High Life A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : The Tustin Tillers: West Point’s Farm Club

Looks like any other high school: the district-issue drab paint job, the chain-link fencing around the perimeter to discourage the ditcher. Smells like any other high school: the constantly mowed lawn, the musty unopened books. Feels like any other high school: the dark administration area, the pain in your gut as you walk to the assistant principal’s office.

But Tustin High has an interesting little stat that separates it from every other high school in California, and probably around the country. Since 1984, the Tustin Tillers have produced nine West Point candidates: Brent Borden, Dave Lauderdale and Fred Rice Jr. from the class of ‘84; Tom Feuerborn and Matt Blitch, who graduated in 1985; Lori Reider, class of ‘87; and three who will be plebes this fall, Dan Taylor, Jennifer MacLean and Erin Cunningham.

This year’s contingent to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., shared relatively the same backgrounds at Tustin High. Honors students, high grade-point averages (MacLean, 4.4; Taylor and Cunningham, 4.2), sports and extra-curricular participation.

“It’s what we call the three A’s to success,” says school counselor Gene O’Toole. “Academics, athletics and activities. That’s what interests the better schools.”

And, all three have little or no family involvement with the military, an interesting fact considering the influence of Tustin’s Marine Base.

Overall, Orange County has about 60 to 75 cadets at West Point, says Fred Rice Sr. (West Point class of 1960), the academy’s admissions coordinator in the area. Besides the three from Tustin, 17 other county residents will be headed for plebedom this fall.

Each congressional district is allowed up to five cadets, which means Orange County should only have 25 residents enrolled in West Point. However, in order to fill empty spots at the Military Academy, selections are made from a national “pool” made up of qualified applicants. That Orange County has almost three times as many as it’s allowed shows the quality of the county’s education system, Rice says. “Our kids are consistently at the top of the list.”

Getting into the academy is a tough process in which the Army tries to select those applicants who will serve as good officers. Cadets are selected on a point system that measures their academics, athletic abilities and leadership. High Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are essential.

“I tell an applicant to shoot for 1,300,” Rice says. “Most people selected score around the mid-1,200s; if you score 1,000, you don’t have much of a chance.”

The academy doesn’t keep an official tally of schools that have produced the most cadets. It’s possible that Highland Falls High School, within marching distance of the academy’s gates, or the high school in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where the Army War College is located, have a greater number of alumni in the Long Gray Line.

But it’s doubtful that any other school near the beaches, convertibles and other distractions of Southern California could claim such a high percentage of cadets.

How Tustin High could become a farm club for the Military Academy is a matter of speculation. “We have an excellent counseling program,” says Assistant Vice Principal Brad Lantz. “And we try to build up an academically oriented environment.”

“It’s the water,” jokes Rice, who serves as recruiting coordinator in his spare time from his job as a program manager with HDR Engineering in Irvine. “And kids around here have all the right tools they need to get into schools like West Point. They’re motivated. . . .”

“It may be because we have West Point alumni like Fred who are active in the school, and our graduates who’ve gone there come back and talk to the students and they think, ‘If they did it, I can do it too,” O’Toole says.

Pre-cadets Erin Cunningham and Jennifer MacLean, both 17, shrug and look at each other. Cunningham, with long blonde hair and a quick speaking style, seems more suited for some university along the beach, while MacLean, who is a little more quiet, looks more Ivy League.

“I saw how hard it was to get in, and I wanted to get in,” Cunningham says. “Then you have to stay there four years and graduate. I loved the idea that it was so tough.”

“I had always thought that I’d go to Harvard,” MacLean says. “Then a history teacher told me I should go to a conference where they had some of the students, and they talked about West Point. I realized these people were intelligent, athletic and they wanted to achieve.”

Dan Taylor, 18, completes the Tustin trio. Tall, quiet, athletic, religious, Taylor seems to be the archetype of the cadet West Point looks for. “It’s going to be tough, being away from California and family. But that’s what it takes.”

Looking at it as just another step in his march toward a career in law and politics, Taylor won’t be taking a vacation and has nothing special planned before heading back East. Before he leaves in July, he’ll hang up his equipment at First Christian Church of Irvine, where he works part time as a janitor. Then he’ll go home and pack.

“I’m enjoying myself in the meantime. I’m being teased a lot by friends who joke about how short my hair’s going to be, but it’s fun.”

But while his achievement is notable, it’s rare that two girls from the same class take an interest in and are accepted to the military academy--still a fortress of masculinity with its imposing statues of Generals MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton.

To prepare for the intensity they’re likely to face, Cunningham and MacLean have been rising at 5:30 to read the newspaper, exercise and study more than their usual pace. All new cadets must participate in a six-week boot camp starting July 2 known as “Beast Barracks”--an event they’re not looking forward to.

“You go there,” Cunningham says, “and you’re reduced to nothing. I’ve seen boot camp on TV, but I’m sure that doesn’t do it justice. It’s teaching you to follow. You have to follow before you can lead.”

Cunningham could have chosen the Coast Guard Academy, but she picked West Point “because of the opportunities there for women.” She wants to fly helicopters.

“I know it’s a cliche, but the Army lets you ‘be all you can be’ and do the most you can,” says MacLean, who wants to study medicine.

After their first year, the three will experience Camp Buckner. During this summer “vacation,” while friends are soaking up rays on the sand, they’ll be riding in tanks and firing bazookas.

“It’s part of the training program to let you know what the Army’s all about,” Cunningham says. “No one else I know will be able to do the things I’ll do.”

The new cadets flew to New York early in March to look at the academy. They say they loved the spirit and the discipline but weren’t crazy about the hazing.

“Eating. That’s one thing I’m not looking forward to,” says Cunningham as she drops her head to the table in horror. “As a plebe you’re hazed at mealtime. Everything you do is wrong. I can handle the yelling, I’ll be able to laugh about it inside. But while eating you have to have your chest six inches from the table, you have to memorize what the upperclassmen at your table eat and drink. Some have three ice cubes on sunny days, two on cloudy days.”

“It was pretty amazing,” Taylor says. “The discipline is very tough.”

“You’d see these guys being yelled at and they’re just shriveling,” MacLean says. “These are intelligent, bright people, and they’re shriveling. In a strange way, I thought it was kind of funny. I was glad that I found it funny and not horrifying. But I know I’ll cry.”

The breakdown is part of what builds a cadet. “Everyone cries,” Cunningham says. “You’re under so much pressure. They even tell us that after a few months, you’re going to want to quit. It’s a stage everyone goes through. You’ve just got to keep from taking the criticism personally.”

Cadets can quit up until the first class of the junior year without obligation. But the three are confident they’ll hang tough. “I know I won’t quit,” MacLean says.

“I look at the world and see a lot of things wrong with it. This is my way to help change it,” Taylor says.