First of all, it's NOT fake news. "Duty, honor, country remains the motto as it has always been." No, the marxist psychopaths just changed that, anon.
Edit: Again, this post is NOT fake news. The post, like the article, claims that the Mission Statement changed to remove (the motto) "Duty, Honor, Country" from it. It has. The change with the motto - with respect to the Mission Statement which this post discusses - is that it has been removed from the MS! The "...motto as it has always been..." was a motto that WAS included in the MS - from 1998 until this change. While DHC itself remains as the motto, yes, it's place of prominence has been curtailed. The motto does NOT remain in the Mission Statement. The motto itself, the words/statement and the sentiment it describes, did not change as it remains on the CoA, as anon RF&E, below, was right to describe, but the change is that it has been expunged from the MS. Think of it this way - the motto is a powerful statement, embedded in the core values of West Point, as it appears on the CoA and USED TO appear in the MS. Removal of this motto from the MS is an attempt by bad actors to diminish the importance of that motto. It's prominence in the MS has been lost, but hopefully only temporarily while the swamp creatures are still slithering about.
As Mr Thibeau stated, quote below, this is not a trivial change and should not be taken lightly. Others are free to think that expressing outrage that "Duty, Honor, Country" is being removed from the Mission Statement is "click bait", but I'm of the mind that words matter and that the constant assault on both our language and our values by the evil swamp creatures should not now or ever be glossed-over or trivialized. (End edit).
Second, the article did NOT fail to mention the changes over time. Try reading the article before making a claim like that. I'm certainly not disparaging "the academies" and neither did the article, but we ARE disparaging the current woke leadership. We're also NOT disparaging the legacy or the patriots from West Point, past or current. We love, respect and admire our brave warriors, past and present and no amount of woke attempts to assault their honor will ever change that.
The following -- quoted from the article -- states it quite well.
.
"... Will Thibeau, an Army Ranger veteran and director of The American Military Project at The Claremont Institute, told Breitbart News in a statement, “The West Point mission statement is the cornerstone of everything that happens at the preeminent institution of our nation. Army civilian and military leaders’ decision to expunge the timeless principles of ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from that motto in favor of a reference to the Army Values.”
“On the surface, this change is a benign semantic tweak from leadership. In reality, this is a rhetorical revolution in West Point’s culture. ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ are foundational commitments, instilled by General McArthur, that transcend time and culture. The Army Values now in the mission statement have undergone constant revisions since 1986, only formally codified in 2012. ‘Values’ are subjective cultural preferences that, for the Army, while important concepts, were the product of corporate consulting and endless bureaucratic revision,” he added.
“The saddest part is that we shouldn’t be surprised. At West Point, a cadet can get a degree in Diversity and Inclusion studies. The admissions office builds the Corps of Cadets based on ‘class composition goals’ that are, without question, race and sex-based quotas.”
Thibeau concluded, “The change to the motto is legitimately concerning, and Americans should ignore the military’s effort to sanitize the moment in which we find ourselves.” ..."
While nebulous "values" aren't an optimal way to express intent and could be viewed
As subversive language, the removal was from the mission statement, which is apparently somewhat commonly modified ("Duty, Honor, Country"was added to the statement in 1998 according to Gilland).
The motto remains and has been consistent since its adoption along with the coat of arms in 1898.
"In defense of the change, Gilland explained that the U.S. Military Academy’s mission statement has been changed a total of nine times and that “Duty, Honor, Country” was only incorporated into the mission statement in 1998."
...
"Despite the change in West Point’s mission statement, Gilland emphasized that “Duty, Honor, Country is foundational” to the U.S. Military Academy and will always be the academy’s motto.
...
“It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point,” Gilland said. “These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history.”
"To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.”
New Mission Statement:
"To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation."
Aside from the "Army Values" change, there's an interesting shift in the message statement from "career" to "lifetime"
Also, who would the "external stakeholders" mentioned in the initial press release be in relation to West Point?
Thank you for the Coat of Arms information/link and also for Gilland's "clarification message". All the rest was in the original Breitbart article. On that note I want to point something out here...
Look carefully at the following statements from the Breitbart article --
"... Army Col. Terence Kelley, director of communications for West Point, said in a statement to Breitbart News:
Duty, Honor, Country is and always will be the motto of West Point. As we have done ten times in the past century, we have updated our mission statement, now including the Army Values, Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Integrity, and Personal Courage. ..."
"Duty, Honor, Country" -- Duty has apparently been preserved. Honor could, I suppose, be equated with Integrity. Where is Country?? Where. Is. Country.??. Perhaps I'm not the only one who noticed this glaring omission because, in the "clarification message" from Gilland that you provided, he felt a need to address this. Here's his comment on the matter --
"... The Army Values include Duty and Honor, and Country is reflected in Loyalty, bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers. ..."
Well, at least Country, our beloved country, the United States, gets a reflection and good on Gilland for adding "bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution" (though I think he probably meant either "true faith" or "truth, faith", not "truth faith"). Real good for him to point to the Constitution. (And I certainly hope we're all referring to the same Constitution as I recall some talk in the past of an alternate).
Your question about just who these "external stakeholders" are is very important. I say this because this change to the Mission Statement to remove the motto and replace it with Army Values - which, in turn, include the nebulous "Loyalty" in place of Country - reeks of New World Order bullsh!t. The removal of Country reeks of NWO BS. Nice of Col. Kelley, the director of communications for West Point, to tell us what's been added/included; perhaps he can also address what's been removed.
We have a right to know exactly who these "external stakeholders" are. I'm guessing Gilland included that little nugget of information to signal that there are outside forces influencing decisions that are made in and for our military.
.
Your other point of the shift to "lifetime" from "career" is astute also - and one I missed as I was incensed that "Honor, Duty, Country" was removed from the Mission Statement. It's interesting, as you noted, to say the least. It's worth noting that many vets who weigh in on military matters on this board have it in their hearts that they take their oath of service most seriously and for life - as many have plainly stated. Our patriotic veterans and currently-serving servicemen and women are true warriors in heart and mind, honorable, brave and dedicated. Whatever games the evil swamp creatures have been and are playing with the military are not indicative of the heart and soul of our military patriots.
.
Finally, I added an edit to my above comment, but I want to reiterate my sentiment here as it's why I felt it was important to post this topic on the board -- Others are free to think that expressing outrage that "Duty, Honor, Country" is being removed from the Mission Statement is "click bait", but I'm of the mind that words matter and that the constant assault on both our language and our values by the evil swamp creatures should not now or ever be glossed-over or trivialized.
First of all, it's NOT fake news. "Duty, honor, country remains the motto as it has always been." No, the marxist psychopaths just changed that, anon.
Edit: Again, this post is NOT fake news. The post, like the article, claims that the Mission Statement changed to remove (the motto) "Duty, Honor, Country" from it. It has. The change with the motto - with respect to the Mission Statement which this post discusses - is that it has been removed from the MS! The "...motto as it has always been..." was a motto that WAS included in the MS - from 1998 until this change. While DHC itself remains as the motto, yes, it's place of prominence has been curtailed. The motto does NOT remain in the Mission Statement. The motto itself, the words/statement and the sentiment it describes, did not change as it remains on the CoA, as anon RF&E, below, was right to describe, but the change is that it has been expunged from the MS. Think of it this way - the motto is a powerful statement, embedded in the core values of West Point, as it appears on the CoA and USED TO appear in the MS. Removal of this motto from the MS is an attempt by bad actors to diminish the importance of that motto. It's prominence in the MS has been lost, but hopefully only temporarily while the swamp creatures are still slithering about.
As Mr Thibeau stated, quote below, this is not a trivial change and should not be taken lightly. Others are free to think that expressing outrage that "Duty, Honor, Country" is being removed from the Mission Statement is "click bait", but I'm of the mind that words matter and that the constant assault on both our language and our values by the evil swamp creatures should not now or ever be glossed-over or trivialized. (End edit).
Second, the article did NOT fail to mention the changes over time. Try reading the article before making a claim like that. I'm certainly not disparaging "the academies" and neither did the article, but we ARE disparaging the current woke leadership. We're also NOT disparaging the legacy or the patriots from West Point, past or current. We love, respect and admire our brave warriors, past and present and no amount of woke attempts to assault their honor will ever change that.
The following -- quoted from the article -- states it quite well.
.
"... Will Thibeau, an Army Ranger veteran and director of The American Military Project at The Claremont Institute, told Breitbart News in a statement, “The West Point mission statement is the cornerstone of everything that happens at the preeminent institution of our nation. Army civilian and military leaders’ decision to expunge the timeless principles of ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from that motto in favor of a reference to the Army Values.”
“On the surface, this change is a benign semantic tweak from leadership. In reality, this is a rhetorical revolution in West Point’s culture. ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ are foundational commitments, instilled by General McArthur, that transcend time and culture. The Army Values now in the mission statement have undergone constant revisions since 1986, only formally codified in 2012. ‘Values’ are subjective cultural preferences that, for the Army, while important concepts, were the product of corporate consulting and endless bureaucratic revision,” he added.
“The saddest part is that we shouldn’t be surprised. At West Point, a cadet can get a degree in Diversity and Inclusion studies. The admissions office builds the Corps of Cadets based on ‘class composition goals’ that are, without question, race and sex-based quotas.”
Thibeau concluded, “The change to the motto is legitimately concerning, and Americans should ignore the military’s effort to sanitize the moment in which we find ourselves.” ..."
While nebulous "values" aren't an optimal way to express intent and could be viewed As subversive language, the removal was from the mission statement, which is apparently somewhat commonly modified ("Duty, Honor, Country"was added to the statement in 1998 according to Gilland).
The motto remains and has been consistent since its adoption along with the coat of arms in 1898.
https://www.westpoint.edu/about/public-affairs/fact-sheets -Info under "Coat of Arms and Motto"
News source for the quotes below:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/03/west-point-removes-duty-honor-country-from-mission-statement/
"In defense of the change, Gilland explained that the U.S. Military Academy’s mission statement has been changed a total of nine times and that “Duty, Honor, Country” was only incorporated into the mission statement in 1998." ... "Despite the change in West Point’s mission statement, Gilland emphasized that “Duty, Honor, Country is foundational” to the U.S. Military Academy and will always be the academy’s motto. ... “It defines who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point,” Gilland said. “These three hallowed words are the hallmark of the cadet experience and bind the Long Gray Line together across our great history.”
(Gilland press release - Article Source)
https://www.westpoint.edu/news/press-releases/west-point-mission-statement-update-0
Gilland's clarification message the following day:
https://www.westpoint.edu/news/community-news/message-the-61st-superintendent
Mission Statement comparison:
Old Mission Statement:
"To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.”
New Mission Statement:
"To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation."
Aside from the "Army Values" change, there's an interesting shift in the message statement from "career" to "lifetime"
Also, who would the "external stakeholders" mentioned in the initial press release be in relation to West Point?
Thank you for the Coat of Arms information/link and also for Gilland's "clarification message". All the rest was in the original Breitbart article. On that note I want to point something out here...
Look carefully at the following statements from the Breitbart article --
"... Army Col. Terence Kelley, director of communications for West Point, said in a statement to Breitbart News:
Duty, Honor, Country is and always will be the motto of West Point. As we have done ten times in the past century, we have updated our mission statement, now including the Army Values, Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Integrity, and Personal Courage. ..."
"Duty, Honor, Country" -- Duty has apparently been preserved. Honor could, I suppose, be equated with Integrity. Where is Country?? Where. Is. Country.??. Perhaps I'm not the only one who noticed this glaring omission because, in the "clarification message" from Gilland that you provided, he felt a need to address this. Here's his comment on the matter --
"... The Army Values include Duty and Honor, and Country is reflected in Loyalty, bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers. ..."
Well, at least Country, our beloved country, the United States, gets a reflection and good on Gilland for adding "bearing truth faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution" (though I think he probably meant either "true faith" or "truth, faith", not "truth faith"). Real good for him to point to the Constitution. (And I certainly hope we're all referring to the same Constitution as I recall some talk in the past of an alternate).
Your question about just who these "external stakeholders" are is very important. I say this because this change to the Mission Statement to remove the motto and replace it with Army Values - which, in turn, include the nebulous "Loyalty" in place of Country - reeks of New World Order bullsh!t. The removal of Country reeks of NWO BS. Nice of Col. Kelley, the director of communications for West Point, to tell us what's been added/included; perhaps he can also address what's been removed.
We have a right to know exactly who these "external stakeholders" are. I'm guessing Gilland included that little nugget of information to signal that there are outside forces influencing decisions that are made in and for our military.
.
Your other point of the shift to "lifetime" from "career" is astute also - and one I missed as I was incensed that "Honor, Duty, Country" was removed from the Mission Statement. It's interesting, as you noted, to say the least. It's worth noting that many vets who weigh in on military matters on this board have it in their hearts that they take their oath of service most seriously and for life - as many have plainly stated. Our patriotic veterans and currently-serving servicemen and women are true warriors in heart and mind, honorable, brave and dedicated. Whatever games the evil swamp creatures have been and are playing with the military are not indicative of the heart and soul of our military patriots.
.
Finally, I added an edit to my above comment, but I want to reiterate my sentiment here as it's why I felt it was important to post this topic on the board -- Others are free to think that expressing outrage that "Duty, Honor, Country" is being removed from the Mission Statement is "click bait", but I'm of the mind that words matter and that the constant assault on both our language and our values by the evil swamp creatures should not now or ever be glossed-over or trivialized.