FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            RELEASE NO.  27-07

USMA SELECTS CADET FIRST CAPTAIN – Aug. 13, 2007

            WEST POINT, N.Y. – Cadet Jason Crabtree, son of Glen and Colleen Crabtree of Kingston, Wash., has been selected First Captain of the U.S. Military Academy’s Corps of Cadets for the 2007-2008 academic year, achieving the highest position in the cadet chain-of-command.

            As First Captain, Crabtree is responsible for the overall performance of the approximately 4,400 member Corps of Cadets.  He follows in the footsteps of other notable First Captains such as John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and William Westmoreland.

            It was Crabtree’s proven leadership ability, judgment and overall embodiment of the seven Army Values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage that earned him this most prestigious and demanding position.

            The First Captain, also called the Brigade Commander, is similar to a student body president.  His duties include implementing a class agenda and acting as a liaison between the Corps and the administration.  In addition, Crabtree is the top of a pyramid of cadet commanders who make up the chain-of-command for the Corps of Cadets at West Point.

Crabtree graduated from West Sound Academy in 2004 and is currently a Civil Engineering major here at West Point.

            He recently held the position of Cadet Basic Training Commander, first detail and will assume his duties as the Brigade Commander Aug. 13, which marks the completion of Cadet Basic Training for the Class of 2011.

-30-