R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point

By Sgt. Vincent Fusco, West Point Directorate of CommunicationsJuly 2, 2009

R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
1 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – New cadets from the Class of 2013 salute during the National Anthem after taking the Oath of Allegiance at the end of Reception Day 2009. The 1,297 new cadets started their long day at Eisenhower Hall, said goodbye to parents and other loved ones and... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
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R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
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R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
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R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
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R-DAY: Class of 2013 enters West Point
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WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The U.S. Military Academy Corps of Cadets population grew by 1,297 as a class of new cadets started day one of its 47-month West Point experience on Reception Day, June 29.

Eyes were on the sky looking for rain, but this year's R-Day was a sweltering, busy day for the new cadets and cadet cadre. Cadet candidates started their day at Eisenhower Hall, waiting with family and friends to enter for the orientation brief.

The heat and humidity weren't the only things at their peak; the new cadets were excited and eager to begin their day as soon as they arrived.

"I'm a little nervous, anxious to get started," an O'Fallon, Ill., candidate said. "Once I start to calm down, I'll be ready to go."

He would like to make the lacrosse team while at West Point and brought his lacrosse sticks with him. His father, an Air Force veteran, was beaming with pride for his son that day.

"This is pretty impressive," he said. "He's hooked his own destiny."

Another cadet candidate, from Shrewsbury, Mass., was also anxious to get started. He has been training for the physical rigors of West Point with long runs and lots of push-ups and sit-ups.

"Nobody in my family's been in the military before," he remarked. "They've all been very supportive. My mom was a little nervous at first."

After receiving their brief at Eisenhower Hall, the cadet candidates said goodbyes to family and friends, tagged their bags and boarded buses for Thayer Hall, the site of inprocessing with clothing issue, filling out paperwork and taking care of medical issues.

Once new cadets successfully navigated the maze of inprocessing rooms, they marched to the barbershop for their first haircuts, and then were brought to Central Area to begin training in drill and ceremony.

They learned how to salute, stand in formation, march and report to superior cadets.

By the evening, their transformation was complete. More than a thousand young men and women from different walks of life had become the Class of 2013, wearing the cadet white-over-gray and marching in formation to Battle Monument.

There, before their friends and family who saw them off in the morning, they recited the Oath of Allegiance.

They made it through their first day of an incredible journey to become new leaders of character.

Included in the Class of 2013 were 190 women, more than 330 minority candidates, 18 international cadets and 24 combat veterans who served in the Global War on Terrorism. The incoming class was selected from a pool of more than 11,000 applicants.