Do the Best and Brightest West Point Officers Stay in or Leave the Army?

Studying archival data from 16 West Point cohorts (classes of 1992–2007, N = 13,309), this article operationalizes the concept of “best and brightest” and then investigates whether the best and brightest West Point cadets depart the Army at a higher rate than their average-performing peers. A combination of multi-variable regression and survival analysis indicates that the best and brightest West Pointers are as likely to stay in the Army past year 6 (to serve as a company commander) and are more likely to stay in the Army past year 10 (to serve as a field grade officer) as compared with their average- and lower-performing peers. In addition, among the best and brightest West Pointers, both female and minority officers are as likely to stay in the Army past year 6 as their male and Caucasian officer peers, respectively, although minority officers are much less likely to stay past year 10 than their Caucasian male peers.