Academy Dreams
Aerial view of West Point on the Hudson River

USMA · Life at the academy · Year 2 of 4

Yearling yearU.S. Military Academy (West Point) · Third class

What year 2 of 4 at USMA looks like: milestones, training, privileges and the service commitment, from official USMA pages.

West Point and the Hudson River from the air, 2013. Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What this year is like

Yearling year starts with Cadet Field Training at Camp Buckner. Yearlings become cadet corporals, start courses in their major and narrow their branch choices.

Rank and duties
After CFT you're promoted to cadet corporal, a junior NCO12.
Branch step
Yearlings narrow their choices to 5 branches, and branch talks help them pick a Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT) slot3.

Key milestones and events

  • Cadet Field Training at Camp Buckner
  • Cadet corporal
  • Yearling Winter Weekend
  • Inspiration to Serve
Milestones
Yearling Winter Weekend, a formal banquet and dance, and "Inspiration to Serve," a guided walk through the West Point Cemetery1.

Academics and training

Summer training
Cadet Field Training (CFT) at Camp Buckner. The yearling page calls it "three intense weeks" of land navigation, marksmanship, platoon tactics, and water obstacles like the Slide for Life1. CFT prepares third class cadets "to assume duties as non-commissioned officers"4.
Academics
You start courses in your major5.

Privileges

USMA’s public pages don’t publish privileges for this class year, so we don’t list any. Ask the academy.

Service commitment

When it becomes binding: At the Affirmation Oath, the night before cow (junior) classes begin. Before then, cadets "may leave... without incurring a service obligation"6.

Sources

  1. Yearling Milestones (westpoint.edu)
  2. Corps of Cadets (westpoint.edu)
  3. Branch Education (westpoint.edu)
  4. Military Training (westpoint.edu)
  5. Plebe Milestones (westpoint.edu)
  6. USMA (westpoint.edu)

Official pages change. Confirm details with USMA before you plan around them.

Still in high school?

See what to do each year, from freshman year to reporting day, for USMA.

High school, year by yearUSMA overview