West Point Society of Switzerland

About the society

Mission

The West Point Society of Switzerland exists to serve graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point who live in Switzerland, to support the Academy and the Long Gray Line, and to uphold the ideals of Duty, Honor, Country in our professional and personal lives here.

In practice that means four things:

  • Bring graduates together regularly, across classes and across cantons.
  • Welcome new arrivals and help them find their footing in Switzerland.
  • Support cadets, candidates, and families with a connection to Switzerland.
  • Keep the society connected to the West Point Association of Graduates and to sister societies in Europe.

History

For years, West Point graduates in Switzerland knew of each other but rarely met. That changed in April 2026, when graduates spanning the Class of 1959 to the Class of 2017 sat down together in Bern for the first Founders Day dinner held in Switzerland.

The response made the case for a permanent society. Over the following months the group organized itself, adopted the name West Point Society of Switzerland, and began the process of recognition by the West Point Association of Graduates.

Founders Day commemorates the founding of the Academy on 16 March 1802. Our society is a small, recent addition to a very long line.