Alden Partridge 1806
Captain; served as Acting Superintendent and Professor of Engineering; his administration was regarded as unsatisfactory and negligent to duties; when Sylvanus Thayer was appointed, Partridge refused to relinquish command and was court-martialed; he was sentenced to be cashiered
in November 1817, and resigned from the Army in April 1818 		[a][10]
5 1817 1833 Sylvanus Thayer 1808 Brigadier general; "Father of West Point"; emphasized engineering; founded engineering schools; helped found the Academy's Association of Graduates; Sylvanus Thayer Award created by the Academy in his honor [a][11][12]
6 1833 1838 René Edward De Russy 1812 Brigadier general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][13]
7 1838 1845 Richard Delafield 1818
Chief of Engineers; American Civil War
veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents 		[a][6]
8 1845 1852 Henry Brewerton 1819 Brigadier general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][14]
9 1852 1855 Robert E. Lee 1829 Colonel USA; graduated second in his class at the Academy, without demerits; son George Washington Custis Lee, class of 1854, graduated first in class; served in Confederate States Army ( 1861–1865); President, Washington and Lee University (1865–70) [a][15]
10 1855 1856
John Gross Barnard
 		1833 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][16]
11 1856 1861 Richard Delafield 1818
Chief of Engineers; Union Army
veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents 		[a][6]
12 1861 1861
Pierre Gustave Toutant (P.G.T.) Beauregard
 		1838
Fort Sumter, South Carolina that started the Civil War
 [a][17]
13 1861 1861 Richard Delafield 1818
Chief of Engineers; Union Army
veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents 		[a][6]
14 1861 1864 Alexander Hamilton Bowman 1825 Lieutenant Colonel; military engineer; son Charles Stuart Bowman graduated from the Academy, class of 1860 [a][18]
15 1864 1864 Zealous Bates Tower 1841 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][19]
16 1864 1866 George Washington Cullum 1833 Brigadier general; military engineer; wrote Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1891 and developed the Cullum number system [a][20]
17 1866 1871 Thomas Gamble Pitcher 1845
Battle of Harper's Ferry, Mexican–American War, and the Civil War
 [a][21]
18 1871 1876 Thomas H. Ruger 1854
military Governor of Georgia
(1868) 		[a][22]
19 1876 1881
John McAllister Schofield
 		1853 Lieutenant general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Wilson's Creek; Superintendent of the Academy (1876–81); Commanding General of the United States Army (1888–95) [a][23]
20 1881 1882
Oliver Otis Howard
 		1854
Nez Perce tribe; founder of Howard University
 [a][24]
21 1882 1887 Wesley Merritt 1860 Major general; veteran of the Civil War and Spanish–American War; first Military Governor of the Philippines [a][23]
22 1887 1889 John Parke 1849 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][25]
23 1889 1893 John Moulder Wilson 1860
Chief of Engineers
(1897–1901) 		[a][6]
24 1893 1898 Oswald Herbert Ernst 1864 Major general; military engineer; Union Army and Spanish–American War veteran [a][26]
25 1898 1906 Albert Leopold Mills 1879
First Lieutenant to Colonel
 [a][27][28]
26 1906 1910 Hugh L. Scott 1876 Major general; learned to speak many western Native American languages; Chief of Staff of the Army (1914–17) [a][29]
27 1910 1912 Thomas Henry Barry 1877
Indian Wars, China Relief Expedition, and Philippine–American War
 [a][30]
28 1912 1916 Clarence Page Townsley 1881 Major general; coastal artillery officer; commanded 30th Infantry Division during World War I [a][31]
29 1916 1917
John Biddle
 		1881 Major general; military engineer; World War I veteran [a][32]
30 1917 1919 Samuel Escue Tillman 1869
Brigadier general; recalled from retirement during World War I
to serve as superintendent; refused to add military aviation to the curriculum; instructor at the Academy for more than 30 years; author of numerous books on chemistry and geology 		[a][33]
31 1919 1922 Douglas MacArthur 1903
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan; Korean War; grandson of Wisconsin Governor Arthur MacArthur Sr.; son of Lieutenant General and Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur Jr.
 [a][34][35]
32 1922 1925 Fred Winchester Sladen 1890 Major general; Superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument (1931–32) [a][36]
33 1926 1927 Merch Bradt Stewart 1896 Brigadier general; infantry officer; Spanish–American War veteran; commander 175th Infantry Brigade during World War I [a][37]
34 1927 1928
Edwin Baruch Winans
 		1891 Major general; instructor at military schools; commended for leadership of the 10th Cavalry Regiment [a][38]
35 1929 1932 William Ruthven Smith 1892 Major general; artillery and infantry officer; commanded 36th Infantry Division during World War I [a][39]
36 1932 1938 William Durward Connor 1897 Major general; awarded two Silver Stars; Commandant of Army War College [a]
37 1938 1940 Jay Leland Benedict 1904 Major general; artillery and staff officer; Army General Staff during World War II [a][40]
38 1940 1942 Robert L. Eichelberger 1909
Eighth United States Army in World War II
 [a][41]
39 1942 1945 Francis Bowditch Wilby 1905
First United States Army
(1939–41) 		[a][42]
40 1945 1949
Maxwell Davenport Taylor
 		1922
United States Ambassador to South Vietnam
(1964–65) 		[a][43]
41 1949 1951 Bryant Edward Moore August 1917 General; commanded 8th Infantry Division killed in a helicopter crash on 24 February 1951 while commanding the IX Corps during the Korean War [a][44]
42 1951 1954 Frederick Augustus Irving April 1917 Major general; commander 24th Infantry Division during World War II [a][45]
43 1954 1956 Blackshear M. Bryan 1922
First United States Army
(1957–60); his son, Blackshear M. Bryan Jr., class of 1954, was killed in Vietnam 		[a][46]
44 1956 1960 Garrison H. Davidson 1927 Lieutenant general; Academy football coach (1933–37); combat engineer during World War II and the Korean War; helped construct The Pentagon [a][47]
45 1960 1963 William Westmoreland 1936 General; Distinguished Eagle Scout; given the Pershing Sword for the most able cadet upon graduation from the Academy; commander 101st Airborne Division; commander Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (1964–68); Chief of Staff of the Army (1968–72) [a][48]
46 1963 1966 James Benjamin Lampert 1936 Lieutenant general; combat engineer during World War II; early pioneer of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, served as General Leslie Groves' executive officer as part of the Manhattan Project after World War II; his father, James G. B. Lampert, class of 1910 was killed in World War I [a][49]
47 1966 1969 Donald V. Bennett 1940 General; Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (1969–72); commander United States Army Pacific (1972–74) [a][50]
48 1969 1970
Samuel William Koster
 		1942
My Lai Massacre
 [a][51]
49 1970 1974 William Allen Knowlton January 1943 General; World War II and Vietnam War veteran; his daughter married General David Petraeus who was a cadet while Knowlton was Superintendent; Chief of Staff for United States European Command (1974–76) [a][52]
50 1974 1977 Sidney Bryan Berry 1948 Lieutenant general; Korean and Vietnam War veteran, wounded twice in Vietnam; Superintendent during the time women were first admitted to the Academy; Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Mississippi (1980–84) [a][53]
51 1977 1981 Andrew Jackson Goodpaster 1939
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (1969–74); Commander in Chief of the United States European Command
(CINCEUR) (1969–74); retired then became Superintendent, then retired a second time 		[a][54]
52 1981 1986 Willard Warren Scott Jr. 1948 Lieutenant general; commander 25th Infantry Division (1976–78); commander V Corps (1980–81) [a][55]
53 1986 1991 Dave Richard Palmer 1956 Lieutenant general; military historian; instructor at the Academy and the Vietnamese National Military Academy [56]
54 1991 1996 Howard D. Graves 1961
Lieutenant general; Rhodes Scholar; military engineer; Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System
(1999–2003) 		[57]
55 1996 2001 Daniel William Christman 1965
U.S. Chamber of Commerce; four-time recipient of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal
. 		[58]
56 2001 2006 William James Lennox Jr. 1971
Eighth United States Army; doctorate in literature from Princeton University
 [59]
57 2006 2010 Franklin Lee Hagenbeck 1971
10th Mountain Division
(2001–03) 		[60]
58 2010 2013 David H. Huntoon 1973
Lieutenant general
; Director of the Army Staff; Former Commandant of the U.S. Army War College 		[61]
59 2013 2018 Robert L. Caslen 1975
Lieutenant general
; chief of staff for Combined Joint Task Force-180 (CJTF-180) in Afghanistan from May through September 2002; Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation for Iraq 		[62]
60 2018 2022 Darryl A. Williams 1983
Lieutenant general
; Managed U.S. response to the West African Ebola virus epidemic in 2016; Commander of NATO Allied Land Command (2016–2018); First black superintendent in the academy's history; Commanding General of United States Army Europe and Africa (2022–present) 		[63]
61 2022 Steven W. Gilland 1990
Lieutenant general; Academy's commandant of cadets (2017–2019), Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division
(2019–2021) 		[64]
Jonathan Williams (1801–03), (1805–12)
Joseph Swift (1812–14)
Sylvanus Thayer (1817–1833)
Robert E. Lee (1852–55)
Richard Delafield (1856–61)
George Cullum (1864–66)
John Schofield (1876–81)
Douglas MacArthur (1919–22)
Maxwell Taylor (1945–49)
Garrison Davidson (1956–60)
William Westmoreland (1960–63)
Andrew Goodpaster (1977–81)
Daniel Christman (1996–2001)
Franklin Hagenbeck (2006–10)
Darryl Williams (2018–2022)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Superintendents of the United States Military Academy.

References

General

^ a: Special Collections: Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy. West Point, NY: United States Military Academy Library. 1950.

Inline citations
  1. ^ Dwyer, Jim (3 January 2009). "Willard W. Scott Jr. Is Dead at 82; Led West Point Through Change". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b Chambers, William A. Project Leader (December 2014). "Review of the Roles, Selection, and Evaluation of Superintendents of Military Service Academies" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  3. ^ Judson, Jen (3 June 2022). "West Point superintendent slated to lead US Army Europe and Africa". Army Times. Tysons, VA.
  4. ^ a b "Williams, Jonathan, (1750–1815)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Williams, Jonathan Mss". Lilly Library Manuscript Collections. Indiana University. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Commanders of the Corps of Engineers". United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
  7. ^ Cohen, Fred (1995). "A Short History of Cryptography". Fred Cohen & Associates. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  8. ISBN 0-8018-6293-0
    . Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  9. ISBN 0-7006-1294-7
    .
  10. ^ "Alden Partridge". United States Military Academy. 31 January 2002. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Sylvanus Thayer (1785–1872) Class Of 1808". West Point in the Making of America. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  12. ^ "The Sylvanus Thayer Award". West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  13. ^ "Civil War Defenses of Washington". National Park Service. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  14. ISBN 0-8129-1726-X
    .
  15. ^ Freeman, Douglas S. (1934). R.E. Lee, A Biography. New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 301, 375–95, 425, 476, 602. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  16. ^ "Civil War Defenses of Washington". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  17. ISBN 0-8071-1974-1
    .
  18. ^ Johnson, Frederick Charles (1889). The Historical Record. Vol. 3. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: Press of the Wilkes-Barre Record. pp. 111–112. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  19. ^ "Zealous Bates Tower". Aztec Club. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  20. ^ "Culllum Society". West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  21. ^ "Thomas Gamble Pitcher". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  22. ^ "Georgia Governors' Gravesites Field Guide, 1776–2003" (PDF). Georgia Historic Preservation Division. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  23. ^
    ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
    .
  24. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients, Civil War (A–L)". Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  25. ^ "Col. John G. Parke" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 December 1900. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  26. ^ Leonard, John W.; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1913). Who's who in America. Vol. III. Chicago, IL: A.N. Marquis & Co. pp. 655–656. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  27. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients War With Spain". Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  28. ^ "Gen. A.L. Mills, Ill 12 Hours, Dies" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  29. ^ "Hugh Lenox Scott". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  30. ^ "General T.H. Barry Dies in Washington" (PDF). The New York Times. 31 December 1919. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  31. ^ "Past USMA & WPAOG Leadership". West Point Association of Graduates. Retrieved 25 April 2009.[permanent dead link]
  32. ^ "Col. Biddle To West Point". The New York Times. 18 May 1916. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  33. ^ "Tillman, Samuel Escue". The Mineralogical Record. 2009. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  34. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (M-S)". Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  35. ^ Thompson, Paul (24 July 2005). "Douglas MacArthur: Born to Be a Soldier". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  36. ISBN 0-8061-2973-5
    . Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  37. ^ "At West Point". Time. 17 October 1927.
  38. ^ "Major General Edwin B. Winans". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  39. ^ "Smith, William Ruthven". Texas State Historical Association. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  40. ^ "Jay Leland Benedict". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  41. ^ "Robert Lawrence Eichelberger". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  42. ^ "Gen. Francis B. Wilby, 82, Dies; Headed West Point During War". The New York Times. 21 November 1965.
  43. ^ Krebs, Albin (21 April 1987). "Maxwell D. Taylor, Soldier and Envoy, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  44. ^ "Death on the Han". Time. 5 March 1951. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  45. ^ "Frederick Augustus Irving" (PDF). Bowdoin College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  46. ^ "New Command Team in Korea". Time. 5 March 1951. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  47. ^ Ray, Max (1980). The History of the First United States Army From 1918 to 1980. Fort Meade MD: First United States Army. pp. 120, 124.
  48. ^ "Obituary: General William Westmoreland". The Independent. Retrieved 24 April 2009. [dead link]
  49. ISBN 0-89096-969-8
    . Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  50. ^ Bartelt, Eric S. (9 December 2005). "Former Superintendent dies". United States Military Academy. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  51. ^ Stout, David (11 February 2006). "Gen. S.W. Koster, 86, Who Was Demoted After My Lai, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  52. ^ "Hollister Knowlton Betrothed To David H. Petraeus, a Cadet". The New York Times. 12 May 1974. p. GN57. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  53. ^ "What Price Honor?". Time. 7 June 1976. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009.
  54. ^ "General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA". NATO. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  55. ^ "United States Army, V Corps Leaders". V Corps. 27 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  56. ^ "2005 Distinguished Graduate Award: David R. Palmer". West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  57. ^ Eric Pace (16 September 2003). "Gen. Howard D. Graves, 64; Led West Point and Texas A&M". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  58. ^ "Lieutenant General Daniel W. Christman". West-Point.org. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  59. ^ Hamburger, Andrea (19 July 2002). "USMA celebrates St. Cyr's bicentennial". United States Military Academy. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  60. ^ John Doherty (28 February 2006). "New Point leader named". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  61. ^ "Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr. Becomes New Superintendent of West Point". Fox News. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  62. ^ Mike Strasser (17 July 2013). "Caslen assumes command of West Point". United States Army. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  63. ^ West Point gets 1st black superintendent in 216-year history Retrieved 6 July 2018
  64. West Point, New York
    : West Point Public Affairs. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Superintendent_of_the_United_States_Military_Academy&oldid=1188953816"