The US Military Academy at West Point has made the decision to remove the “Duty, Honor, Country” motto from its mission statement.
In a letter sent to students and supporters, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said the phrase, which was first added to the mission statement in 1998, would be replaced with the words, “Army Values.”
“Our responsibility to produce leaders to fight and win our nation’s wars requires us to assess ourselves regularly,” Gilland wrote in a letter to cadets and supporters on Monday. “Thus, over the past year and a half, working with leaders from across West Point and external stakeholders, we reviewed our vision, mission, and strategy to serve this purpose.”
He continued: “As a result of this assessment, we recommended the following mission statement to our senior Army leadership: ‘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.’”
The lieutenant general said the new mission statement “binds the Academy to the Army.” He clarified that the patriotic phrase would “always” remain the school’s motto.
Read the full story at the New York Post.
