Politico should be shut down IMO.
At least Kyle Cheney should be fired.
As the parent of a WP graduate, (but not a Carson supporter), I can offer the following observations.
West Point and all Army officers are encouraged to look for promising young men, and to encourage them to apply. If the young man in question is interested, these officers will write letters of endorsement to the West Point admittance committee on their behalf. These letters of recommendation go West Point directly, to be included in the potential cadet’s file, and these letters are very important. West Point then sends an acceptance or rejection letter.
If one gets an acceptance letter, the next phase begins, which will, hopefully, lead to an appointment.
After West Point’s admittance office decides which potantial applicants they will accept as future cadets, they send lists to an army officer near the young person and interviews begin.
Eventually, the list of potential applicants are sent to the local congressperson, and then another committee interviews the applicants, and then, some are offered an appointment, depending on how many openings there are in that congress person’s district.
At the time my son went through the process, I think each congressman could have 5 from his district attending, so if 4 were already there, he could only choose 1 for the upcoming year.
Hope this helps clear up the media nonsense.
When my son decided t try for an appointment, we thought of it as a “scholarship”, as there is no tuition, and cadets are paid a stipend from which they purchase their uniforms and other essentials. After graduation, they are expected to serve for a specified period of time in the Army. If they drop out of the Academy after a certain point, they are expected to pay the Army back, or enter the service immediately without rank.
So, I can see how military officers/Westmoreland might have explained to a very young Carson that he could get, with their recommendation, an appointment to WP if he decided to apply.