WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) - Former House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton will receive the U.S. Military Academy's annual Thayer Award.
The award is named for a former West Point superintendent and is given to citizens who serve the national interest. Skelton, a Democrat from Missouri, was chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 2007 until 2011.
The former congressman will receive the award during a ceremony hosted by West Point's Association of Graduates on Oct. 18.
Past recipients of the Thayer Award include Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell.