WEST POINT, N.Y. (July 16, 2010) -- Lt. Gen. Buster Hagenbeck will relinquish command as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy July 19 to Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr., and he said there is no one better to guide West Point forward during this era of persistent conflict.
"I consider having the opportunity to lead West Point as the capstone assignment of my career -- one for which I'll be forever grateful," Hagenbeck said. "Lieutenant General Huntoon is absolutely the right person to lead our exceptional staff and faculty to accomplish West Point's critical mission and ensure the academy continues to meet the needs of our Army and nation in the future."
Huntoon, a Class of 1973 graduate, returns to West Point after serving as director of the Army Staff at the Pentagon. He has commanded at every level from company through regiment, served as deputy director of plans with the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., and commandant of the Army War College.
West Point has long been the academic stomping grounds of many future military leaders from Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and presidents such as Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Likewise, when Huntoon graduated from West Point, the rising class of senior cadets included Gen. David Petraeus (Class of 1974), now commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, while the newest crop of cadets to enter as the Class of 1976 included Gen. Ray Odierno, commanding general of U.S. Joint Forces Command.
Huntoon will command the efforts of the faculty and staff to continually assess and improve the Cadet Leader Development System. This training methodology provides for sequential and progressive development in three complementary programs -- academic, military and physical -- in a moral-ethical environment that promotes exemplary character, according to academy officials.
U.S. Army
