Academy

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

President Barack Obama told Naval Academy graduates Friday that declining faith in government and other institutions makes it more important than ever that they retain their moral center as they embark on military careers. As a cold rain fell on the 1,047 graduating midshipmen, the president spoke of the sexual assaults that have plagued the military and made reference to political scandals that have roiled the early months of his second term. "As we've seen again in recent days, it only takes the misconduct of a few to further erode the people's trust in their government," the president said.

Charles Larson, the recently retired Naval Academy superintendent, yesterday defended his handling of a sexual misconduct case in which three midshipmen faced expulsion but a fourth -- football star Chris McCoy -- did not.Larson said two things are not tolerated at the school: drugs, and sex in the dormitory. He said his decision was consistent with that maxim, and he denied giving a star athlete special treatment -- as the other midshipmen have alleged."I don't give preferential treatment," Larson said, responding to a story in The Sun about the case.

President Barack Obama will travel to Annapolis to speak at the Naval Academy commencement today, addressing the class at a time when the military faces complicated internal challenges the graduating midshipmen will soon inherit. It is the second time Obama has spoken at the academy's graduation - the first was in 2009 - and it is the 22nd time a president has attended the ceremony since James A. Garfield spoke to the class of 1881. U.S. military involvement around the world has changed dramatically since Obama last spoke in Annapolis - combat operations in Iraq ended in 2010, and the administration is working to wind down the nearly 12-year-old war in Afghanistan.

I was afraid. I was very afraid. As the clock ticked down to 5:38 and 30 seconds Tuesday morning (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is nothing if not precise), I found myself, as a partisan of the Oscar's sea change from five to 10 best-picture nominees, getting increasingly worried about how it would all play out. Instead of the broad audience pictures the academy was hoping for, would the membership end up voting for 10 niche items? Would (bite your tongue at the very thought)

Military academies are no place for students shouldering the responsibilities of parenthood. The demands are simply too great.Taxpayers subsidize the education of the men and women attending these military institutions with the understanding that they will single-mindedly prepare themselves for a career defending the nation. All three service academies prohibit students with dependents, and that is the way it should stay.This said, the U.S. Naval Academy's policy of immediate dismissal of any midshipman who becomes pregnant or causes a pregnancy requires rethinking.

President Bush will give the commissioning address to the Class of 2001 graduating midshipmen at the Naval Academy on May 25, White House officials said yesterday. "It's an honor to host the president for graduation," said academy spokesman Bill Spann. "What better way for the Class of 2001 to start a military career than to hear from their commander in chief?" The decision follows a decades-long tradition in which the president speaks at one of the five military academies each year. Bush also will address the graduates at the University of Notre Dame on May 20. The Naval Academy ceremonies, which are open to the 1,000 graduates, their families and invited guests, include a flyover by the Blue Angels and the traditional white hat toss.

Early in the 19th century, Maryland encouraged a movement to establish academies to "prepare students for entrance into institutions of higher learning and for public life." One such academy was the Darlington Academy. Building began in June of 1841, and the first floor was opened in December. John M. Cooley was the headmaster. The state donated $150 annually but though the academy was a "public" school, tuition was required. Financial help was provided to some students by donors. An early photograph suggests that, at least until 1867, black and white students attended the academy together.

A U.S. Senate committee has brandished a $5 million stick at the Naval Academy to make sure it tries to end sexual harassment, teach ethics and continue its women's sports program.A newly added provision in a defense appropriations bill would forbid the academy from spending $5 million in operations and maintenance funds until it reports to the armed services and appropriations committees on its progress toward meeting those three goals.The appropriations committee approved the measure yesterday afternoon after its defense subcommittee drafted it earlier this week.

A Naval Academy report being prepared for Congress calls for stricter control over the academy's private athletic association but does not recommend that the federal government take financial control of Navy sports, according to Navy and congressional sources.Taking over the private, nonprofit Naval Academy Athletic Association would force the government to spend about $25 million to buy Navy-Marine Corps Memorial stadium and its 59 acres from the NAAA.Also, the Navy sports program would lose control over the money it receives from such sources as the millions of dollars in television rights for Navy football and the annual $223,000 from the state and Annapolis pay to rent its stadium parking lot.Adm.

Hello, Midshipmen! (Applause.) Well, thank you, Governor O'Malley, for your kind introduction and the great support that Maryland gives this Academy. To Secretary Mabus, Admiral Greenert, General Paxton -- thank you all for your incredible leadership of our extraordinary Navy and Marine Corps teams. To Vice Admiral Miller, thank you for the outstanding work that you do. To Captain Clark and all the faculty and staff; to the moms and dads who raised your sons and daughters to seek this life of service; to the local sponsor families who cared for them far from home; the members of the Class of 1963 -- veterans who've guided these midshipmen along the way -- today is also a tribute to your support and your patriotism.

Annapolis Police are reminding residents to expect traffic congestion on Friday, May 24, due to the U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremony. Commencement scheduled to be held at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium beginning at 10 a.m. President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address, the first time he has spoken to a graduating class of midshipmen since 2009. Roads affected may include U.S. Route 50, Rowe Boulevard, Farragut Road, Taylor Avenue, Cedar Park Road, Annapolis Street and Route 450.  Road congestion is expected to start at 6 a.m. and will peak between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., police said.

He saw his first Blue Angels show in Detroit at age 6, and Thomas Frosch says the experience inspired him to want to become a pilot. He saw four more performances while attending the Naval Academy, including one the "Blues" put on before his graduation in 1992. Now commander and flight leader of the Blue Angels, Frosch, a Navy commander, was looking forward to returning to Annapolis this week, where he would have led his team through its traditional jaw-dropping show as part of the Academy's graduation week.

With a flick of his wrist, a U.S. Naval Academy baseball player from Orlando, Fla., tossed an upperclassman's hat atop the Herndon Monument on Monday, leading his 2016 classmates to launch into cheers of "Plebes no more!" amid roars from onlookers. "I was considering jumping and making it a little more dramatic," said Patrick Lien - who is a catcher, not pitcher, on the Navy team, "but I didn't want to fall and make a scene. " The Herndon climb was itself a scene: hundreds of plebes, or freshmen, charged a slickened, 21-foot tall granite obelisk at the service academy in Annapolis.

A Middle River woman was sentenced last week to six months in jail for defrauding the federal government through the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Lynn Carol Williams, 56, sentenced May 6 by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, will also serve six months of home detention with electronic monitoring as part of three years of supervised release for wire fraud in connection with a scheme to misuse the Freestate Challenge Academy corporate purchasing card, causing losses of more than $107,493.  Freestate Challenge Academy is a Maryland National Guard program at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The wake-up call came at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, but Midshipman Alberto Salabarria was ready well before then. Anticipating a grueling, thrilling, muddy day of Sea Trials at the Naval Academy, Salabarria and some of his classmates couldn't wait. "Everyone was listening to music, trying to motivate themselves," Salabarria said. Staying upbeat is a key to surviving Sea Trials, a 14-hour test of strength, endurance and will that marks the end of the freshman, or "plebe," year at the Naval Academy.

The emphasis on character has always distinguished the service academies from other institutions of higher learning. Officers are expected to be gentlemen, not just good students. Dishonor is a deadly sin. The moral ground is presumably so high that only the most sterling young men and women are allowed XTC the opportunity to climb.Yet here is the U.S. Naval Academy -- the place where midshipmen do not lie, cheat or steal -- preparing to take action against 125 students who lied, cheated and/or stole a notoriously difficult electrical engineering exam in December 1992.

My town, Annapolis, is a special kind of college town. The students at the Naval Academy are distinctive not for their backpacks, ear buds and school T-shirts, but for their crisp summer whites and their somber dress blues. The midshipmen take off their hats - their covers - when they enter a building, and they say "sir" and "ma'am" when you greet them. At this college, you don't pay anything unless you quit or get kicked out. About 1,400 arrive every July, but only about 800 will graduate four years later.