Developing Military Leaders of Character

The mission of the U.S. Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, 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 and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.” As the mission statement clearly articulates, character is a core competency needed to be an effective Army officer. Based on the practical experiences of armies throughout history and around the world, positive character is necessary to both serving as a soldier and leading soldiers in combat. The idea that character development is crucial in officer training and development is not a recent one. West Point and other military academies have long adhered to an honor code of “a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do.” But the lessons of a protracted period of war and conflict, beginning with the events of September 11, 2001, have underscored the importance of character in the military domain.In 2013, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, was appointed the 59th superintendent of West Point. Prior to this appointment, Caslen had served in a variety of leadership positions in the Army, including combat tours in the Gulf War, two tours in Afghanistan, and as commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Iraq. It was during his command of the 25th Infantry Division that the primacy of character in officership became evident to him. In his own words,It became clear to Caslen that the impact of character failure went far beyond the offending officer or noncommissioned officer.With these experiences in mind, when Caslen became Superintendent of West Point, character development became one of his strategic priorities. He carefully reviewed existing elements of West Point’s curriculum and cadet development programs. Although character was part of the institution’s mission statement, the three pillars of focus were academic, physical development, and military development. Caslen sensed a disconnect:As a result of this observation, Caslen directed the establishment of a formal character program to capture and assign responsibility for those character development activities that occur outside curricula in the academic, military and physical programs.Historically, West Point’s character development system may be classified into four periods. From 1802 (the year West Point was founded) to 1990, a primarily punitive, attrition-based system was in place. Compliance to standards of conduct and character were the desired outcomes with emphasis on prohibited behaviors that a cadet should avoid. If a cadet committed one of these infractions, that is, failed in character, he or she (beginning in 1976 when women were first admitted to the Corps of Cadets) was expelled. Little thought was given to character development after completing West Point. The assumption was that if a cadet survived the attrition-based system, the graduate would be an effective and honorable officer for the duration of their career. For an in-depth review of the history of West Point and its approach to officer leader and character development, see Betros (2016).In 1991, West Point instituted the Cadet Leader Development System. The system specified several desired outcomes, including four components of officership—being a member of a profession, leader of character, servant to the nation, and warrior—that a cadet should internalize prior to graduation. Rather than automatic expulsion from the institution for character failures, under the Cadet Leader Development System some offenders were put into special development programs aimed at rehabilitation and, if successful, allowed to graduate. Thus, the academy began transitioning toward a development focused system. This change proved to be an advance over the compliance/attrition system that had been in place for nearly two centuries because, for the first time, it acknowledged that cadets could fail in character but still, under some circumstances, prove to be good officers if retained and given further training and development opportunities.In 2011, the Cadet Leader Development System was replaced with the West Point Leader Development System, or WPLDS. The rationale was that a leader development system should be inclusive of all West Point stakeholders, not just cadets. Accordingly, the new system emphasized the critical role that all faculty and staff play in cadet development by emphasizing the role of everyone who has contact with cadets. From Army officer to civilian professor to the barber who cuts cadets’ hair, every person shared in the responsibility for developing these leaders’ character in some way (although the program did not specify who was accountable for what).Initially, the system specified 10 outcomes with 75 suboutcomes for cadets to achieve by graduation; numbers that were whittled down to 8 and 47 respectively after the first assessment cycle in 2013 as follows:Upon commissioning, West Point graduates are leaders of character committed to the ideals of duty, honor, country, and prepared to accomplish the mission. They will:Importantly, the system shifted fully to an aspirational developmental model highlighting what cadets should do in order to be leaders of character. Although cadets were still subject to expulsion for particularly egregious actions and character failures, the emphasis was squarely developmental: Helping cadets along their 47-month journey understand character and to grow personally in ways that would allow them to achieve the eight outcomes and to serve as leaders of character in the Army upon graduation.Upon his arrival to the academy, Caslen had character development at the center of his radar. In addition to his aforementioned personal experiences in Iraq, he was also hearing the same types of concerns from alumni and members of his transition advisory team regarding honorable living. Accordingly, he directed the publication of several strategic documents related to character including the Character Development Strategy and the “Gold Book” (United States Military Academy, n.d.). Additionally, he reconstituted the superintendent’s honor review committee to serve as a steering group for all matters pertaining to honor and reenergized the National Conference on Ethics in America, inviting college students from across the nation to participate in a discussion of character-based leadership alongside cadets. Still, Caslen sensed that these initiatives were lacking cohesion and efficiency. After several cycles of thorough data collection and analyses of all the programs, a complete revision of WPLDS was implemented in 2018. The revision achieved several goals: It streamlined several disjointed strategic character related documents into one, it provided a common language for all stakeholders with regard to how USMA develops leaders of character, and it provided a better understanding of how character is related to the operational structure and culture of West Point. Furthermore, the character model shifted from exclusively development, to development with accountability. In this version, the roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders in the development of leaders of character are more clearly articulated.Another significant change saw the outcomes reduced from eight to three: (a) live honorably; (b) lead honorably; and (c) demonstrate excellence. This was largely in response to feedback that eight outcomes were unwieldy and difficult to remember. The previous outcomes are incorporated as suboutcomes in the revision. The updated WPLDS incorporates five facets of character—moral, social, civic, performance, and leadership—that directly support each of the three outcomes. Moral, social, and civic character attributes map to living honorably, performance maps to the outcome of demonstrating competence, and leadership maps to the outcome of leading honorably. Caslen’s objective with the revision was, then, to underscore the importance of character development alongside academic, physical, and military development due to its critical role in effective leadership.WPLDS acknowledges that new cadets enter West Point from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Therefore, each one might require a different approach to character development. Applying Kegan’s (1983) model of development, the majority of new cadets are viewed as being in the “imperial stage” of development, characterized by self-focus. With training, development, and socialization, upper class cadets enter the interpersonal stage of development, where their focus shifts from themselves to approval from others, such as teammates or members of their cadet company. West Point aims to set the conditions for graduates to enter the “self-authored” stage of development, with an internalized moral compass that incorporates the seven Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage, and the five WPLDS facets of character.Figure 1 summarizes the WPLDS approach to character development. Individual leader development is cultivated and shaped by four distinct programs in place at West Point. The academic program shapes intellectual honesty and disciplinary competence. The military program instills the internalization of military values reflected in the seven Army values. The physical program ensures that all graduates are physically ready to assume leadership roles in ground combat. The character program, infused also in the other three, focuses on the five moral facets. Leader development involves practice in following, as well as extensive practice in leading. All of the above occur within a “culture of character growth.” The net outcome is producing leaders of character who live honorably, lead honorably, and demonstrate excellence.An element missing in previous West Point character development efforts was a conceptual framework based on empirical investigation of character development. In 2016, the authors of this article were awarded a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust. The research goals of the 5-year study, named Project Arete (arete is the Greek word for excellence) were to examine how West Point develops excellent cadets—that is leaders of character—and to extrapolate lessons learned that would benefit both West Point and other institutions of higher learning that share West Point’s concern with character development. The principal investigators of the research effort met with Caslen and briefed him on the objectives of the study, to both solicit his support and also to learn from him ways in which the project could benefit West Point’s cadet development model. Caslen gave Project Arete his full support and directed his subordinate staff members to facilitate data collection.Given the importance of the project to West Point, Caslen requested regular updates on the progress of the study. Thus, Project Arete served his vision of including evidence-based knowledge into the continued development of West Point’s character development strategies (e.g., Callina et al., 2017; Callina et al., 2018).A key theoretical frame for the ways in which the WPLDS model could create a context at USMA for cadet character development was provided by concepts within the literature of positive youth development (e.g., Lerner, Lerner, Bowers, & Geldhof, 2015), a model of development that is derived from a relational developmental systems metatheory of the dynamic, holistic, and integrated relations that characterize the process of human development (Overton, 2015). Given its relational focus, research derived from the positive youth development model has focused on how specific contexts—youth development programs—could create coactions between a young person and the people and institutions in his or her context (represented as individual ^ context relations) that could promote character and, as well, other facets of positive development consistent with the WPLDS model (i.e., competence, confidence, connect, and caring; Lerner, et al., 2015). This research has found that, when character and these other positive attributes were developed, the young person would also be an individual oriented (dedicated) to contributing positively to his or her community and to the institutions of civil society and democracy (Lerner, 2004, 2018).Lerner et al. (2015) noted that when youth development programs had three key features (termed the “Big Three”; Lerner, 2004), then character and other attributes of thriving and contribution would be likely to emerge: (a) Positive and sustained relations between a young person and an adult who is competent, caring, and continually available for at least one year, such as a mentor, coach, or teacher; (b) Life-skill building activities (e.g., enhancing skills pertinent to the selection and pursuit of positive life goals; attaining skills such as executive functioning, self-regulation, and resource recruitment, to optimize the chances of attaining goals; and compensating effectively when goals are blocked or when failure occurs; i.e., a thriving young person can make a loss-based selection of another goal and continue to move forward in life); and (c) Opportunities to both participate in and to take a leadership role in values-positive activities.Although derived from the youth development literature, the Big Three has been found useful in accounting for positive individual ⬄ context relations in other college settings it is useful as well in understanding the system of that Caslen cadets and faculty and staff and at the that a new cadet at West Point, to as is for a 47-month long program of academic, physical, and character development experiences aimed at the mission goal of producing commissioned officers of character. programs and are carefully in order to an integrated developmental experiences may be in regard to the Big cadets their first at West Point in Cadet The honor code and the of living honorably, leading honorably, and demonstrating excellence are a core part of their experiences. 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The between cadets and far beyond the at West the academic during their year cadets a faculty member to serve as their academic who are civilian or military faculty with of and but the and character development of cadets as of the aforementioned Military is the for every cadet to a with military to with on their The several to a understanding of the of concepts in the practice of effective Prior to this cadets are not to participate in formal some by their own recent found that cadets who were the of or had a for and were more committed to in the as a result of this & over of cadets are Division and their and staff and As the of are the that upon other and other will the of highlighting the of in character development. Caslen, a Army the key role that and play in cadet development. In 2013, Caslen a the USMA In addition to the Caslen the team and them in special and training, to allow them to understand the their actions had on the as well as the it set for He was for the the from by character failures, of and character development programs, the outcome was with the some cadets more individual than Cadets who fail in character by the honor code or other disciplinary thorough investigation and, on the of the can be subject to under WPLDS. If a cadet is found of an the Superintendent will be retained or In these and Caslen adhered to a that cadets learn from their and better and with higher character than had not this This toward character and conduct had their in his prior at West Point as the of for the military training and of cadets. Caslen on a critical he in his first as Caslen is to the West Point’s Leader Development the cadets found of are in an long with an mentor, the cadet with the officer in of the to an and in-depth with officers and in a to the cadet to internalize and to with the importance of honor and character in a military Caslen has found the program to be his would be for all cadets to be but the of the this he graduates of the The he to the impact of the is that of a which than prior to the of character development within the Big Three is to of the selection for being admitted to West Point is leadership during as a team or class or related arrival at West Point, cadets are in a leadership from to experiences at West Point are beginning with learning skills as a new cadet and then more leadership responsibility as advance their and at West Point. as a Army all cadets are team leaders and serve as cadet noncommissioned and in cadet officer command and staff positions at the and are each to the leadership for every In during military training, cadets are key leadership positions during Cadet and during military training for upper class leadership experiences from cadet in All cadets participate in or in the are over and support leadership available to cadets. and leading activities cadets to learn skills to those will as both in regard to of and and in regard to and effective interpersonal and leadership Point a for cadets to practice and grow as and leaders of character. They benefit from a carefully and character and leader development They are by role and in every of their cadet In to lead character development approach by Caslen that cadets from diverse and that not all cadets have the Army and West Point values internalized when first the developmental WPLDS and with the support of the and leadership all cadets are thought to have the of the mission of West Point by the leaders of character to the Army and the on this process and the of the of human development has that are that may be across life and, in some each is Caslen this of as well, that can be in human development. where a young person in with and to take a leadership role in these skills in every young person can into a leader of Point is a year institution that in its and But Caslen’s experiences from his as a cadet to his in combat and him to this effort that character development into every of the 47-month in a and The emphasis on character as the of leadership will have a impact on the Army and the Nation for to and is the of Caslen’s West Point is a model of higher to development for life and not just this development the values of honor and with an to a of selfless service is a model that is of the at West Point as a developmental and as a context that the and moral of the diverse young people the also that across the and of and from the leadership and to character development by Robert L. Caslen, the 59th superintendent of West of Caslen became the of the of are that under Caslen’s the of will the of his focus and approach to character of this article was in part by a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.