MAY 11, 2017 1 THE MAY 11, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 18 ® UTY ONOR OUNTRY OINTER IEW D , H , C PSERVING THE U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY AND THE COMMUNITY V OF WEST POINT ® Cadets display Projects Staff, faculty and visitors explore project displays at the West Point Club during the U.S. Military Academy’s Projects Day, May 4. Projects Day is an annual event that began in May 2000 and has developed in size and scope each succeeding year. During the day, cadets and students displayed intellectual capital through capstone design projects, competition projects, thesis defenses, poster displays, individual and group performances, and fi lm screenings and presentations. See Page 3 for story and photos. PHOTO BY MICHELLE EBERHART/PV 2 MAY 11, 2017 NEWS & FEATURES POINTER VIEW Reflection, connection, inspiration prepare cadets for selfless service Story and photos by Kathy Eastwood friends talked about what the Soldier was like Staff Writer and how he or she made a difference. Maj. Sharon Denson spoke about her friend The 12th annual Inspiration to Serve and roommate Class of 2005 graduate, Emily Cemetery Tour May 4 was the end of the Cadet Perez, who was killed in Iraq while leading a Character Development Program of their second convoy and an IED exploded near her Humvee. year for the Class of 2019, or Yearlings. The Denson knew her when they were at Fort Hood, past two years should inform and inspire cadets Texas, roughly 90 days before being deployed to as they prepare to take the Oath of Affirmation Iraq. She was also her roommate in Iraq. Aug. 13, and in only two short years, they will “I remember her laugh,” Denson said. be uttering their commissioning Oath of Office “Her laugh was loud and infectious. I had great to join the Profession of Arms. The cemetery respect for her because she always led from the tour is designed to show the future officers what front. That is how she died. She was also very service means. religious and we would read the bible together.” The Inspiration to Serve Cemetery Tour Denson said they were in Iraq for 10 months is sponsored by the Simon Center for the and was one month away from re-deployment. Professional Military Ethic and began for the “I remember that she was full of emotion Yearlings in 2006. Retired Gen. Fred Franks, the day she died and later, I had the thought that visiting scholar for the William E. Simon Center maybe somehow she knew that it would be her for the Professional Military Ethic, brought his last battle,” Denson said. students of his Battle Command Seminar to Perez, at the age of 23, was the first West the cemetery to learn about selfless service, to Point graduate of the “Class of 9/11” cadets who learn about the lives of those interred at West entered West Point in 2001, to die in combat Point and to honor those who gave the ultimate and both the first female graduate of West sacrifice. Point to die in the Iraq War and the first African “As you hear the stories, reflect on your own American officer to die in combat in Iraq. Maj. Sharon Denson speaks to yearlings at the Inspiration to Serve annual preparation, your own experience at West Point Mr. and Mrs. Carlos del Castillo, parents of Cemetery Tour May 4 at the gravesite of 2nd Lt. Emily Perez, Class of 2005. and your future journey,” David Jones, chair 1st Lt. Dimitri del Castillo, Class of 2009 who Denson was Perez's roomate in Iraq and met her first when they were stationed for character development at SCPME said as was killed in Afghanistan June 25, 2011 spoke at Fort Hood, Texas. Perez was killed Sept. 12, 2006, when an IED exploded he spoke to the Yearlings. “It’s about character, about their son. near her Humvee in Iraq. competence and commitment and your future Carlos read comments and letters from it was taken the day when Dimitri was killed Ranger Association. journey of leading Soldiers in the best Army people his son knew to the cadets and passed out by a sniper while calling in for air support. He The Class of 2019 affiliate class, the Class in the world. There is no bigger honor and no photos from the camera that was with Dimitri’s maintained contact with the aircraft and died of 1969, was also there to talk about their bigger responsibility.” things after his death. with the mic in his hand. classmates, most whom were killed in action The Yearlings made their rounds to grave The photo on the poster was one of the His parents have established a scholarship in Vietnam. sites where family members, roommates or photos from the camera and it was also the place fund in his memory in partnership with the U.S. Retired Maj. Gen. Leroy R. Goff was a Maj. Shawn Dalton, USMA Class classmate and company mate of Capt. John Woodrum, USMA Class of 1969, who was of 2000, presents his classmate killed May 9, 1971 in Vietnam while leading an Maj. Thomas Kennedy, May 4 at Infantry patrol in 2-17 Cav which had been cut the 12th annual Inspiration to off from its support and was in danger of being Serve Cemetery Tour to the Class overrun. Snipers were firing on the men and the of 2019. Kennedy was killed in then 1st Lt. Woodrum stood up and provided action Aug. 8, 2012 in Afghanistan cover fire while the remainder of his platoon while serving as the Brigade Fire withdrew to safety. Woodrum was posthumously Support Officer for 4th Brigade, promoted to Captain. 4th Infantry Division. The Brigade “John was dedicated to the Army,” Goff Tactical Department at West Point, said. “He was serious yet still had a great sense in conjunction with Teachers of humor. He often received demerits and just College, Columbia University as often was able to get out of them.” created an award in Kennedy's He received one demerit for the improper memory. The Thomas E. Kennedy ‘wearing of the green’ on St. Patrick’s Day and Leadership Application Award is Woodrum’s rebuttal was “A leprechaun made presented to the Tactical Officer me do it.” who best exemplified the character Woodrum also was cadet captain, made the qualities which made Kennedy so dean’s list for his four years at West Point and special. graduated 35th in a class of 800. 40 Mulberry Street, Middletown, NY 10940 POINTER VIEW ® To subscribe to the Pointer View or The Army civilian enterprise newspaper, the Pointer View, is an authorized publication for members The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not if you have delivery problems, call 845-346-3213. of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Pointer View are not necessarily the official views of, or constitute endorsement of the products or services advertised by the U.S. Army or the Times Herald- Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr. Michelle Eberhart endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of the Army or the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Record. Superintendent PV Assistant Editor, 938-3079 The editorial content of the Pointer View is the responsibility of the U.S. Military Academy Public Everything advertised in this publication will be made available for purchase, use or patronage Lt. Col. Christopher G. Kasker [email protected] Affairs Office, Bldg. 600, West Point, New York 10996, (845) 938-2015. without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, Public Affairs Officer Kathy Eastwood The Pointer View is printed weekly by the Times Herald-Record, a private firm in no way connected political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Eric S. Bartelt PV Staff Writer, 938-3684 with the Department of the Army, under exclusive contract with West Point. The Times Herald-Record is If a violation or rejection of this equal opportunity policy by an advertiser is confirmed, the publisher PV Managing Editor, 938-2015 responsible for all commercial advertising. will refuse to print advertising from that source until the violation has been corrected. [email protected] [email protected] POINTER VIEW IN FOCUS: PROJECTS DAY MAY 11, 2017 3 Projects Day: Preparing Firsties for the Operational Army Story and photos by Michelle Eberhart Assistant Editor Projects Day brought together cadets from all of the U.S. Military Academy’s academic and military training departments, as well as students from visiting colleges and schools, to display their year-end projects on May 4. Since its inception in May 2000, the annual event has grown in size and scope each succeeding year, allowing all cadets to display their culminating projects. While cadets from each class can present projects, this is the seniors’ opportunity to show off everything they’ve learned throughout their four years at West Point. “As a firstie, this means a lot, we’ve worked on this project all year and to be done, this is the culminating event for this class, so it’s kind of a big deal to see all your hard work pay off,” Class of 2017 Cadet Orion Boylston, said. Boylston, an Electrical Engineering major branching Cyber, and his peers were on Team Red Hawk. “Our project looks at trying to find a push to talk radio in the field,” he said. “It uses a technology called Pseudo-Doppler to locate the angle of arrival of a walkie-talkie and then using those angles of arrival, it’s sent to a central node which calculates a heat map which is displayed for a graphical user interface for a Soldier to look at where the enemy likely is.” In addition to creating an in-depth capstone, Projects Day also allows cadets to work with others, regardless of their educational discipline.