Duty first : a year in the life of West Point and the making of American leaders

West Point isn't just a military academy, writes Ed Ruggero--it's "America's premier leadership school." Or at least it's one of them. Ruggero, a graduate and former faculty member who now specializes in leadership training, went back to his old school for an entire year to figure out how West Point builds leaders. "If the successes of its graduates are any indicator, the Academy's approach offers a template for leader development in and out of the military," he writes. And so Ruggero profiles a cross section of West Pointers, from first-year cadets enduring difficult initiation rites to the school's superintendent overseeing the whole process. __Duty First__ prefers showing to telling: there are more stories and anecdotes on its pages than analysis and discussion. It doesn't offer very many clear-cut lessons that, say, business executives might apply to their own leadership dilemmas. The book is primarily about West Point culture, and Ruggero provides an excellent overview of what the school is really like, with its emphasis on strict discipline, the constant tension between military and academic training, and the supreme importance of beating Navy at the annual football game. But he is not afraid to criticize an institution he generally admires: "The culture is not one that encourages cadets to excel in any one thing; instead, they are conditioned to handle multiple tasks. The result is an education that, some critics say, lacks depth. With so much on their plates, some cadets learn how to get by with minimum effort in many areas." He also wonders whether the cadets are "too isolated from their civilian peers." After just a few months of training, they begin to see others as "unmotivated, slovenly, fat, and lazy.... [As a result] some cadets are ill-suited to relate to the young soldiers they will lead." Despite this, Ruggero finds much that is good at West Point: "The [cadets] who learn their lessons well will succeed in and out of uniform." __Duty First__ will find an audience among readers interested in leadership formation, and, perhaps especially, among high school students thinking about enrolling, as well as their parents. __--John J. Miller__ Duty First is a penetrating account of a year inside one of America's premier schools for leadership-the United States Military Academy at West Point. Ed Ruggero, a former West Point cadet and professor, takes an incisive look at how this elite school builds the "leaders of character" who will command the nation's military. Ruggero details the struggles of young men and women who will lead the American soldiers of the future. Writing with deep insight and superb narrative skill, he follows their tumultuous the initial, grueling training, the strict student hierarchy and intense classroom work, and the interaction between the lowly first-year plebes and the upper-class cadets who train them. Duty First also shows the role played by the majors, captains, and sergeants, who oversee everything that happens at this unique institution. By taking a close, critical look at the Academy's standards and traditions, Ruggero examines the changes in West Point's approach to leadership training that have sparked controversy among its alumni. While all West Pointers would agree with one graduate's claim that "steel is forged in fire," many worry that the fire has been allowed to cool too much. Does today's Academy produce leaders with the inner steel to fight and win the nation's wars, or are today's cadets being coddled in the interest of political correctness, retention, and diversity? Above the Hudson River to the hot and humid barracks rooms where the nation's future captains struggle, Ruggero combines objective reporting with the emotional perspective of memoir to take readers on a guided tour through the jarring, overwhelming, inspiring leadership school that is West Point. The stories in Duty First widely reverberate far beyond West Point, because while the specific goals and methods of developing leaders differ, the fundamental values courage, commitment, selfless sacrifice - are the same for all leaders, from the parents of small children to the CEOs of major corporations. Duty First is a penetrating account of a year inside one of America's premier schools for leadership — the United States Military Academy — as it celebrates the bicentennial of its founding. Ed Ruggero, a former West Point cadet and professor, takes an incisive look at how this elite school builds the "leaders of character" who will command the nation's military. Writing with deep insight and superb narrative skill, Ruggero follows the cadet's tumultuous lives: the initial grueling training; the strict student hierarchy and intense classroom work; and the interaction between the lowly first-year plebes and the upper-class cadets who train them. Duty First also shows the role played by the majors, captains, and sergeants, who oversee everything that happens at this unique institution. A slim pamphlet published by West Point gives the following details about the United States Military Academy Class of 2002: Twelve thousand four hundred and forty applicant files were opened by the admissions office; 2,245 young men and women received congressional nominations (the first competitive hurdle) and met the academic and physical requirements of West Point. A former West Point cadet and professor details the lives of young men and women who aspire to become U.S. Army officers, looking deep into Academy standards and traditions, and how the school builds the "leaders of character." Reprint. 50,000 first printing. A Former West Point Cadet And Professor Details The Lives Of Young Men And Women Who Aspire To Become U.s. Army Officers, Looking Deep Into Academy Standards And Traditions, And How The School Builds Leaders Of Character. By Ed Ruggero. "[An] account of a year inside one of America's premier schools for leadership -- the United States Military Academy -- as it celebrates the bicentennial of its founding"--Page 4 of cover