The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis is one of five service academies in the country. Students who graduate from the academy become commissioned officers in the armed services.
The university had an undergraduate enrollment of more than 4,400 students in 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Commissioning Week
Since its founding in 1845, more than 91,000 midshipmen have graduated from the academy, according to USNA data. In May, 1,040 officers graduated with 760 of them going into the U.S. Navy and 258 commissioning into the U.S. Marine Corps.
Of this year’s graduates, 315 are women and 725 are men.
This year’s graduation also saw the return of the Blue Angels for their annual performance during Commissioning Week.
The celebratory week kicked off with Sea Trials, a capstone event for freshmen, or fourth-class midshipmen, designed to test teamwork and reinforce their bonds as a company and class. This approximately 14-hour evaluation is designed similarly to the Marine Corps Crucible and the Navy’s Battle Station recruit program.
Sea Trials conclude with the Herndon Monument Climb, where hundreds of first-year midshipmen take turns scaling a 21-foot obelisk covered in vegetable shortening. The class works together to replace a hat — known as a Dixie Cup — with an upperclassman’s cap.
The Class of 2027 completed the feat in 2 hours and 19 minutes — narrowly beating the time from the year prior.
At the end of the week, fourth-year midshipmen participate in a graduation and commissioning ceremony. The affair is marked by a keynote address, typically given by the president, vice president or secretary of defense.
For the second year in a row, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III was tapped to deliver remarks. The retired four-star general lauded the Class of 2024 for their grit and adaptability since their arrival on the Yard in the summer of 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Eighteen members of the graduating class hailed from Anne Arundel County.
Induction Day and Plebe Summer
Additionally, the incoming class of 2028 was inducted into the academy in June to start their nine-year service commitment.
Of the nearly 1,200 inductees who reported to the academy for Plebe Summer, the six-week indoctrination that prepares the freshmen for life at the academy, 814 are men and 373 are women.
The number of women inductees has consistently remained in the 300s in recent years, with the Class of 2027 including 370 women, and the Class of 2026 having 332, according to academy data.
New superintendent
In January, Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, an academy alumni and career surface warfare officer, took the helm as the academy’s 65th superintendent. She is the first woman in the role.
Davids’ nomination was stalled in the U.S. Senate for months by a Republican senator.
She replaced acting superintendent Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, who took over in an interim role following the retirement of Vice Adm. Sean Buck last summer.
A 1989 graduate, Davids’ career began during Operation Desert Storm, when she was an electrical officer, combat information center officer and communications officer aboard the combat stores ship USS San Jose.
She went on to become the first woman of Hispanic descent to command a Navy warship when she took the helm of the USS Curts, leading the guided missile frigate through the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
New commandant
In June, Capt. Walter H. Allman III, a career naval special warfare officer, took the reins as the academy’s commandant of midshipmen. He is the first Navy SEAL to hold this position.
The commandant is responsible for day-to-day conduct, military training and professional development of more than 4,400 midshipmen at the academy and is similar to a dean of students at a university.
Allman assumes the role from Col. James “J.P.” McDonough III, who held the position for the last three years. The outgoing commandant will retire after 30 years in the Marine Corps.
Ship Selection
Each February, academy seniors, or midshipmen first class, participate in Ship Selection.
This year, more than 250 midshipmen were part of the ceremony held in front of peers, faculty and family. Similar to a sports draft, announcers call midshipmen one by one to select from a lengthy list of ships stationed at naval bases around the world. The draft order is based on a combination of academic, military and physical conditioning achievements.
One Anne Arundel County resident was among the first 50 to select their station. Maeve Swick, 21, of Annapolis, was the 14th midshipman to pick. Swick selected the USS Paul Ignatius, a destroyer stationed in Rota, Spain.
©2024 Capital Gazette. Visit at capitalgazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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