A close cohort from the military academy’s Class of ’86 has risen to astonishing power in the U.S. government. Are they using it for the president, or the nation?
On May 28, 1986, newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Michael Pompeo stood at attention in Michie Stadium at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, first in his class. The career he was about to launch would take him from commanding a tank platoon in Germany to a seat in Congress, and ultimately to the right hand of President Donald Trump as secretary of State.
At least one of Trump's West Pointers has been subpoenaed in the House impeachment probe; Brechbuhl, who is the State Department’s counselor, has so far not met the House’s demand to appear. Impeachment investigators have demanded documents from Pompeo, who has defended the president’s actions as entirely appropriate and who has tried to resist efforts to get more State Department diplomats to testify.
Wellman is among multiple West Point alums who have raised such doubts about their brethren, either privately or on social media. The academy’s honor code, which they are expected to uphold both in the Army and beyond, reads: "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.
Like Pompeo, Brechbuhl was also an exceptional cadet, earning the designation of one of the “starmen” who got to wear gold stars on their collars. Esper wasn’t far behind, as the commander of one of the four cadet regiments and earning six merit stripes. They weren’t all standouts at West Point, however. Urban was a “strapper” who had to attend the equivalent of summer school for failing both differential equations and mechanical engineering—thus forced to wear two starsGreen, in an interview, admitted he “struggled” and hadn’t been prepared for the academic rigor. “Quite honestly, I got my butt handed to me for three semesters and then I figured it out,” he said. “I think I made the dean’s list once.
Top: Sec. of State Pompeo speaks with Defense Sec. Esper at bilateral talks in Sydney, Australia in Aug. 4, 2019. Bottom: President Donald Trump is joined by a few top officials, including Esper, while monitoring developments as U.S. Special Forces closed in on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. | Shealah Craighead/The White House via Getty Images, Rick Rycroft - Pool/Getty Images
But it is out of uniform where the class has made its largest imprint. Green recalls that Army Gen. Mark Milley, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joked at a private event some years ago that the number of high-ranking civilian officials from the class of ’86 were giving the generals a run for their money.
Urban put in a good word for Pompeo to be CIA director with Trump during the transition. He also advocated for Esper, first helping him become Trump’s Army secretary before he was tapped for the top Pentagon job earlier this year. At the past two Army-Navy football games, Trump visited Urban’s box, along with Pompeo and other members of the class.
The wider group also tries to get together regularly even with their busy schedules in Washington. To celebrate Urban's engagement last year, Pompeo and Esper attended an elegant party at the St. Regis Hotel organized by David McCormick, a member of the West Point class of 1987 and co-CEO of top hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, and now-wife Dina Powell McCormick, Trump’s former deputy national security adviser.
“Not every class is as tight and connected as we are,” Cannon said. “I will say that differentiates us.”
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