West Point Must Come Clean

Authored by Tony Lentini via RealClearDefense,

On Spring Break in 2022, five West Point cadets overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl. This news was widely circulated, bringing great disrepute upon the Academy and the Corps of Cadets.  Even worse, contrary to Crisis Management Best Practices, West Point never disclosed the fate of the offending cadets.  Worse still, in violation of federal law, the Academy slow-walked my legitimate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to determine the fate, but not the names, of the cadets involved in this sordid episode. 

By law, federal entities, including West Point, must respond to a FOIA filing within 30 working days; mine was intentionally stuck in limbo for more than a year. The Army’s “Initial Denial Office” in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, then arbitrarily and illegally dismissed my FOIA filing without explanation.  Many other FOIA requests involving West Point have been treated with equal disdain.

Why is this important? 

• A West Point education now costs an estimated $250,000 per cadet, funded by our federal tax dollars;
• Drug abuse is a disqualifying factor for military personnel, especially officers;
• Taxpayers are entitled to know whether the offending cadets were permitted to graduate and serve as military officers;
• The U.S. military, by law and tradition, is subordinate to civilian control and therefore should be especially diligent when it comes to transparency and following federal law.

But West Point, under its current “leadership,” apparently believes otherwise.  Superintendent Lieutenant General Steven Gilland and his public affairs officer have repeatedly stated or implied that taxpayers and graduates are not entitled to know the fate of the overdose cadets.  Moreover, they have said that fulfilling my FOIA request would violate the cadets’ privacy, even though they know good and well that I explicitly did not ask for the names of the cadets involved, only their punishment.  Such duplicitous behavior, called “quibbling,” is prohibited by the Cadet Honor Code and cause for separation from the Academy.  But apparently setting such a bad example for cadets is now permissible by West Point’s leadership.  (By the way, this is the same public affairs department that, in a blatant political move, attempted to derail Pete Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense by falsely claiming he had never been accepted to attend the U.S. Military Academy as a cadet.)

For much of my career, military and civilian, I’ve been responsible for Crisis Management.  As such, I have successfully resolved many potentially costly, reputation-undermining events, including:

• Demonstrations over concerns that laser rangefinder testing and use might damage the eyesight of West German citizens;
• Saving my company’s nuclear power program after the Three Mile Island accident;
• Explosions, fires, oil spills and toxic gas releases, employee deaths and injuries, workplace violence and civilian evacuations.

In addition, I’ve trained hundreds of field employees, executives and CEOs on crisis management and communications.  So, I know whereof I speak.

West Point has failed miserably in handling the cadet overdoses, especially with respect to reputation management.  After initially acknowledging that cadets were involved in the Spring Break overdoses, West Point closed ranks and shut down any further public discussion of the incident, including the cadets’ punishment, if any.  I am told, but cannot verify, that Academy leadership selectively informed cadets and officer cadre as to the overdosers’ final disposition.  But taxpayers and graduates continue to be shut out.

This is not only wrong and unprofessional but also illegal.

To set things right, I recommend that the Secretary of Defense order the immediate public disclosure of all relevant documents related to this case, particularly those revealing:

• The fate of the overdose cadets, including whether they were permitted to graduate and serve as commissioned officers;
• If separated from the Academy, whether and how any were required to repay their educational tuition and boarding costs;
• Whether, how and why cadets and cadre—but not taxpayers and graduates–were selectively informed of the offending cadets’ final disposition; and
• Why West Point failed to follow federal FOIA law.

If serious deficiencies are identified, the Superintendent and others involved in the Academy’s Public Affairs and FOIA departments should be removed from office.

It is high time West Point stopped playing political games, adheres to federal law, and gets back on track in educating and training warrior-officers dedicated to the principles of Duty, Honor, Country.                                                          

Tony Lentini is a 1971 graduate of West Point.  He served five years in the Army, attaining the rank of Captain, and spent his civilian career in public affairs and crisis management in the energy industry, eventually as vice president of two independent oil and gas exploration and production companies.  He writes on military affairs and energy issues.