Applicants must have an above-average academic record and qualities of leadership, and be fit, strong, and agile. They are nominated by either a person connected with the service or by a member of Congress.
THE WEST POINT MISSION
Old West Point saying:
Always move on and never look back. Never do the same thing twice.
The best place for a nomad to sleep is a motel. It has beds and doors that lock. Pay cash and don’t give your real name.
“Part of being a drifter means you look forward, not backward. You concentrate on what’s ahead.”
Arrange the smallest details in your life so that you can move on at a split second’s notice.
Own nothing, carry nothing.
Two days in one place is about the limit.
Transience is a habit you can’t break.
A wad of dollars means … a few more weeks when you don’t have to find a job.
Don’t do permanent, be a Reacher, not a Settler.
Take the first bus out.
“They say you need to ride the rails for a while to understand the traveling blues. They’re wrong. To understand the traveling blues, you need to be locked down somewhere. In a cell. Or in the Army. Someplace where you’re caged. Someplace where smokestack lightning looks like a faraway beacon of impossible freedom.”
CODES USED BY THE MILITARY POLICE
10–2 Ambulance urgently needed
10-3 Motor vehicle accident
10-4 Wrecker requested
10-7 Pick up prisoner
10-8 Subject in custody
10-9 Send police van
10-10 Escort/transport
10-13 Repeat last message
10-14 Your location?
10-15 Go to …
10-16 Contact by secure landline
10-17 Return to base
10-18 Assignment completed/mission accomplished
10-19 Contact by phone or radio
10-22 Fire
