Spanish cadets at West Point, the United States Military Academy

@DefAviation ES 1·18·2024 · 20:58 0

The United States Military Academy (USMA), known as West Point, is one of the most famous military academies in the world.

The training of the 'green berets' of the Armies of Spain and the US in Alicante
The images of Spanish military shooters in the home of the United States Special Forces

Founded in 1802, many generations of US Army officers have been trained at that academy, having in its history such famous students as Ulysses S. Grant (class of 1843), John J. Pershing (1886 ), Douglas MacArthur (1903), George S. Patton (1909), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1915), Omar Bradley (1915) and flying ace Robin Olds (1943), as well as 20 astronauts and 76 military distinguished with the Medal of Honor, the highest US military decoration.

In addition to providing military training to future US Army officers, West Point has exchange programs with military academies in other countries, including the General Military Academy (AGM) of Spain, which periodically sends a select group of Spanish Army cadets, the most outstanding, to complete a semester of their studies at the American academy. A similar exchange is carried out between the Naval Military School of the Spanish Navy and the Annapolis Academy of the US Navy.

The exchanges between the USMA and the AGM begin in summer, when the Spanish cadets join the Wets Point instruction phase, returning to Spain in December to resume their studies. Spanish cadets have even served as instructors for their American colleagues , as already happened in 2019. At the same time, West Point cadets also do exchanges in Spain.

The most recent exchange between the AGM and the USMA, last year, consisted of ten Spanish cadets, two women and eight men, all already with the rank of second lieutenant. The Spanish Embassy in the United States has published today a video in which these cadets explain their experience at West Point. As you can see, during their stay at the USMA, AGM cadets use the gray uniform of their academy:

In order to get an idea of the good relationship and respect that exists between both academies, I recover this video that we already saw in 2019, in which the West Point Band, the band of oldest military musician in the US, performed the AGM Anthemin the Hall Theater of the American Academy on February 24, 2018:

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Main photo: Embassy of Spain in the US. The Spanish ambassador to the United States with the ten AGM cadets who studied at West Point last year.