CITATION
CITATION
The
West Point Society of the District of Columbia
2001 Distinguished Member Award
is presented to
Colonel Trevor Washington Swett, Jr., USA (Ret)
USMA
Class of 19
A 2002 West Point Society of the District of Columbia Distinguished Member Award is presented to Trevor Washington Swett, Jr. for his exemplary service to West Point, the West Point Society of D.C. and to his Class. Colonel Swett has exemplified the motto, "Duty, Honor, Country", through distinguished and dedicated service as a member of the West Point Society of D.C. since 1973, as four-time Class President, as West Point Association of Graduates Class Trustee, as a leader in Vietnam Veterans' activities and as the senior lay leader of his church.
Colonel Swett joined the West Point Society of D.C. while still on active duty as a member of the Department of the Army staff. He actively promoted membership in the Society and continued to do so while serving as Class President during active service and after retirement.
In support of West Point, Colonel Swett dedicated his efforts to bridging the gap between developments at the Military Academy and the perceptions of those developments by older graduates. Both as Class President and as Class Trustee with the Association of Graduates, he was instrumental in strengthening communications between the Association and graduates of West Point. As Class President, he initiated a revision of the Class by-laws to clarify the rules of succession of Class officers. He started the action that resulted in a Class web page. Acting on a classmate's suggestion, he developed and implemented a project to reduce the backlog of memorial articles on deceased classmates for the Assembly and to post these Articles on the Class web page. Exemplifying his abiding concern for others, he developed Project Help to organize care of seriously ill classmates by their classmates. He also initiated action to recognize honorary members of the class resulting in Class approval of Senator Daniel Inouye to receive this recognition. Colonel Swett also served as a member of the Class of 1949 40th reunion committee. For the 50th reunion, he assumed the duties of chairman when the chairman became ill and successfully steered the committee in the final two plus years of preparation. The Class presented a gift to West Point in excess of $1 million, the major item being the renovation of the Class of 1949 Lodge at West Point. The Class also initiated a bonding program with its 50th year class, the Class of 1999, by presenting engraved 2nd Lieutenant's bars to each graduate and by pledging matching funds to the Association of Graduates.
In Vietnam Veterans' activities, Colonel Swett, a Silver Star recipient with the First Cavalry Division, founded the Association of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry in 1992. He served as Association president for eight years and has seen the Association grow to over 1400 members. It remains active with biennial reunions with Colonel Swett as President Emeritus.
In church activity, Colonel Swett served as Senior Warden, the highest lay position, from1992-1995 and again from 1998-2001. During his tenure, he conducted a Capital Campaign, raising $1.3 million for construction of an educational and community wing for the Parish.
In all of these activities, Colonel Swett has displayed the outstanding qualities of character, distinguished service, and stature to reflect those qualities that West Point exemplifies in its motto, "Duty, Honor, Country," while making major contributions to our Society, his Class, the Association of Graduates, Vietnam Veterans, and his church. It is fitting, therefore, that the West Point Society of D.C. award Colonel Trevor Washington Swett, Jr., USA (Ret), USMA Class of 1949, the Distinguished Member Award.