United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, is the undergraduate professional college for the United States Army. Founded in 1802, it is now part of a system of Army educational institutions under the Training and Doctrine Command. While other organizations are responsible for specialized, midcareer and senior training, it now does include research centers, especially its Combating Terrorism Center.

From a pure trade school, it now is accredited in many disciplines. The faculty is a mixture of permanent civilians and rotating military personnel.

It was never the only source of Army officers, but, for many years, West Point graduates tended to have a significant career advantage, automatically graduating with a Regular Army commission. This is no longer the case; graduates of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, such as Colin Powell, have risen to the highest ranks.