Encyclopedia
The
United States Naval Academy is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the
United States Navy and
Marine Corps and is located in
Annapolis,
Maryland. The Academy is often referred to simply as "
Annapolis" although naval officers normally refer to it in conversation as "
the Academy," "
the Yard," or "
the Boat School." Sports media refers to the Academy as
Navy, and this usage is officially endorsed.
ROTC graduates, Officer Candidate School graduates as well as cadets from the
Air Force Academy,
Coast Guard Academy, and the
U.S. Military Academy , USNA's traditional rivals, often refer to the Naval Academy as "
Canoe U" and "Shipwreck Tech."
The Academy's motto is
ex scientia tridens, which is Latin for "from knowledge, seapower". The Academy also supports the Navy core values of
Honor, Courage, and Commitment, in addition the general idea of "excellence without arrogance."
Description
The USNA's campus is located in
Annapolis,
Maryland, on the banks of the Severn River and the
Chesapeake Bay.
Students at the Naval Academy are referred to by their military rank . Upon graduation, most Naval Academy Midshipmen are commissioned as
Ensigns in the U.S. Navy or
Second Lieutenants in the
Marine Corps and must serve a minimum of five years after their commissioning. Foreign midshipmen are commissioned into the armed forces of their native countries. Also, since 1959, midshipmen have been able to "cross-commission," or request a commission in the Army, Air Force or Coast Guard, provided they meet that service's eligibility standards. Every year, a small number of graduates does this, usually in a one-for-one "trade" with a similarly inclined cadet at one of the other service academies.
Midshipmen who resign or are expelled from the academy in their first two years incur no military service obligation. Those who are separated - voluntarily or involuntarily - after that time are required to serve on active duty in an enlisted status, usually for a period of between two and four years.
There is no graduate school directly associated with the Naval Academy. Instead, the Navy operates the
Naval Postgraduate School and the
Naval War College separately. The Naval Academy Preparatory School is the official prep school for the Navy and
Coast Guard Academies.
Mission
The mission of the United States Naval Academy is to develop midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically, and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty in order to provide graduates who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.
Campus
It has grown from a 40,000 m² Army post named Fort Severn in 1845 to a 1.37 km² campus in the 21st century. Its principal buildings are:
- Nimitz Library .
- Rickover Hall .
- Maury Hall .
- Michelson Hall .
- Chauvenet Hall .
- Sampson Hall .
- Luce Hall .
- Mahan Hall .
- The chapel .
- Alumni Hall .
- Bancroft Hall .
- Dahlgren Hall .
- Lejeune Hall .
- MacDonough Hall .
- The Officers' and Faculty Club and officers' quarters spread around the Yard.
Supervision of the Academy
The academy was placed in 1850 the jurisdiction of the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, but was transferred to the Bureau of Navigation when that organization was established in 1862. The academy was placed under the direct care of the
Navy Department in 1867, but for many years the Bureau of Navigation provided administrative routine and financial management.
As of 2004, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy reports directly to the
Chief of Naval Operations.. The current Superintendent is Vice Admiral
Rodney P. Rempt.
The Commandant of Midshipmen is currently Capt. Bruce E. Grooms, USN, who replaced then Capt. Charles J. Leidig in June 2005.
The Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen is Capt. Dennis Sinnett, USN.
The Command Master Chief of the United States Naval Academy is CNOCM Bernard B. Quibilan.
Faculty
The faculty is roughly evenly divided between civilian professors and military instructors. The civilian professors nearly all have a Ph.D. and can be awarded tenure, usually upon promotion from
Assistant Professor to
Associate Professor. Very few of the military instructors have a Ph.D. but nearly all have a Master's degree. Most of them are assigned to the Academy for only two or three years.
Permanent Military Professors
A small number of military instructors are designated as Permanent Military Professors ; all of whom have Ph.D.'s. The PMPs remain at the Academy until statutory retirement. Most of them are commanders in the
Navy; a few are captains. Like civilian professors, they seek academic promotion to the rank of Associate Professor and Professor. However, they are not eligible for tenure. Additionally, there are
Adjunct Professors, hired to fill temporary shortages in various disciplines. The Adjunct Professors are not eligible for tenure.
Moral education
Moral and ethical development is a fundamental element of all aspects of the Naval Academy experience. As future officers in the Navy or Marine Corps, midshipmen will someday be responsible for the priceless lives of many men and women and multi-million dollar equipment. From Plebe Summer through graduation, the Naval Academy's Officer Development Program is a four-year integrated continuum that focuses on the attributes of integrity, honor, and mutual respect. One of the goals of this program is to develop midshipmen who possess a clearer sense of their own moral beliefs and the ability to articulate them. Honor is emphasized through the Honor Concept of the Brigade of Midshipmen.
These Naval Academy "words to live by" are based on the moral values of respect for human dignity, respect for honesty and respect for the property of others. Brigade Honor Committees composed of elected upper-class midshipmen are responsible for the education and training of the Honor Concept. Midshipmen found in violation of the Honor Concept by their peers will be separated from the Naval Academy.
Midshipmen activities
The Naval Academy's sports teams are called the Midshipmen, or Mids for short. Most Midshipmen find the term "Middies" to be derogatory, and therefore are called this only by outsiders.
The Midshipmen participate in the
NCAA's Division I-A as an independent in football and in the
Patriot League in many other sports. The football team competes with the other academies for the
Commander in Chief's Trophy and plays in the
Army-Navy Game. In 1927, Navy was declared as the National Champions in Football. The Navy Lacrosse team has won 17 National Championships and was Runner-Up in 2004. The Navy Basketball team lead by David Robinson finished the 1985-86 season ranked 8th in the nation. The mascot is a goat named 'Bill.'
Participation in athletics is mandatory at the Naval Academy and most Midshipmen not on an intercollegiate team must participate actively in intramural or club sports. The Navy Rugby team is typically one of the premier teams on the east coast.
Midshipmen also have the opportunity to participate in a broad range of extracurricular activities including musical performance groups , religious organizations, academic honor societies, Campus
Girl Scouts, the National Eagle Scout Association, a radio station, Navy and Marine Corps professional activities , and a broad range of non-NCAA club sports including rugby, hockey, and karate. Fencing, once one of the most successful sports at the Academy before being disbanded in the early 1990s, has been gaining popularity and success recently as a competitive club.
There is even an unofficial croquet team. Legend has it that several years ago a Mid and Johnnie , were in a bar and the Mid challenged the Johnnie by stating that Midshipmen could beat St. John's at any sport. The St. John's student selected the sport of
croquet. Since then, thousands attend the annual croquet match between St. John's College and the 28th Company of the Brigade of Midshipmen . In April of 2005, Navy won the match against the National Champion St. John's team. As of 2005, the Midshipmen had a record of 5 wins and 18 losses to the St John's team.
The Brigade once published a humor magazine called the
Log, but this activity was disestablished in 2001. Apparently, the proper balance between the Navy's moral and ethical standards and the Brigade of Midshipmen's off-color humor could not be found, particularly in the wake of the Tailhook scandal of the 1990s. Among the
Log's usual features were the notorious "Salty Sam," an anonymous member of the senior class who served as a gossip columnist, and the "Company Cuties," photos of male midshipmen's girlfriends . The
Log was once famously shown in
Playboy Magazine for its parody of the famous periodical, called "Playmid". Playmid was an issue of The Log in 1989. The Playmid issue was considered too controversial and ordered destroyed by Rear Admiral Virgil Hill, the Academy Superintendent at the time, although some copies are rumored to have survived, including the one which Playboy later showed. Earlier
Log attempts to parody
Playboy were successful, with the 18 April 1969 version as the most famous; some sections of this issue at an alumni website.
The Academy also plays host to the prestigious annual
Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference . During this event--the country's largest undergraduate foreign affairs conference--civilian and military delegates from across the nation and around the world gather in Annapolis to discuss pressing international issues, focusing on a new, specific topic each year. Past NAFAC speakers have included President
George H.W. Bush, Secretaries of State
Madeleine Albright and Dr.
Condoleezza Rice, and General
Wesley Clark. This gathering is organized and run by a large Midshipman staff; many Midshipmen participate in the conference as moderators, presenters, and delegates as well.
History
The institution was founded as the Naval School in 1845 by
Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. The campus was established at Annapolis on the grounds of the former U.S. Army post Fort Severn. The school opened on October 10 with 50 Midshipmen students and seven professors. Commodore Matthew Perry had a considerable interest in naval education, supporting an apprentice system to train new seamen, and helped establish the curriculum for the United States Naval Academy. He was also a vocal proponent of modernization of the Navy.
Originally a course of study for five years was prescribed. Only the first and last were spent at the school with the other three being passed at sea. The present name was adopted when the school was reorganized in 1850 and placed under the supervision of the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. Under the immediate charge of the superintendent, the course of study was extended to seven years with the first two and the last two to be spent at the school and the intervening three years at sea. The four years of study were made consecutive in 1851 and practice cruises were substituted for the three consecutive years at sea. The first class of Naval Academy students graduated on June 10, 1854.
The Civil War years
At the outbreak of the
American Civil War the three upper classes were detached and ordered to sea.
The academy was moved to Fort Adams,
Newport, Rhode Island in May 1861, but it was brought back to Annapolis in the summer of 1865.
From the Civil War to World War I
The
Spanish-American War greatly increased the academy's importance and the campus was almost wholly rebuilt and much enlarged during 1899-1906. During 1869,
Charles Dwight Sigsbee was assigned duty at Annapololis before serving as a
hydrographer in the Bureau of Navigation . He later became Chief Intelligence Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence .
Notable Graduates
During the latter half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th, the Naval Academy was the primary source of U.S. Naval officers. Naval Academy alumni now represent many of the U.S. Navy's most famous names.
More American astronauts have graduated from the Naval Academy than from any other undergraduate institution in the United States. As of January 2006, four graduates have been nominated as
Bioneer EarthSea-Keepers, a new
UNEP designator for
notable oceanographers.
Appointment Process
By an Act of Congress passed in 1903, two appointments as Midshipmen were allowed for each senator, representative, and delegate in Congress, two for the
District of Columbia, and five each year at large. Currently each member of Congress and the Vice President can have five appointees attending the Naval Academy at any time. When any appointee graduates or otherwise leaves the academy, a vacancy is created. Candidates are nominated by their senator, representative, or delegate in Congress, and those appointed at large are nominated by the Vice President. The process is not political and applicants do not have to know their Congressman to be nominated. Congressman generally nominate ten people per vacancy. They can nominate people in a competitive manner, or they can have a principal nomination. In a competitive nomination, all ten applicants are reviewed by the academy, to see who is the most qualified. If the congressman appoints a principal nominee, then as long as that candidate is physically, medically, and academically found qualified by the academy, he or she will be admitted, even if there are more qualified applicants. The degree of difficulty in obtaining a nomination varies greatly according to the number of applicants in a particular state. The process of obtaining a nomination typically consists of completing an application, completing one or more essays, and obtaining one or more letters of recommendation and often requires an interview either in person or over the phone. These requirements are set by the respective senator or congressman and are in addition to the USNA application.
Additional sources of appointment are open to children of career military personnel ; 170 appointments per year are for active duty Navy and Marine Corps enlisted personnel; 20 appointments per year are provided for Navy
Reserve Officer Training Corps Midshipmen; and 65 appointments are available to children of military members who were killed in action, or were rendered 100% disabled due to injuries received in action, or are currently prisoners of war or missing in action. Typically five to ten candidates are nominated for each appointment, which are normally awarded competitively; candidates who do not receive the appointment they are competing for may still be admitted to the Academy as a qualified alternate. If a candidate is considered qualified but not picked up, they may receive an indirect admission to either a Naval Academy Foundation prep school or the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport; the following year, these candidates receive direct appointment to the Academy.
Additionally, children of
Medal of Honor recipients do not need a nomination but only need to qualify for admission.
Admissions Requirements
To be admitted, candidates must be between seventeen and twenty-three years of age upon entrance, unmarried with no children, and of good moral character. The current process includes a college application, personality testing, standardized testing, and personal references. Candidates for admission must also undergo a physical aptitude test as well as a complete physical exam including a separate visual acuity test to be eligible for appointment. Candidates with less than 20/20 vision, as well as a range of other injuries or illnesses, must apply for a medical waiver. The physical aptitude test is most often administered by a high school physical education teacher or sports team coach.
A small number of international students, usually from smaller allied or friendly countries, are admitted into each class. For the , 11 international students were admitted from 10 different countries .
Curricula
Congress authorized the Naval Academy to begin awarding Bachelor of Science degrees in 1933. The Academy later replaced a fixed curriculum taken by all midshipmen with the present core curriculum plus 19 major fields of study, a wide variety of elective courses and advanced study and research opportunities.
Information Technology was added in 2001 as the newest major. Currently, all 19 majors are:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- English
- General Engineering
- General Science
- History
- Information Technology
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Naval Architecture
- Ocean Engineering
- Oceanography
- Physics
- Political Science
- Quantitative Economics
- Systems Engineering
Small Satellite Program
The United States Naval Academy Small Satellite Program was founded in 1999 to actively pursue flight opportunities for miniature satellites designed, constructed, tested, and commanded or controlled by Midshipmen. The Naval Academy's aerospace laboratory facilities are some of the most advanced and extensive in the country. These facilities include structures labs, propulsion and rotor labs, simulation labs, wind tunnels with flow velocities ranging from subsonic to supersonic, computer labs, and the Satellite Ground Station. The SSP provides funds for component purchase and construction, travel in support of testing and integration, coordination with DoD or National Aeronautics and Space Administration laboratories or with universities for collaborative projects, and guides Midshipmen through the Department of Defense Space Experiments Review Board flight selection process.
The satellite development process is a multi-semester effort requiring the contributions of Midshipmen from several consecutive graduating classes. First Class Midshipmen in EA470 Spacecraft Design initiate the process in the spring semester of their First Class year with identification of the mission and determination of requirements followed by development of the conceptual design. Students in subsequent classes take the satellite through feasibility study, final design, construction, testing, and launch platform integration. Each Spring, First Class Midshipmen in the design class reinitiate the process with a new satellite concept so that new projects are germinating to take the place of those that are coming to completion and awaiting launch.
The scope of the projects supprted by SSP is limited by the resources of the USNA Department of Aerospace Engineering. The astronautics cadre of the Department consists of five individuals: one full professor , one permanent military professor, two full-time visiting professors and one half-time visitng professor. These five are assisted by two staff members assigned to the USNA Satellite Ground Station : one senior engineer and one senior technician. The Midshipmen participating in SSP-sponsored projects are predominantly drawn from First Class majors in aerospace engineering who have chosen to concentrate on astronautics. This number fluctuates from year to year, current enrollment is 14 for the class of 2006. Financial resources are also thin. Projects are initiated with seed money from a $50K/year grant to the USNA Foundation from The Boeing Co., or from internal USNA funds. Additional funds are occasionally available for specific projects from collaborating federal agencies or sponsors.
Cognizant of these constraints, the SSP has consciously and deliberately entered the spaceflight arena in an incremental
manner. USNA-0 was obtained as a complete and tested spacecraft from an experienced university small satellite
producer. USNA-1 was designed and built in-house, but with a build-it-simple-and-rugged philosophy. Onboard
systems were limited: communications and electrical power only. Missions were sharply defined: the communications
system itself was the primary mission, and the secondary mission
needed only power and communications support that both meshed well with the PCSat design. Commercial off-theshelf
parts were chosen for ruggedness, simplicity and low cost rather than spaceflight heritage. Pre-flight testing was
limited to verification of functionality after vibration and thermal/vacuum environment testing.
USNA-2 and USNA-3 are repetitions of the proven PCSat communications system design. USNA-4 is a new satellite
design, larger and more complicated than PCSat, but still limited in scope and dedicated to experiments of moderate
interest. The project proposed here offers a unique opportunity for SSP to participate fully in cutting-edge science,
despite its limited financial and personnel resources.
Currently under-development are the first generation MidSTAR I and second generation MidSTAR II satellites which stemmed from the
USNA MidSTAR Program. Midstar I is in the final stages of preparation for an October 2006 launch.
Women at the Naval Academy
The Naval Academy first accepted women as Midshipmen in 1976, when Congress authorized the admission of women to all of the service academies. Women comprise about 19 percent of entering plebes—or freshmen. They pursue the same academic and professional training as do their male classmates, except that certain physical aptitude standards for women are lower than for men, mirroring the standards of the Navy itself. Women comprise about 17 percent of each graduating class.
Items of Interest at the Academy
- Japanese Bell. This was brought back to the United States by Commodore Matthew Perry following his famous mission to Japan in 1851. The bell is placed in front of Bancroft Hall and rung in a semi-annual ceremony for each victory that Navy has registered over Army, to include one of the nation's oldest football rivalries, the Army-Navy Game. The current bell is an exact replica of the original, which the United States Navy returned to the Japanese people in the 1980s.
- Tecumseh Statue. This statue is a bronze replica of the figurehead of ship-of-the-line USS Delaware. It was presented to the Academy by the Class of 1891. This bust, one of the most famous relics on the campus, is commonly known as Tecumseh. However, when it adorned the American man-of-war, it commemorated not Tecumseh but Tamanend, the revered Delaware chief who welcomed William Penn to America. The original wooden figurehead is in the Naval Academy fieldhouse. In times past, the bronze replica was considered a good-luck "mascot" for the midshipmen, who threw pennies at it and offered left handed salutes whenever they wanted a 'favor', such as a sports win over West Point, or spiritual help for examinations. Today it is used as a morale booster during football weeks and on special occasions when Tecumseh is painted in themes to include super heroes, action heroes, humorous figures, a leprachaun and a naval officer .
- Battle ensigns. Famous flags of the U.S. Navy and captured flags from enemy ships are displayed throughout the academy. The most famous, perhaps, is the "Don't Give Up the Ship" flag flown by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813; it bears the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, captain of the USS Chesapeake. It was displayed in Memorial Hall, which is in the portion of Bancroft Hall open to the general public .
- Herndon Monument. Every year as part of the year end festivities, this monument is covered with lard and "Plebes" attempt to climb the monument, remove a "dixie cup" and put a hat on top. This symbolizes the successful completion of their first year. Legend also has it that the midshipman who places the sailors cap upon the monument will be the first member of the class to reach the rank of Admiral. The Monument was commissioned by the Officers of the U.S. Navy as a tribute to Commander William Lewis Herndon after his loss in the Pacific Mail Steamer Central America during a hurricane off Georgia on September 12, 1857. Herndon had followed the long time custom of the sea that a ship's captain is the last person to depart his ship in peril. It was erected in its current location on June 16, 1860 and has never been moved even though the Academy was completely rebuilt between 1899 and 1908.
- Naval Academy Chapel The historic Chapel, at the center of the campus, across from Herndon Monument, has a high dome visible throughout Annapolis. The Chapel was featured on a postal service stamp in 1995.
- Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel, primarily funded with private donations, was dedicated on September 23, 2005. The Chapel is named after Commodore Uriah P. Levy and houses a Jewish chapel, the honor board, ethics, character learning center, officer development spaces, a social director, and academic boards. The architecture features Jerusalem stone and the exterior of the building is consistent with the existing architecure of nearby Bancroft Hall.
Reference
- Some public domain text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Update as needed.
Notes
External links
