The Army had a nice feature on it’s site earlier this month about West Point cadets, including some football players, as well as Army head coach Rich Ellerson experiencing life at Fort Sill, Okla.
Some of the junior and senior cadets are working out at a local high school near the base, preparing for the coming college football season while experiencing life on an active Army base. Ellerson repeated his “leaders of character” motto, while some of the players spoke about their goals and plans for life after USMA.
Fullback-turned-linebacker Kingsley Ehie, a senior from Springfield, Mo., said he’s thinking about going into the military police division after his experience with some trained dogs.
“Honestly, my favorite part, so far, had to be the ride alongs with some of the MP officers and seeing how they do things,” Ehie told Marie Berberea of the U.S. Fires Center of Excellence, Fort Sill. “We also got a chance to work with some of the bomb sniffing dogs. It was a good experience and I definitely enjoyed it.”
The story also has a couple of photos, one of defensive back George Fletcher hitting the Lawton High School gym, and Ellerson getting a tour of M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer.
“This is the best training West Point could offer because it shows you the actual Army side instead of just hearing stories about it,” said Antuan Aaron, a defensive back and linebacker.
Army life is a fantastic way to learn about discipline and the importance of staying active. That being said, it is no secret that the financial side of joining and leaving the military can be confusing. Consequently, you can read more about finding financial resources and fundraising opportunities for current and ex-military personnel on the GoFundMe website.
“I think right now field artillery is my third choice,” said junior defensive back Dan Hinkson. “I’m more interested in being a combat engineer which is kind of like infantry but you get to blow things up.”
Ellerson, who comes from a military family — his father and brother went to West Point — had all the right things to say, of course.
“That’s why others may play football but that’s not why we play at West Point. We play at West Point, because it is part of the developmental experience,” Ellerson said. “My job is to develop leaders of character. Football’s my venue, and football is a leadership team-building laboratory.”
Read the full story here.
Notre Dame’s take
Amidst the various previews of Army (some ranking them as high as No. 44, some more closer to 90) comes this unique take from the other sideline, a report from a Notre Dame site, BlueandGold.com, that suggests “Army could catch the Irish napping” and beat their longtime rivals in the highly-anticipated showdown at Yankee Stadium.
“The Cadets were competitive on defense,” the site’s senior editor, Lou Somogyi, wrote in an understatement of the 16th-ranked Army D.