Lee Hyder

Excellence as a baseline, not a goal. That's what a day at the United States Military Academy at West Point looks like. Thank you, Dr. @FrankLuntz, Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland and Mrs. Gilland, and the Corps for welcoming me into your home. @WestPoint_USMA

Start "Ruck March" really an 8 mile run, march for all 500 #Sandhurst2026 Cadets from Plain up mt to Camp Frederick, one of the top moments of year at USMA @WestPoint_USMA @ausa #USMA @usarmy @NavyLeagueUS @AmericanLegion @navyleaguenyc #USnavy #USarmy #CaMMVetsMedia

@asforfootball USMA Black in lead, USMA Gold sitting third. Go to FB for full rundown.

12-5 now, anyone have the Sandhurst scoreboard?!?

@TT_Army_AD This is great news! Tough wrestler.

Let’s go!!!!

Here's a throwback photo -- so long ago that it was before I attended EOD School, which would begin on February 1, 1969 at Indian Head, Maryland, for 12 weeks. Did you know that EOD is operated under the authority of the U.S. Navy? My school was at Indian Head. It's now located at Eglin AFB, Florida.

People don't realize how absurd this view actually is. A camera. On a robot. On Mars. Built by humans on a planet 140 million miles away, launched on a rocket, landed using a sky crane, and now driving across an alien desert taking pictures so detailed you can count the rocks. 100 years ago, your great-grandparents thought airplanes were a miracle. You are scrolling past Mars on your phone.

100 years ago, this photo would have ended every newspaper headline on Earth. Today it'll get scrolled past in 2 seconds. This is a photograph of Mars. Taken today. 140 million miles away from us.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket just launched for the first time in 1.5 years! Falcon Heavy launches are pretty rare, as this is only the 11th Falcon Heavy mission ever. Cool to see it fly again! 🚀

Former Army punter Nick Schrage headed to Tampa Bay Buccaneers for week of internship #ArmyFootball connection in Tampa with Bucs’ recent signing of Noah Short #BlackKnightsInTheNFL

USMAPS Final Max Out numbers @ChrisNic34 @ArmyWP_Football 1520 LB Total 620 Deadlift 565 Squat 335 Bench 35 in Vertical Jump 6 “4” 245

A Great Example of Mentoring In June 1970, I was an SP4. I had been doing EOD in Vietnam for less than 100 days when I was confronted with my first 500-pound bomb to defuse. First Cav was setting up a fire support base they were calling FSB Camelot. While they were putting in M102 105 mm howitzer gun positions, they ran across dud bombs. So, SFC Fearnow and I were called in to get rid of the bombs. Two of the bombs had a red window, meaning they were armed. So, immediately we evacuated the FSB by having everybody move 300 meters away. Even if they both had shown green windows, we would treat them as armed, but when red was showing, there was no doubt. One of the bombs was only about twenty feet from a 105 mm gun position. If it went off, it would take the gun and the crew with it. It would destroy a significant part of the FSB. My mouth went dry as I took one bomb and Fearnow took the other one. He said that we’ll deal with the two bombs at the same time. This was my first big bomb to render safe. I used my bare hands to turn the fuze counterclockwise to unscrew the fuze from the bomb.  Luckily, the fuze was not on it too tight. I started turning. The threads were smooth. The fuze rotated. I could feel every rotation through my hands, through my whole body. It's like I became connected to the bomb, like we were one thing, and if it decided to detonate, we would become nothing together. Turn. Turn. Turn. As I unscrewed the fuze, I wondered what would happen if it detonated. Would I see the bomb swell and a bright flash? Would I still have consciousness without a body? The fuze came free. I stood up and looked over at Fearnow. He was grinning. "Not bad, Vining." "Yeah," I said. My voice sounded strange. "Not bad." Since my childhood, I had always wondered what it would feel like to disarm a large bomb when I saw a British bomb disposal officer do it in a movie. It was a large German bomb in a catacomb under London, England. We walked fifty meters into the jungle, placed both fuzes in a small crater, rigged them with C-4, and a priming system. The explosion was sharp and clean. Two red windows were gone. We pulled it together, no drama, no red windows. Just another piece of ordnance rendered safe. By 1600 hours, we were done. The bombs would be sling-loaded out by helicopter. I describe this incident with a lot more detail in “Blasting Through.” But for today, I wanted to use this story as an example of mentoring. At FSB Camelot, I recognized a great mentor in SFC Fearnow. He allowed me to defuse my first big bomb while he defused his bomb. We worked side by side. Close enough that he could help if I needed it, but far enough away that I had to do it myself. Mentoring doesn’t have to be complicated. It should be a natural extension of your leadership. It’s not so much about teaching or supervising. Fearnow was just there to assure me that I could do it but that if I ran into trouble, he was there. This was one of the first times I noted to myself how important mentoring is. I decided to catalog in my mind each time I saw a great example of mentoring like I had witnessed with Fearnow that day in June 1970. I figured that if I lived long enough, I would be the one on the ground with the most experience. And then I could pull out those filed away memories of good mentoring and help others practice the skill and build their confidence at the same time.

@DrunkOldGrad Thank you for sharing this. I’m sorry to hear this news. Hopefully, we can get this information out to people who can help this family.

This is incredibly difficult to write, however a West Point brother needs us right now. Ben Lemon (2017) lost his 7-year-old son Solomon last month. His two remaining boys (ages 5 and 3) have the same rare mitochondrial disease. Ben and his lovely wife Katja are not giving up. They are researching trials, going to work, and fighting for their family.  Two things you can do right now: Share this post and support by giving what you can, link below: gofundme.com/f/nh893-help-t…  If you have connections in pharma or mitochondrial disease research, DM me directly. Pretzel Therapeutics (drug: PX578) is in trials that could change everything for his boys. For Solomon. And for the Lemon family. 🖤💛

A standard of excellence. CADET-athletes making history. #Culture

On October 3, 1993, during the chaotic Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, Captain James Francis Yacone, a skilled Black Hawk pilot with the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers), flew as co-pilot of Super 62 into one of the most intense urban firefights in modern American military history. When the lead helicopter, Super 61, was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed deep in hostile territory, Yacone and his crew immediately swung into action amid a storm of enemy fire. Despite relentless small-arms and RPG attacks from thousands of Somali militiamen swarming the streets, Yacone directed an urgent medical evacuation response while his aircraft provided critical fire support and coordination for ground forces. Refusing to withdraw, Captain Yacone helped infill two Delta Force snipers—Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart—directly onto the second crash site (Super 64) to defend the downed crew, knowing the mission was becoming a desperate fight for survival. His own helicopter, Super 62, absorbed heavy damage from enemy fire but continued orbiting and suppressing threats until it too was critically hit by an RPG. Yacone and pilot Chief Warrant Officer Mike Goffena managed a controlled crash landing at the port area. Even after the violent impact, Yacone immediately rendered lifesaving first aid to a severely wounded passenger on board. His extraordinary calm, leadership, and bravery under withering fire throughout the night helped buy precious time for the surrounded task force. For these actions, Captain James Francis Yacone was awarded the Silver Star. His courage that day became part of the legendary "Black Hawk Down" story and remains a powerful example of the Night Stalkers’ creed: "Night Stalkers don’t quit." #Blackhawkdown #Military #History #blackhawkpilot #160thSpecialOperations Aviation Regiment facebook.com/share/p/16Yv2F…

@ThoughtsKnM @mercoglianos @Rory_Johnston Oil is priced on a global basis so if the strait is closed then everyone pays the price. I don't think you want $6/gal.diesel for too long or it will negatively impact the US economy and that's a US problem.

@mercoglianos @Rory_Johnston Not our cost, not our issue to deal with. They want and need the oil they can have it and take it back. Stop being a cuck to terrorists

Very cool seeing the wave of empty tankers heading to the US to pick up some desperately needed crude for Hormuz-starved markets. All the tankers on the map below are empty VLCCs (~2 million barrel capacity each) currently heading for the US Gulf Coast.

@BrigadeReview He is rich enough to afford it himself. He has bigger problems than not having a personal Uber driver.

Between Tiger and Scottie, how long is it before the PGA Tour just hires personal chauffeurs for all golfers who have earned over a certain threshold?

@1covingtonfan @JustinJBasch @PackWrestle The Army has the WCAP program so I would think he would once he finishes his officer Basic Course

@JustinJBasch @PackWrestle So I suppose he’s not going to continue in the international scene?

Not a loud storyline from this weekend, but an awesome & rare one: @PackWrestle's Isaac Trumble, who was undefeated on the year, and shut out #1 Yonger Bastida in the Finals to win his NCAA title, will be commissioned in the Army in May. Having been a member of NC State's ROTC program, he will look to begin his career in the U.S. Army Infantry as a field artillery officer. Gotta love & appreciate that! Thank you for your service, @isaactrumble_! 🫡🇺🇸

@DonaldF30701992 @mercoglianos @atrupar Scaling up Venezuelan production will take years. The hydrocarbon industry has long planning horizons. Even wells that have been drilled but not finished will take time to make into a producing asset.

@mercoglianos @atrupar That was before Venezuela ! While their production is currently low, I believe it will ramp fast !

Trump: “We don’t use the Strait. We don’t need it”

National Champions! (For everyone in the back) NATIONAL!!!!!! CHAMPIONS!!!!! #GoArmy