Duty, Honor, Country: A Preliminary Investigation of Virtue Development and Education at the United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is renowned as one of the world's preeminent leader-development institutions. This project is a one-year planning grant assessing the feasibility of conducting a longitudinal study of character at West Point. The mission of the Academy is to 'educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country.' West Point promotes the development of character attributes through diverse academic and experiential programs, representing academics, military training, athletics, and morality/ethics. The diversity of character promotion strategies across the institution has yet to be fully integrated, however. This project aims to enhance the ability of West Point to educate Army leaders of character by assessing existing components of education in relation to the extant literature on military professionals and character education. Key products of the planning grant will be a review of the literature on character development and leadership among young professionals; an assessment of indicators of character development available across the programs of West Point; and a proposal for a longitudinal study of current and past West Point cadets in regard to their development as leaders of character.