Presentation from the Director of Cadet Activities (DCA)

LTC Craig Flowers, the DCA, provided the second of Thursday afternoon’s Plenary Session briefings. LTC Flowers was a particularly engaging speaker who regaled the audience with humorous tales and witty anecdotes. His briefing was quite informative and offered its listeners much insight into the operation of Eisenhower Hall and many other DCA functions, including the myriad cadet clubs, competitive and otherwise. His theme--and the DCA motto--was "All for the Corps." To the extent that certain of his operations--most notably the Eisenhower Hall Theater and the Bookstore--are losing money, they detract from his support for the cadets, so he is working hard to find ways to make those operations profitable.

He told attendees that he had received and carefully read the report by John Calabro '68 on Class Ring procurement and sales. He reported that ring prices were down from previous years and at the same time, argued that comparing the ring program at West Point to that at other schools was a case of apples compared to oranges. There was no comparison, he said, citing for an example of an Academy-unique feature, the monthly service visits the ring company makes to West Point. He stressed that cadets were free to buy their own stones if they so desired, but noted that they had to secure an appraisal of the stone, a service that is relatively cheap in the Hudson Valley area. When asked whether cadets and their parents knew about the Cadet Store mark-up, he responded that they did and they did not object to it.

After listening to LTC Flowers’ presentation, one came away with the impression that the DCA is in good hands and will provide its constituency with a well-run, engaging program of cadet activities.