Army’s Bartholomees Nominated to Lead West Point, Rise to Three Stars
Maj. Gen. James B. Bartholomees, commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, would become superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy.
Maj. Gen. James B. Bartholomees, commander of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, was nominated to lead the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and pin on a third star.
The Department of War announced the nomination for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as superintendent of the academy in West Point, New York. Bartholomees currently serves as commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Bartholomees received his commission as an Infantry officer from the U.S. Military Academy in 1995 and would return as its top leader, according to army.mil. He commanded the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) in Europe and the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, according to army.mil. He deployed to Iraq in the initial 2003 assault with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and served multiple tours in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2016, according to army.mil.
The superintendent runs the institution that educates and trains future Army officers, a post that carries academic, ceremonial and command weight. Cadets, faculty and the broader officer corps stand to gain from the choice of a combat-tested commander to shape the next generation of leaders. A misstep at the helm would draw scrutiny from Congress and Army leadership, given the academy’s public profile.
The nomination fits a broader Army wave. It is one of 109 officer nominations announced so far this year, according to firestore records maintained by the flag officers database. Hawaii leads all states with 10 nominations, while the Army accounts for 74, the most among the military services.
The pace has quickened sharply from a year ago. At the same point in 2025, the database recorded only 26 officer nominations. The previous nomination announcement came 43 days earlier.
Has a West Point graduate returned to run the academy before? This has happened before. Superintendents are routinely drawn from the academy’s own alumni, and the post has served as a proving ground for officers who later reached four-star rank and senior command.
The Senate will make the next decision on the nomination, since appointments to lieutenant general require confirmation. A date for a confirmation vote has not been announced.
West Point has stood as a crucible for American military leadership since its founding as a fortress on the Hudson River. The academy opened as a school for officers in 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing it on the grounds of a Revolutionary War garrison that had guarded the river against British forces. Its graduates went on to command on both sides of the Civil War, with Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee among the alumni who studied there. The superintendent who oversaw its early expansion, Sylvanus Thayer, shaped the engineering curriculum so lastingly that he became known as the father of the Military Academy.
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