“West Point Is Home With The People You Love”: Finding Your Tribe At The Academy And In The Army

Sara Downing was born in 1992 and grew up in Texas and North Carolina. Her grandfather was a Colonel in the Air Force, and her father commissioned through Navy ROTC and served as a Marine pilot for 21 years. After retiring from the Marine Corps, he sold cars before becoming a high school science teacher. Her mother is a medical technologist. Sara enjoyed clogging, snowboarding, and playing the clarinet and base drum. In the high school marching band she began to develop a love for leading people. She received a letter about applying to the academy as a high school senior, and on a whim she went to a briefing. With the deadline for submitting an application fast approaching, she completed her paperwork in three days. On R-Day, she passed out from heat exhaustion after vomiting on the steps of the Mess Hall. She was taken to a room to recover and received two bags of IV fluid but little guidance about returning to the R-Day activities. After recovering sufficiently, she ventured back out into the hallway, where helpful Beast Cadre pointed her in the right direction. She felt that Beast “was good in a character-building way,” but she “had never failed at things so consistently.” Her Buckner summer felt more like a “summer camp” and she enjoyed hanging out with friends. She earned her airborne wings one summer, and that was a good connection point with her dad, who initially was concerned about his daughter in a military environment. During her Cow year, she did an exchange semester at the Air Force Academy, which she felt was easier than West Point and validated her decision to attend the Military Academy. She did well academically, majoring in economics with a statistics minor, noting that “I like math and people.” She did well militarily, serving as a Battalion Command Sergeant Major and a Regimental S3 during her Firstie year. She competed on the Fencing Team and her proudest moment was winning her bout at Nationals. She describes the culture in Company A1 as a toxic “boys club,” where alcohol was snuck into the barracks and the male Cadets “hit on women.” Even though she disliked the men in her company, she had great roommates. Early on, the roommates all decided that dates had to earn their approval, with the understanding that they would limit the number of Cadets they dated to avoid getting a reputation. Sara recalls dating one of her male company mates as a horrible decision and recounts the “weird norms around dating.” As a Cadet, Sara felt that she had to earn her spot every day and was fighting to be seen. For example, during summer training, she volunteered to carry extra ammunition and tried to be “loud and in your face.” She often dealt with self-confidence issues at the Academy, although once she proved herself she felt she got respect. She describes some of the sexist Cadet slang that she experienced, like “Trou” (short for trousers, reflecting the poorly tailored women’s pants) and “T-Bucket” (short for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream – trou bucket). Turning a particular slur on its head, if she or her friends maxed the PT (Physical Training) test, they rewarded themselves with a T Bucket. Understanding that she was under a microscope, she was aware of dressing very conservatively and wearing little to no makeup. Reflecting on her relationship with other women, she describes it as toxic mentorship, stating, “I was harder on women I was in charge of than on the men.” She notes that today all of her close relationships from the Academy are women. When SHARP (Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention) was implemented as the Army’s #1 priority, she recalls male Cadets wondering why winning wars was not at the top. Even so, she always felt safe in the barracks. She discusses being raped off post by a Cadet she had been friendly with. Alcohol was involved and they had unwanted sex. Initially, she thought she may have been pregnant. It took her a year to admit to herself that she had been raped. She had tried to bury it, and it changed her self-confidence because she felt she had lost control. Her performance in school declined and she self-isolated, cutting herself off from relationships. She did not pursue resources for herself, although now she admits she probably would have benefitted from it. Upon graduation, she commissioned into the Military Intelligence because of “the vibe” of the branch, noting “find your tribe – people you fit in with.” She reported to 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and found Hawaii “amazing.” Arriving in her battalion, she was one of fewer than 10 women in the unit, which was trying to adjust to the presence of women. She enjoyed learning how to speak the language of combat arms, which helped when she was assigned as the UAS (unmanned aerial surveillance) Platoon Leader. She knew she had made it when her supported unit approached her with increasingly creative ways to use her drones. She developed a great relationship with her Platoon Sergeant, and she enjoyed learning from her Staff Sergeants when they taught her their jobs. She loved being a UAS Platoon Leader, with the exception of the time that a supported unit came up with a derogatory and sexist nickname for her. After the Career Course, she reported to the 1st Cavalry Division as a Squadron Intelligence Officer in 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, where she found her footing and really “became an intelligence officer.” She then took command of D Company, 3rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, in 3rd Brigade. She loved company command, but found it challenging. In Texas, she also met her wife, Melissa. After command, she was selected to return to West Point to teach in the Department of Social Sciences, and earned her Masters Degree in public policy at Duke University. Reflecting on her service, she states, “I am one expression of the American Dream,” noting that she gets to help define who the military is. At the end of the interview, she states West Point is “the place I found my voice in leadership,” and it “taught me what I am capable of.”