Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland is the Superintendent of West Point, and has led troops in some of the Army’s most elite combat units, including the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions, the 75th Ranger Regiment and Delta Force.
Somehow he did all that while being bad at throwing grenades.
As a young soldier, he told Task & Purpose, he somehow screwed up the grenade-throwing station during testing for the Expert Infantry Badge.
That was one of the answers we got out of Gilland, and the opposing general on the other side of the Army-Navy game, when we asked both commanding officers our “5 Questions Only A Veteran Would Ask” before the 2025 contest in Baltimore.
Along with West Point’s Gilland, we talked to Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, the first Marine officer to hold the position of Superintendent at the Naval Academy. He is also one of the few to actually play in the Army-Navy football game, as a linebacker for the midshipmen from 1987 to 1990 before a career as a Marine attack helicopter pilot.
The Navy Midshipmen won this year’s match up, pulling out a narrow victory in the fourth quarter, to finish 17-16. But before the game we hit both officers with our “5 questions only a veteran would ask” before the 2025 game.
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You can check out the video to find out the coldest the two have ever been in the field and which MRE they can’t stand (for one of them, it’s an oldie but goodie).
5 questions only a veteran would ask Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland, the superintendent of West Point
1 – What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
The coldest I’ve been would have been in November-December of 1991 at the National Training Center, on my Bradley as a 2nd lieutenant. And it was a combination of snow and rain that just became ice and then frigid. And you know what, you can’t get away from it inside of a Bradley.
2 – What’s a time where everyone did push-ups because of you?
Well heck, that was probably the other day at West Point. When I was a new cadet in cadet basic training, in 1986, Rocky III had just come out. You remember Ivan Drago? They made me have this really horrible Russian accent and run around to the upper class and tell them that “I will break you.” So all of my teammates are doing push-ups because new cadet Gilland is putting ‘em in that position as I’m getting developed, I will say, in other places.
3 – Where is your happy place when times get tough?
Watching college football on a Saturday night. That’s what I would say is a mental happy spot.
4 – Best and worst MRE?
I think the pizza and the taco now are pretty dang good. But I will tell you, the beef, or dehydrated beef or pork patty from the 1980s and ‘90s, horrible! Because you can’t hydrate them. And if you try to eat it dehydrated you’re going to break a tooth.
5 – Dumbest no-go you’ve ever had?
Oh shoot, hand grenades! Absolutely! I couldn’t throw a dang hand grenade to — well, I could throw it to save my life, but I couldn’t throw it to get it in that dang ring for the [Expert Infantry Badge] and that the first couple of times.
5 questions only a veteran would ask Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, superintendent of the Naval Academy
1 – What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
Oh downrange, very cold. Believe it not, it snows in Afghanistan. If you get into the highest mountains, it’s snowing. So hailstorms in Afghanistan, probably the coldest that I have been.
2 – What’s a time where everyone did push-ups because of you?
Well recently, we were really proud, and this is a great one. We at Navy now hold the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the most push-ups, the most people together, at the same time. And we did it when we were playing Air Force, before the Air Force game. This was all coordinated, over 3000 midshipmen and others doing pushups with us. We also had [Secretary of Defense] Hegseth with us, doing push-ups right alongside me.
3 – Where is your happy place when times get tough?
The mental happy place? Often times had those when you’re cold, hungry and wet. You just think back of your days here, when you’re in a kind of softer place, getting that good motivating wearing out by a coach or something like that. So, it gets easier because you’ve gone through the gauntlet and crucible here at Navy.
4 – Best and worst MRE?
Well just because we just about had Thanksgiving recently, turkey and gravy! That’s an old school one, we pulled that one back.
Chili mac, I’m not a chili mac fan. That’s a popular one, but I’m not a chili mac guy.
5 – Dumbest no-go you’ve ever had?
Wearing stars I have to really watch what I say. The one I’m thinking of I probably can’t say. We’ll just leave it at that!
Check out another interview we got at the Army-Navy game, 5 questions only a veteran would ask Green Beret and former NFL player Nate Boyer.
