WEST POINT, N.Y. -- He had hoped to be here earlier. He had hoped to be here four years earlier to be exact, but the way a person wants life to go and how it turns out are sometimes complete opposites.
Ross Boston eyed West Point as a high school senior, following a family trail that saw his dad, Col. Stephen Boston, and sister, 2nd Lt. Tiffany Boston, join the Long Gray Line.
In fact, Tiffany, Class of 2008, had told anyone who would listen that Ross would someday be a member of the Corps of Cadets.
"His sister always thought he'd come here," Col. Boston, a 1982 graduate, said. "She told her classmates when she was here about her brother and how he would be here."
At the start of his senior year at Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va., Ross applied to West Point. By the time he graduated in 2005, he had not secured one of the coveted spots in that year's plebe class.
Undeterred, he enrolled at Winthrop University and set about on his own military career path.
"I went to work one day and when I came home I was told Ross was at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)," the elder Boston, a Special Forces officer, said.
But Ross wasn't speaking with the Army recruiters, he was joining the Marines.
He served in the Marine Reserves as an infantryman while attending Winthrop. His service took him to Iraq from September 2008 through this past April. Shortly before heading to Iraq he again thought about West Point.
While deployed, he garnered the support of his chain of command who wrote endorsement letters on his behalf.
"My command supported it (applying to West Point)," Ross said. "They knew I would be continuing a family legacy."
Col. Boston echoed his son, saying he too was not surprised by the reaction of his son's commanders.
"We're all brothers in arms," the Chief of Staff for the Senior Leader Development Office of the Army staff said. "Their assistance was a typical response the chain of command gives to a Soldier."
The younger Boston applied through the Soldier Admission Program, a program that has nearly 200 slots for active duty, reserve and national guard Soldiers in each class. Although named the Soldier Admission Program, it is open to enlisted personnel in any branch of service.
His second try proved more successful than his first and Ross, along with his dad, arrived for R-Day last week to take his place in the Class of 2013.
"I got him back," a smiling Col. Boston said. "I am amazed at his perseverance with coming to West Point. He's got a great attitude and lots of desire."
But desire alone won't do it for the younger Boston, who hopes to follow in his father's footsteps after graduation by becoming a Special Forces commander. He realizes that West Point is going to challenge him and he is ready for that challenge.
"I'm finally where I want to be, but I know it is going to be tough," the 22-year-old explained. "I expect to spend a lot of time studying."
Growing up in a West Point family, the younger Boston said he rooted for Army in its annual clash with Navy, but during his time in the Marines his allegiance fell squarely with the midshipmen.
Now, he said, he's back rooting for Army, although he won't easily let go of the Marine inside of himself.
"I'll be proud to be a Soldier," Ross said. "But I'm also proud of my Marine history."
Also entering the academy this year through the SAP is Benjamin Ketchum, a member of the Coast Guard Reserve, who may be the first Coast Guard Reservist ever admitted to West Point.
Maj. Brian Easley, the admissions officer in-charge of SAP, said in an e-mail that admissions personnel "can't find any historical data to dispute that Ketchum is the first Coastie ever."
Ketchum, like Boston, comes from a military family. His parents are both commanders - his mother, Jennifer, in the Coast Guard and his father, Clement, in the Navy.
Ketchum, who took advance placement classes at Mast Academy, said his parents supported his career change from the Coast Guard to the Army.
"They basically left it up to me telling me, 'if you want something; go get it,'" Benjamin said.
The 18-year-old, who calls Miami home, but lists Africa, Central America, Sweden and England as places he has lived, said growing up around the world has helped shape his future.
"The U.S. has a bad reputation throughout the world and the Army is seen as the face of America," Ketchum said on the evening before R-Day. "I want to study International Relations or Political Science at West Point to help change perceptions about this country."
Ketchum said he is eager to succeed at West Point and is unfazed by the rigorous Beast Barracks.
"If a bunch of 18-year-old kids can learn then I can learn it," he said. "This is about following simple directions and taking it one day at a time."
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