From West Plains to West Point
Tue, 07/07/2026 - 11:10am
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By:
Grace Long, staff intern
West Plains is home for Second Lt. Brock Larsen, 23, who holds the honor of being a West Point graduate. The United States Military Academy located in West Point, New York is one of the most prestigious military schools in the world.
Larsen was inspired to go into service by his father, a state trooper, and his grandparents who served in Vietnam and Korea. He has a familial history of service tracing all the way back to the Revolutionary war on his father’s side. With a desire to serve his country, he chose the army after being accepted into West Point. His major was in defensive and strategic study, described as a similar major to international relations.
Larsen has worked most of his life to get to where he is today. From being an Eagle Scout to taking AP classes in high school, Larsen has worked hard to understand both leadership and people in order to give back to his country. “The leader I was then is not the same leader I am today,” he told the Howell County News during a July 3interview. The area he had the most growth was in his academic studies, he said.
West Point challenged Larsen to an extent he hadn’t seen before. Learning how to study and time management surrounding academics was a learning curve,he said. It is easy to put your head down and get through the physical training, but you have to put more work into academics, he continued. Never quit and see it through, a piece of advice his mother, a teacher at West Plains high school, stuck with him during this time.
As he prepared to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, Larsen said he has a deep appreciation of those who have served before him. After experiencing harsh conditions of training while at school, he can’t imagine how veterans managed to get through worse conditions in combat in a foreign country. He is thankful for those who went and fought, making it possible for him to do the same.
His advice for others who may be interested or are going into a military career is to keep an open mind, show up physically fit, and don’t quit, as it gets better eventually.
Larsen will be heading to Fort Bane, Georgia, by mid-July to finish his Infantry Basic Leader Course. Afterwards, he will be stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas. His short-term goal is to attend and complete Ranger school, a combat and leadership course. Long term, Larsen does not know exactly where he will end up but hopes to one day teach at West Point or work for NATO in Belgium.
The original version of this story incorrectly stated Brock Larsen (USMA Class of 2026) is the only Zizzer to have attended West Point. There are at least two more Zizzer West Point Graduates: Edwin Lee Armstrong, USMA Class of 1965 and Travis Morrison, USMA Class of 1970. Confirmation that that this is an exhaustive list was not available at press time, and any additional West Plains High School alumni West Point graduates will be acknowledged in a future edition of Howell County News.