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United States Military Academy Preparatory School

Motto	Desire · Faith · Effort
Type	Federal military academy prep school
Established	1947
Commandant	COL Richard B. Johnson
Administrative staff	~100 faculty
Students	~240
Location	West Point, New York, United States
Campus	United States Military Academy
Athletics	15 varsity teams, called "Black Knights"
Colors	Black █, gray █, and gold █
Website	United States Military Academy Prep School

The United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) is a preparatory school for the United States Military Academy (USMA). Located in West Point, New York since 2011, its mission is "to provide academic, military and physical instruction in a moral-ethical military environment to prepare and motivate candidates for success at the United States Military Academy".

History

Between the two world wars, the U.S. was divided into nine corps areas, and each of these maintained its own preparatory school, all being supervised by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point staff. In June 1946, USMAPS was founded at Stewart Army Air Field in Newburgh, New York. The school was moved to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 1957 and to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1975. USMAPS moved to West Point 18 July 2011, when the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act closed Fort Monmouth.

The USMAPS official mission is "to provide academic, military and physical instruction in a moral-ethical military environment to prepare and motivate candidates for success at the United States Military Academy."

Admissions

There are two categories of prep school students: Prior Service (PSs) and Invitational Reservists (IRs).

Prior Service

Prior Service cadet candidates are current or prior service U.S. Army enlisted soldiers aged 17 to 22 who have been admitted to the U.S. Military Academy but choose to take an additional year at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School to review high school academic skills.

Invitational Reservists

Invitational Reservists are persons who have no prior military experience but have been contingently admitted to the U.S. Military Academy — usually due either to being an intercollegiate athlete or having been nominated by a dignitary — conditioned on their ability to improve their academic performance or physical fitness through a period of enrollment at the preparatory school.

Invitational Reservists are admitted solely for the purpose of attending the prep school and have no deployment obligations beyond the confines of campus. Unlike U.S. Military Academy cadets, they are permitted to unilaterally terminate their military enlistment at their leisure and without incurring any financial obligations or future service commitment. Invitational Reservists are not considered veterans until they matriculate to West Point, enter active duty service, and then subsequently leave active duty service. Time spent as USMAPs by Invitational Reservists is considered training, not active duty service.

Criticism of Invitational Reservist program

The Invitational Reservist program has been criticized as a "scam". Writing in the New York Times, Joe Nocera opined that the military prep schools of the various service branches were a way of recruiting academically unqualified student athletes for intercollegiate play.

Notes

1. An exception exists for those who incur a service-connected disability while at USMAPS.

References

1. "About". Retrieved 3 March 2013.
2. "USMAPS Home Page". USMAPS. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
3. ^ Dunklin, Shaftone (2012). The transfer veteran student experience: Exploring college choice, transition, and collegiate experiences of veterans (Ph.D. thesis). Eastern Michigan University. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
4. "Processing Applications for Benefits". va.gov. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
5. ^ Thompson, Mark (27 June 2013). "Service-Connected Dissembling". Time. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
6. ^ Nocera, Joe (8 April 2013). "The Military Prep School Scam". New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

External links

• The USMAPS official website
• USMAPS Parent Listserver A website for parents of CCs.
• West-Point.org Website with various information pertaining to USMAPS.

v t e United States Military Academy
Academics	Combating Terrorism Center DPE
Athletics	Teams Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Handball Men's ice Hockey Men's lacrosse Rugby Men's soccer Softball Venues Arvin Gymnasium Christl Arena Doubleday Field Gillis Field House Michie Stadium Tate Rink Rivalries Navy (football) Navy (lacrosse) Navy (soccer) Commander-in-Chief's Trophy
Campus	Chapels Catholic Jewish Old Cadet Protestant Other buildings Flirtie Walk Grounds Cemetery Hayes Gym Lusk Reservoir Monuments Plain Thayer Hotel Trophy Point West Point Light
History	Academy History Constitution Island Fort Clinton Fort Putnam Great Chain Kosciuszko's Garden Redoubt Four
People	Alumni Top-ranking graduates "Class the stars fell on" Notable non-grads Master of the Sword Superintendent current Sylvanus Thayer
Traditions	Class ring Honor Code IOCT Mules On, Brave Old Army Team Sandhurst Competition Thayer Award The Corps
Lore	Eggnog riot
Category

41°23′52″N 73°58′47″W / 41.3976485°N 73.9797235°W / 41.3976485; -73.9797235

• Military academies of the United States
• United States Military Academy
• Military education and training in the United States
• High schools in New York (state)
• Defunct schools in New Jersey
• Defunct schools in Virginia