WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sometimes in life the things you strive to achieve don’t happen on the expected timeline, which at West Point is graduating in 47 months. This was the case for three Class of 2024 Cadets who each missed one of their summer training requirements, which is an U.S. Military Academy prerequisite for all cadets to attain commissioning, due to injuries they had to recover from last summer.
All three recently fulfilled that requirement, which allowed them to satisfy their obligation to graduate from West Point.
Class of 2024 Cadets Benjamin Guerrieri, Julian Sanchez and Ian Winch each reached the finish line and became members of the Long Gray Line as they graduated June 14 in the Haig Room during the Class of 2024 Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony.
Joined by family, friends, staff, faculty and other supporters, the graduates basked in the moment of their day as USMA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland made the graduation address, presented the diplomas and commissioned each graduate. A member of the USMA Class of 1974, Timothy C. Tyson, part of the ‘24 class’s 50-year affiliate class, congratulated and bestowed second lieutenant bars to each graduate after they received their diplomas.
Originally from Temecula, Calif., Guerrieri was excited that his father, Matthew, who is a USMA Class of 1993 graduate, and family were able to make the long trip to share in his moment.
“I’m just so excited that I get to graduate and that my family is here to support me,” Guerrieri stated. “The motivation and the encouragement they’ve given me to persevere through all the hard times that West Point has brought makes this special. I’m just so thankful to be here today.”
Guerrieri said that he is “fortunate, humbled and honored,” to now be a member of the Long Gray Line.
“This is a place I wanted to come to for such a long time, and I’m so glad that I can now officially call myself a graduate,” he said.
He views his biggest accomplishment at West Point being a member of the Army West Point Gymnastics squad where he was proud to be a part of “the tightest knit group of guys that I’ve ever got to work with.”
He had some injuries over the years that created a fair share of physical obstacles, which led him to having to wait an extra month to graduate.
“I’ve been able to overcome those injuries and be able to compete, which I’m very fortunate and glad about,” Guerrieri explained. “However, due to the timeline with some injuries, it prohibited me from going to summer training last year, so I hung back just after May this year (to complete that training).”
Guerrieri is branching Infantry and will report to his Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) later this month at Fort Moore, Georgia.
“I’m very excited for all the schools I’ll get to go to after (graduation), and I will eventually end up at Fort Bliss, Texas, which I’m very excited about,” Guerrieri exclaimed.
Sanchez, who is a native of Toledo, Ohio, used the words “excited, happy and grateful” to best describe the moment of finally graduating, including a nod to the extra year he did at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School.
“I went to the Prep School, so this was a five-year journey for me, and it was a little later for graduation, but I’m ready to move on,” Sanchez said. “It was a good five years and I’m ready for what’s next.”
He said that being a member of the Long Gray Line is “very cool, very rewarding,” but it didn’t come without its tough circ*mstances.
“There were definitely points where I didn’t know if I was going to push through or not and finish it up,” Sanchez divulged. “But I’m glad I did. It was all worth it. It definitely was a rocky start at first, and just pushing through and saying I’m a graduate is a great feeling.”
And what is next for Sanchez? He is branching Field Artillery and will begin his BOLC on Oct. 24 at Fort Sill, Okla., with his first assignment scheduled for Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington.
He explained how enthusiastic he was that his family came to the graduation ceremony because of the sacrifices they made while he was growing up as a wrestler.
“They sacrificed for my sport,” Sanchez said. “There were many long nights and tournaments … I couldn’t have done anything without them.”
Sanchez, who was a member of the Army West Point Wrestling team, had his graduation delayed due to a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery and he had to miss training last summer, so he had to make it up just recently.
However, even though he didn’t get to experience the jubilation of celebrating with his 1,036 classmates in May, he still viewed this as a special day.
“I think this is a unique graduation with only three of us,” Sanchez said. “There are pros and cons to not being with everyone back in May, but I’m just grateful that I was able to get through that and graduate.”
Born in Huntsville, Ala., and growing up in Bristow, Va., Winch was very emotional about completing the extended 47-month journey that him and the two other cadets embarked on when they arrived at West Point during COVID in July 2020.
“I don’t know if words can adequately describe just how I feel today,” Winch explained. “All my family is here, my mentors, staff, faculty, teachers who I’ve had along the way, and some of my company mates – it’s been a really great day, and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Winch now joined his father, Col. Gary Winch, who was a classmate of the superintendent in the USMA Class of 1990, as part of the Long Gray Line along with the other graduates he spent time with as a member of the Class of 2024 Ring and Crest Committee.
Graduation day and being a member of the Long Gray Line hit him more on Friday than it did any other day at West Point.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with my 50-year affiliate class and getting to work with them throughout my four years here,” Winch said. “Today, above all days, has been the day where I’m saying, ‘OK, I’m a part of something now. Now I know I’m a part of something bigger even if I didn’t know it before.’ Now it just feels solidified – set in stone.”
Nonetheless, the greatest honor he feels is being a part of this with his dad.
“I’ve always looked up to my dad my entire life and he couldn’t impress upon me enough that when I decided to come here that it had to be my decision and that he was never going to force me to pursue the Long Gray Line,” Winch stated. “However, having him as a mentor throughout my life, and now being a part of the same organization and coming from the same culture – it’s amazing to share that with him and with the rest of my family.”
While Winch was not a Division I or competitive club athlete like the two classmates he graduated with, he felt one of his biggest accomplishments was being a part of and making teams he was involved with “tangibly” better.
“I enjoyed being a part of good teams and being a part of organizations that I was happy to work with and happy to lead every single day,” Winch explained.
He considered being a part of the Ring and Crest Committee a “great and very unique experience where I got to interact with a lot of Old Grads.”
“I was involved with people who shaped what we see here today and people who we all look up to for their service in the past,” he said.
Winch is a new second lieutenant who also had to make up summer training due to an injury the previous summer but is now healthy and will move onto Air Defense Artillery where he will begin his BOLC on July 14. After BOLC, he will be headed to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, where he will be a platoon leader for a Patriot Battery.
But now Winch is a graduate of West Point and as a cadet who was deeply involved with the Ring and Crest of the Class of 2024, it is very extraordinary to him to look at his ring now as a member of the Long Gray Line.
“The Ring Ceremony a year ago was one of those special moments right next to this one right now,” Winch concluded. “It does solidify (the importance of the ring) and it’s a constant reminder that this is the line that you’re a part of and these are the special people who you choose to be around.”
To view more photos from the June Graduation, visitSummer Term Academic Program Graduation | Flickr.
