Eastern Military Academy Eastern Military Academy is a defunct academy founded in 1944 in Connecticut by Roland R . Robinson , a former mathematics teacher at Peekskill Military Academy ( also defunct ) , and his brother - in - law , Carleton Witham . Relationship with the local town was poor from the start , and in 1948 the school was moved to Cold Spring Hills in Long Island , New York . At its new location , the school was based in one of the largest mansions ever constructed in the United States , Oheka Castle , built by Otto Kahn , a multimillionaire . Following Kahn ' s death in 1934 , his heirs had little interest in the estate , and the town of Huntington briefly used it as a retirement home for municipal employees . EMA was organized for most of its existence as a battalion , with a band company , troop ( using horses stabled a few miles away ) , two infantry companies of high school and junior high school students , a company of children sixth grade and below , a company of day students , i . e . students who did not board in the school , battalion staff of two to four members , and a four member color guard . For several years of very high enrollment , the school organized as a brigade . Robinson and Witham died within six weeks of one another in the summer of 1968 , leaving the school in the hands of Alice Robinson , Robinson ' s widow , and Witham ' s sister . According to an article in Newsday on September 30 , 1968 , she was then the first woman ever to head a military academy in the USA . In 1970 she sold the school , without notifying the longtime Dean and new Headmaster , Leopold Hedbavny , or alumni , to three investors . These investors immediately took out a three million dollar bank mortgage , although they had paid Mrs . Robinson only $ 50 , 000 plus stock in their new corporation for owning EMA , and stock in several other of the ultimately nine schools they bought . All nine schools were eventually closed following the taking out of large mortgages . In 1955 the Army granted EMA status as an honor Junior ROTC unit . From 1951 to 1968 students ninth grade and up were taken to a military training base , Camp Smith , for a week in May for riflery training and practice . This continued at a base in New Jersey until 1975 , the same year the school lost its honor rating . In 1977 the Army struck it from the rolls of recognized Junior ROTC units , and removed all military supplied equipment , mostly M - 1 Garand rifles ( prior to 1955 cadets used Springfield M1903 rifles ) . In 1979 , enrollment was down to just ninety from a high of over 350 . The school was closed after a fire had been set in the dormitory floors . In the late 1970s , as the school was declining , two groups of disgruntled staff broke away and founded the General Douglas MacArthur Military Academy and the Marine Military Academy . The school newspaper was called The Guidon . The yearbook was The Saber . The honor society ( based on academic grades , military rank , being a class officer , and participation in sports and clubs ) was the Order of the Key . At various points the school had a chess club , camera club , glee club , chorus , ham radio , equestrian , swimming , riflery , fencing , basketball , baseball , varsity and junior varsity football teams . EMA also hosted one of the first chapters of the Lions Club to be based in a school . The battalion commander held the rank of Major . On dress uniforms this took five stripes , on uniform of the day a diamond shaped pip on the collar . The battalion adjutant and company commanders were captains ( four stripes and three circular pips , the battalion adjutant additionally had four rockers beneath the stripes ) . Platoon leaders were generally lieutenants ( three stripes , first lieutenant had two circular pips , second lieutenants one ) . A sergeant major , always part of the battalion staff , was the highest ranking " noncommissioned " rank , and had two stripes with two rockers and a diamond in the center . ( Officers were addressed by " Sir " , and were saluted . ) Each company would generally have a first sergeant , with two stripes and a diamond . Each platoon would have a sergeant , with two stripes . Corporals would also have two stripes , but wear them very low on the sleeve instead of high on the shoulder . Private First Class ( " PFC " ) was awarded to any lowest ranking cadet ( privates ) who went a full month with fewer than ten demerits , which was also the limit for higher ranking cadets to be advanced in rank . Rank was lost for excessive demerits , one rank for the first fifteen in a month , and an additional rank for each additional ten demerits . In parades officers and the sergeant major carried a saber , first sergeants carried a carbine , two members of the color guard carried the American flag and the school flag , the band had their instruments , the troop their horses , and the infantry companies and older day students carried a rifle . For a few years EMA had an armored unit based on some surplus Armored Personnel Carriers . Operating these when gasoline prices began rising became prohibitively expensive , and two were given to the New York City police department . One was allegedly buried on the school grounds . At the funeral of President John F . Kennedy the riderless horse following Kennedy ' s caisson bore a saber from EMA which had been presented to the White House by the senior class of 1962 on their class visit to Washington . Alumni association . An alumni association was formed in 1969 , and still exists with its own website on Yahoo ! Groups , emaalumni @ yahoogroups . com . In fiction . A very thinly disguised version of Eastern Military Academy , Robinson , and others , appears in the science fiction novel " Time for Patriots " , ISBN 978 - 1 - 60693 - 224 - 7 .