“A Symbol Of What’s Right With America”: West Point, Army Service, And School Administration

Elizabeth Hine was born in February 1963 and grew up in Huntington, New York, with her twin brother and three other brothers. One brother, William, graduated from West Point in 1981, and one brother, Richard, graduated from Annapolis in 1982. As a young girl, she enjoyed playing field hockey and softball, and loved school, reading, and cooking. She became interested in West Point by watching her older brother William and spending a day with him as a Cadet. Once she became a Cadet, she remembers encountering an older Cadet who had been hazed by her older brother. She recalls “lots of yelling” on R-Day and being dazed and confused. Although she loved challenges and enjoyed Army training, she hated waking up for PT. She did well academically, placing in the top 200 in her class, and recalls her experiences in Electrical Engineering and Spanish, including a brief exchange at the Mexican Military Academy. She was on her class’s Ring and Crest committee, played intramural sports, and swam whenever she had the chance. She was in A3 during her Plebe year and C2 for the other years, developing great friendships. She learned to “practice like it is the real thing” at West Point, a lesson she learned in self-defense class where she recalls being nearly “choked out” by a classmate. She commissioned as a Quartermaster Officer because she liked working with supplies and supporting others, and there seemed to be a lot of opportunities in that branch. She and her husband, an engineer officer, were stationed in the Hanau / Frankfort area, where she ran a Class IX repair parts unit consisting of 60 Soldiers and 60 civilians. When she had her second child, she left the Army on a “family hardship” discharge, ultimately having two more children. After leaving the Army, she earned a master’s degree in elementary education, eventually becoming a school principal and serving as an administrator for 17 years. She loves being a leader and role model, and describes West Point as “a symbol of what’s right with America.”