# Trump forcing cadets back to West Point for graduation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 26, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610 "2020-04-26T13:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/1 "2020-04-26T13:52:21Z")
they will all drink Lysol too 🙂 > **[Army to proceed with West Point graduation ceremony amid coronavirus | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/25/politics/army-us-military-academy-west-point-graduation/index.html)** > > The Army will proceed with this year's graduation ceremony at the US Military Academy in June at West Point, New York, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with President Donald Trump giving the 2020 commencement speech for cadets. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/2 "2020-04-26T14:26:08Z")
It’s a nice bookend to using veterans as guinea pigs to test [hydroxychloroquine](https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/veterans-group-accuses-va-of-using-coronavirus-patients-as-testing-subjects-1.627189). He gets them coming and going. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/3 "2020-04-26T14:40:43Z")
The man’s ego knows no bounds. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/4 "2020-04-26T15:03:08Z")
In a normal year many people skip college graduations and it’s no big deal. My son skipped the big ceremony but went to the ceremony for his department. I assume for this skipping is not an option. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/5 "2020-04-26T16:57:03Z")
Didn’t the Air Force Academy have their graduation a couple weeks ago? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/6 "2020-04-26T17:02:26Z")
yes the AFA did and Pence was there and they kept people 6 feet apart . West point only has 1000 grads so they could do that too but I believe if not for Trump they probably would have skipped it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/7 "2020-04-26T17:07:31Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > The man’s ego knows no bounds. His intellect, however, could fit in a matchbox…without removing any of the matches. Truly a remarkable American achievement. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/8 "2020-04-26T20:51:39Z")
Will the CiC order the graduating cadets to close ranks, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, for a YUGE! group photo? Will the newly-minted Army officers aka viral vectors then be dispatched around the world to infect forces everywhere? Is the CiC’s owner chortling with glee? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/9 "2020-04-26T21:41:56Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > My son skipped the big ceremony but went to the ceremony for his department. I assume for this skipping is not an option. Nobody at the university could lawfully order your son to go to a ceremony or face potential court martial. Graduation from college is only one of the tasks that happens on that day. Commissioning as brand new Second Lieutenants is a more important task. They need to be sworn in by a commissioned officer. I suppose there is the possibility of doing that remotely and signing digitally. I would want to consult a Staff Judge Advocate before I said for sure. There will also be routine clearing tasks to perform before leaving their current duty station. Some would seem to work adequately remotely. Some things like turning in any unit property are going to be difficult to accomplish from home. Then there is the Basic Officer Leadership Course. USMA grads get prioritized for attendance and the summer sees those courses packed almost entirely with West Pointers. Those courses are still happening, the last that I saw. Some of the tasks can see a lot of mitigation measures for the disease. Some just do not happen to standard while complying with social distancing. The cumulative effect of waiving too much of those standards can easily also cause people to die. That is simply the nature of the profession of arms. Within a couple weeks of the graduation date these current cadets will be clustering together at a couple handfuls of training sites where risk is even harder to avoid. Coronavirus is simply an addition to the host of risks of that training. It is not even the most serious risk. The training is the only way to turn these new Lieutenants into trained, branch qualified, and deployable Army leaders, though. The ceremony itself is only a tiny portion of the events and associated risks that graduation triggers. We should be careful to not think of it just in terms of the piece of the life transition that has a civilian parallel. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/10 "2020-04-26T22:03:09Z")
There are other things they can do besides court martial to someone who skips the ceremony? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/11 "2020-04-26T23:15:05Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > …There will also be routine clearing tasks to perform before leaving their current duty station. Some would seem to work adequately remotely. Some things like **turning in any unit property** are going to be difficult to accomplish from home. … You don’t think that they would have taken care of such things before the COVID-related closing? Why not? (My emphasis.) Trump’s ego trip will require, among other things, that each cadet will face a two-week quarantine period. > [@](#): > > The president announced on 17 April he would be giving the West Point commencement address this year. > According to the New York Times, that came as a surprise to West Point event organisers, who had yet to finalise graduation ceremony plans amid the coronavirus pandemic. > > In a weekend editorial, the New York Daily News cautioned “there’s no reason to believe that New York State, nor the academy itself, is prepared to host a graduation ceremony amidst a pandemic”. > …Cadets would be coming back to campus starting in late May and would be subject to a “detailed Covid screening, testing, quarantine, and integration plan”, it added. > **[Trump faces scrutiny over West Point address plans](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52434854)** > > The president is scheduled to give the commencement address at the US military academy in June. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/12 "2020-04-26T23:58:22Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > yes the AFA did and Pence was there and they kept people 6 feet apart . West point only has 1000 grads so they could do that too but I believe if not for Trump they probably would have skipped it. Trump criticized this distancing as political correctness. Turns out, the man is an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/13 "2020-04-27T00:58:25Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Graduation from college is only one of the tasks that happens on that day. Commissioning as brand new Second Lieutenants is a more important task. They need to be sworn in by a commissioned officer. I suppose there is the possibility of doing that remotely and signing digitally. I would want to consult a Staff Judge Advocate before I said for sure. The Coast Guard is holding a “virtual” graduation this year. I assume this means that its cadets will not have to gather together, and yet, they have to be sworn into the Coast Guard as well. I assume that they can be sworn in as soon as they report to their duty stations; this could be done with the Army (and, presumably, Navy - Annapolis has made no announcements concerning its graduation yet, other than the traditional “commissioning week” activities like the Herndon Climb have been postponed or cancelled) as well. Please, please, please, pleasepleaseplease, please, did I say “please,” **please** have somebody tell Trump that he won’t be allowed to shake the hands of the cadets as they receive their diplomas - assuming they’re crazy enough even to do that; the Air Force cadets did not, and were not even introduced separately. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/14 "2020-04-27T01:02:45Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > … > Please, please, please, pleasepleaseplease, please, did I say “please,” **please** have somebody tell Trump that he won’t be allowed to shake the hands of the cadets as they receive their diplomas - assuming they’re crazy enough even to do that; the Air Force cadets did not, and were not even introduced separately. Um, you are aware that as soon as someone tells him not to do something, he immediately does it, right? Like a 2-year old. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/15 "2020-04-27T11:44:46Z")
He’s missing his rallies. That adoration is his freaking lifeblood. I can’t wait to hear what glurge will come spilling from his mouth as he tries to get a cheer from this crowd. Military is usually conservatives, so it could work for him, who knows? And they probably, just won’t broadcast his speech if it’s embarrassing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/16 "2020-04-27T11:57:25Z")
My next-door neighbor has two children who currently attend West Point. When stay-at-home orders began in most of the country, the cadets were on some sort of semester break that had them scattered around the country at various bases learning stuff. My neighbor’s kids were ordered to stay wherever they were until further notice, not to return to school. I need to check with my neighbor to see if that has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/17 "2020-04-27T14:36:57Z")
I assume the Army pays for them to fly or drive back? I know they pay for the 2 weeks of food they will eat. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/18 "2020-04-27T15:49:19Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > My next-door neighbor has two children who currently attend West Point. When stay-at-home orders began in most of the country, the cadets were on some sort of semester break that had them scattered around the country at various bases learning stuff. My neighbor’s kids were ordered to stay wherever they were until further notice, not to return to school. I need to check with my neighbor to see if that has changed. Do let us know what you find out. I’m curious. Also wondering if the request (command?) for them to return gives any rationale for disregarding their personal safety (although I’m sure it won’t be stated to bluntly). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/19 "2020-04-27T23:59:06Z")
Retired Army general and West Point alum and father of an alum says the graduation should not be held. [At West Point, is Trump speaking worth the risk? | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/opinions/west-point-graduation-trump-covid-19-hertling/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610/20 "2020-04-29T11:01:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Do let us know what you find out. I’m curious. Also wondering if the request (command?) for them to return gives any rationale for disregarding their personal safety (although I’m sure it won’t be stated to bluntly). I talked to my neighbor last night. The one who is graduating has to go back. His other cadet, who just finished her second year, doesn’t know when she’ll be able or ordered to go back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-forcing-cadets-back-to-west-point-for-graduation/852610.md?page=2)