Douglas MacArthur was born in the arsenal barracks in Little Rock in 1880. At the time his father, Arthur MacArthur was serving as a colonel and commander of the barracks. Douglas remained with his mother and father as the latter took on various military positions throughout the country. In 1889, however, Douglas was sent to the West Texas Military Academy and spent the next seven years there. The Academy had a strict, rank based structure that allowed students to attain rank equal to that of tutors. Within six months Douglas had been promoted to cadet first class. In 1894 he was promoted to senior cadet, and 1896 (his final year at the academy) he achieved the rank of first cadet (the highest rank attainable by students). With this rank he was able to obtain a scholarship to West Point. D