New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-16
Ore e tl7e Few Periods ef Inactivity:
The Summer Encampment Is Always Established on
the Day Following Graduation and 1t Brings to
the Routine of Cadet Life Various Modifca-
tons Welcomed by Olde- Classmen

(NAMP life-a knowledge Of which Is so
essential 10 the making of a soldier
~ has for more than hundred years
formed an important adjunct 10 the course
Of training by which the cadets at West
Point are developed into the officers Of our
army. One usually associates the idea Of
camp with that of living in the open ard
sleeping in tents as opposed to that of life
in barracks but the West Pointers concep-
ton of this is far more advanced. His
camp life is unique, unparalleled and en-
tirely out OF the ordinary.
For each class this phase of the cadets
course has a separate aim For the first
class man il serves to polish the rough
places that his last three years of rigorous
discipline have overlooked; for the second
class man il has single, we'll defined mean
tng-home for the first time in two years;
for the third class man it furnishes his first
opportunity to taste of the sweets of upper
o class life and provides source of unlim-
tied pleasure; for the fourth class man. or
plebe II forms the severe test of his STAN
ina and his ability to bear up stoutly under
the weight of unseen forces that are cap
able Of putting his nerve to the trial.
And so the West Pointer must view this
portion Of his life from three standpOints,
viz: First class (when lie is first class
mani, yearlng camp (when he is third
class man. or ycarling) and ple5e camp
(when he is Il fourth class man, or ple9e).
There is no second class camp, for this
class always has a three months furlough
during it's third summer at the Point.
About the middle of June each year vari-
s Gus radical changes occur in the corps OF
cadets Foremost of these is graduation
the last rung in the ladder of the cadets
course-for the first class, and then there
As furlough for the yearlings, an event in
the life of the under class man that seems
equally as important as graduation. In ad-
dition to these great happenings there is
the yearly shift forward by which each
class moves up a peg. and also a fourth'
plebe or new class enters the academy.
Therefore, by nlghtfall of this eventful date
the second class of the year before has be-
come the first the third the second and the
fourth the third. Then, to add to all OF
this seeming confusion. an ignorant class
has stepped into the gap left by the plebes
of the year before May sound puzzlinG TO
the casual observer. but, oh. how sweet rs
fhe month Of June 10 the West Pointer ana
how simple are those changes which to
others than he appear so tangled!
The summer encampment Is always eS-
tablished on the day following graduation.
and from time immemorial it has been Gus
tomary 10 name each one for some officer
famous in the annals Of the country ana
the academy. The following extract from
an order published at West Point in June,
1909, will illustrate: THE summer encamp-
ment will be established on June II. the
battalion forming at barracks at 10 a. m
The encampment will be known as camp
Delafeld' in honor of the late General
Richard Delafed a distinguished graduate
Of the class of 1918. and who was superin
tendent Of the academy from
Therefore, on the morning after gradua-
tlon. the battalion, lessened by two classes
(the new plcbe class does not join the bat