This U.S. Army film “The Making of a Leader” dates to 1966 — the Vietnam War era — and shows the operation of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Targeted at male high school students, the film explains how cadets at West Point receive military training in addition to a well-rounded education. It will follow one cadet’s journey from high school to becoming a member of the corps, life as a cadet and finally, graduation. The film begins with a montage of some of the leaders who emerged from West Point including Gen. MacArthur and Gen. Eisenhower, before showing a high school student eating lunch with his fellow students, and meeting with a guidance counselor about West Point. (1:01). Annually thousands apply to the school though the selection process is strict and not all will be accepted (1:30). The film informs viewers that the best ally to discover your qualifications is your guidance consular (1:36). West Point has up to date curriculums in addition to modern buildings and educational equipment (1:50). The application process follows beginning with the first step which is to write US senators and local congressional representatives for nominations (2:10). After this step, potential students are tested in an Army facility near their home (2:19) for physical, health and academic aptitude (2:27). The entryway into West Point follows (2:30) and men inside are seen learning how to operate weapons (2:58), conducting drills (3:06) and marching precisely in unison with one another (3:19). Cadets receive a balance of classroom studies as well as physical training in combat courses in the field (3:25). A religious service on the campus follows as cadets had a variety of extracurricular activities they could participate in (4:23). Courses provided include advanced technological studies as well as the essentials such as math, science, engineering and social sciences (4:55). Class size is small and instruction was individual (5:17). Cadets were to select their specific area of study by the third year and were to pick their electives from this (5:30). The computer center follows (6:04), with shots of a General Electric mainframe being used on a closed circuit, instructional television system which was part of the communications program (6:18). West Point was ranked in the mid to late sixties as fourth among American colleges in number of Rhodes Scholars that it sent to Oxford (6:48) and 75% of graduates went on to receive a masters or doctorate degree (6:56). Cadets learned to use machine guns, tanks and other military weapons here (7:16). Through their extensive program, cadets obtained necessary leadership skills (7:27) and before graduation they would also have studied military history and strategy (7:38). Here a cadet is showing a musket used in the Revolutionary War which required its members to have teeth so that they could bite off the paper cartridge in order to dump in the gun powder (7:52). Sports were of high importance and cadets could participate in them at the varsity, intramural or club level (8:33). What appears to be a tutoring session turns out to be a date (8:57) and as informed by the narrator, cadets would have ample time to date in addition to their courses and trainings. The film provides a montage of what is available to students of West Point (9:25). Graduates were also able to join the NASA program and a few famous names that attended the school follow including Ulysses S. Grant (9:55), Dwight Eisenhower, Edward White and Frank Borman (10:02). The film concludes on West Point’s crest (10:44).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com