adopted at West Point but the use of marching, double timing, rifle exercises, bayonet drill, vaulting, and obstacle courses for physical conditioning that became a regular feature of basic military training. Following his mandatory retirement from the Army (and his position as Master of the Sword) on his 64th birthday in 1923, Koehler wrote: "Leadership, superior physical qualifications and the ability to discharge intelligently every phase of military training, particularly that pertaining to the physical conditioning of men, are some of the qualifications that the experience of the war are demanding of the graduates of the Academy." Koehler's 39-year tenure at West Point saw the introduction of professional athletic instructors, a systematic program of instruction, a curriculum for physical education, an adequate facility, manuals, and widespread acceptance of the program by both the staff and cadets of the academy. For that the first Master of the Sword to direct the Department of Physical Education, Lt. Col. Francis M. Greene, was prompted in 1948 to describe Koehler as the "real father of the West Point Department of Physical Education." In media In 1955, Ward Bond played Koehler in John Ford's motion picture The Long Gray Line. Head coaching record Koehler's teams played Navy twice, in 1899 and 1900, each team recording a victory. References Additional sources Pershing, John J. (2013). My Life Before the World War, 1860-1917: A Memoir, University Press of Kentucky. Yebra, Captain David J. (1998). Colonel Herman J. Koehler: The Father of Physical Education at West Point. Long Island University Memorial Day and Fitness History of Col. Herman Koehler 1859 births 1927 deaths Army Black Knights football coaches United States Army officers United States Military Academy faculty Sportspeople from Milwaukee American people of German descent