Defense Secretary Tells West Point Cadets They're Ready U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hands out diplomas to United States Military Academy graduating cadets during the ceremony for class 2021 at Michie Stadium on May 22, 2021, in West Point, New Year. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) 22 May 2021 WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told U.S. Military Academy cadets Saturday they were graduating during “exceptionally tough circumstances” but that West Point prepared them to face the extraordinary threats from pandemics to terrorism. Austin spoke to about 1,000 cadets becoming U.S. Army second lieutenants in a ceremony held with pandemic precautions at West Point’s football stadium. Austin, a 1975 graduate of West Point, recalled his own years at the academy as he told graduates their West Point training will keep them on course.