For cadets, Christmas vacation brings pleasure and pain as they visit the lives they left behind--and their family and friends discover just how much West Point has changed them.
The days and weeks after September 11 are uncharted territory for the cadets at West Point--many of the graduating class may find themselves in combat, while the new cadets struggle to make sense of serving their country.
It's the final countdown--graduation is days away and the seniors are itching to leave while the plebes are preparing for another summer of soldiering.
Conformity is the first rule at West Point, but leaders cannot be robots--beneath each uniform is a human being struggling to find a balance between the demands of duty and the call of personal freedom.
While seniors prepare to graduate into a world in conflict as leaders in the U.S. Army, plebes are learning what it means to break the rules at West Point.
During the final week of Cadet Basic Training, the new cadets face the fiercest test yet. If they can't learn to struggle and survive together, they won't make it through the obstacles that await them.
Whether it's jumping from a plane with your teammates in the sky or playing in the Army-Navy game watched by millions, sports are mandatory for every cadet.
In a changing world of war, cadets will have to rely on subtle skills to survive and sometimes, the best that West Point can teach them is to expect the unexpected.
As classrooms transform into war rooms during Military Intercession, the cadets role play as leaders, studying the campaigns of the past and military strategy.