Academy Superintendent

The admiral who was in charge of the Naval Academy during the largest cheating scandal in the school's history will retire in November, without a promotion or the command of a fleet."

The Naval Academy superintendent, recently under fire over an off-the-books "slush fund," will be forced out of his position a month earlier than expected, officials said Tuesday, as the military also overturned his recommendations that two students be expelled. Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler had planned to retire in September after three years at the academy's helm, but the chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, directed an exit by the first week in August, saying it would "better position the Naval Academy for success in the upcoming year," according to a Navy spokesman.

Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, whose fast rise in the Navy stalled when he presided over the Naval Academy during its largest cheating scandal, has been assigned to a new Pentagon post that will chart the future of the Navy and Marine Corps.The 52-year-old academy superintendent yesterday received his orders to become director of the Navy's roles and missions study group, under the chief of naval operations.The admiral will oversee a staff of 10 that will study will review the types of military operations that may be required in the post Cold War era."

It started in April 2007 when $95,000 in corporate sponsorship money raised for Navy's appearance in the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl football game was placed into a newly created contingency fund. Over the next two years, Naval Academy administrators deposited an additional $200,000 in bowl game sponsorship money into the account, tapping it to pay for "invitation-only" tailgate parties, several catered receptions and $863 in necktie gifts for football coaches. But this off-the-books "slush fund" never should have been created, according to a newly released report from the Office of the Naval Inspector General.

James Hill, 75, a British film director whose movies included "Born Free" and a remake of "Black Beauty," died yesterday. The cause was not immediately known. Mr. Hill's best-known film was "Born Free," the story of a game warden in Kenya, George Adamson, and his wife, Joy, who reared three lion cubs. Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers starred in the 1966 release. Other films included "A Study in Terror" in 1965 and the 1971 version of "Black Beauty."William Renwick Smedberg III, 92, a retired vice admiral and former Naval Academy superintendent, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday in Falls Church, Va. Admiral Smedberg, who retired in 1964, was academy superintendent from 1956 to 1958.

The Naval Academy Women's Club May Installation Luncheon will take place at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Buchanan House, home of the U.S. Naval Academy superintendent.At the luncheon, 24 $1,000 scholarships will be given to 15 children of U.S. Navy and Marine officers, seven children of Naval Academy faculty and staff, and two children of enlisted personnel from the Naval Station.Information: 849-8315 or 263-7199.

The Navy reserves its Distinguished Service Medal, the fourth-highest prize it offers, for "exceptional performance of duty, clearly above that normally expected."One has to wonder what it considers "exceptional performance of duty." This week it gave the prize to Rear Adm. Thomas C. Lynch, whose watch as Naval Academy superintendent was marred by the biggest cheating scandal in academy history and criticism over the half-hearted way he handled it.The Navy's behavior makes no sense.On the one hand, Navy top brass have sent unmistakable signals that they are not impressed with Admiral Lynch.

An Annapolis alderwoman and the Anne Arundel chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stepped forward yesterday in support of Lamar Owens Jr., the Navy midshipman recommended for expulsion after being acquitted of rape charges but convicted of two lesser counts. Classie G. Hoyle introduced a non-binding resolution asking that the Naval Academy grant Owens his degree and commission. The alderwoman said she hopes that Navy Assistant Secretary William Navas will take it under consideration as he decides the fate of Owens, whose trial ended in July.

Vice. Adm. Rodney P. Rempt Occupation Naval Academy superintendent In the news In a memo to Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter, Rempt recommended last week the expulsion of Lamar S. Owens Jr., a former standout quarterback who was acquitted in July of raping a female classmate but found guilty on two lesser charges. Career highlights After his 1966 graduation from the academy, Rempt served aboard several ships before commanding the USS Callaghan, a destroyer, and the USS Bunker Hill, a cruiser.

The Navy says it will not punish the Naval Academy's former lawyer, who was accused last year by the Pentagon of interfering with criminal investigations at the academy.Capt. Joseph D. Scranton was the staff judge advocate at the Naval Academy in 1995 and 1996 when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated a number of misdeeds by midshipmen, including drug use, car theft, child molestation and homicide.In response to complaints from Navy investigators and Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina Republican, the Pentagon inspector general launched an investigation into Scranton's role in the investigations.

The Naval Academy's traditional Herndon climb — a scramble to replace the hat at the top of a 21-foot-tall, lard-coated obelisk — may slip-slide away. Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler, departing superintendent of the Naval Academy, said Wednesday that the greasy climb that signals the end of freshman year every spring has an uncertain future. Though the traditional competition will take place later this month, there have been concerns about injuries as the plebes trample and tumble over each other to replace the plebe "Dixie cup" hat at the top with an upperclassman's hat. Some plebes have been hurt, but none seriously, as the midshipmen step on faces, heads and shoulders.

Rear Adm. Michael H. Miller, the president's nominee to be the U.S. Naval Academy's next superintendent, flew combat missions into Libya, led aircraft carrier groups to the Persian Gulf and worked four years in the White House before taking his current job as the Navy's chief of legislative affairs. If confirmed by the Senate, Miller will replace Superintendent Jeffrey Fowler, who has led the academy for three years. Fowler will retire, according to the Department of Defense, but he has not announced a date of departure.

Midshipmen are again dipping the American flag before the altar cross at Sunday services at the Naval Academy chapel, restoring a tradition that supporters say shows reverence but that critics say violates the separation of church and state. Chaplains at the academy suspended the practice in October after questions were raised by Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler, who became the superintendent in June. After some congregants and alumni criticized the move, academy officials relented - a move that one critic called "an amazing act of cowardice."

To some, he has achieved the impossible in a four-year tenure: taking an institution with a lingering hostility to women and moving it with missionary zeal to the forefront of higher education, with far-reaching training and enforcement policies on alcohol abuse and sexual assault. Others see a crusade run amok: a thin-skinned commander who, desperate to appease outsiders, brought flimsy cases to trial and made puzzling disciplinary decisions that favored women over men. Naval Academy Superintendent Rodney P. Rempt, who presides today over his final graduation ceremony before heading into retirement in landlocked Montana, leaves behind a legacy of unprecedented reform - having retooled the curriculum, boosted graduation rates and overseen an improved performance in intercollegiate athletics.

An Annapolis alderwoman and the Anne Arundel chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stepped forward yesterday in support of Lamar Owens Jr., the Navy midshipman recommended for expulsion after being acquitted of rape charges but convicted of two lesser counts. Classie G. Hoyle introduced a non-binding resolution asking that the Naval Academy grant Owens his degree and commission. The alderwoman said she hopes that Navy Assistant Secretary William Navas will take it under consideration as he decides the fate of Owens, whose trial ended in July.

Vice. Adm. Rodney P. Rempt Occupation Naval Academy superintendent In the news In a memo to Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter, Rempt recommended last week the expulsion of Lamar S. Owens Jr., a former standout quarterback who was acquitted in July of raping a female classmate but found guilty on two lesser charges. Career highlights After his 1966 graduation from the academy, Rempt served aboard several ships before commanding the USS Callaghan, a destroyer, and the USS Bunker Hill, a cruiser.

CREATION OF AN outside panel to conduct a broad assessment of the U.S. Naval Academy is a welcome development. Buffeted by a number of scandals -- including drug use, sexual misconduct and car thefts -- the academy's reputation is in need of rehabilitation. A thorough review is an excellent start.As envisioned by the academy's Board of Visitors, military and civilian experts will explore all aspects of academy life, from admissions policies to the treatment of female midshipmen. The assessment should be able to pinpoint problems that need addressing, as well as put to rest misconceptions that the officers' training school has been overrun with irresponsible youth.

Bringing Adm. Charles R. Larson back to the U.S. Naval Academy is turning out to be the smartest decision the Navy has made regarding this hallowed but recently troubled institution.Admiral Larson, academy superintendent from 1983 to 1986, was sent back one year ago to clean up a cheating scandal and address the moral deficiencies that caused it -- to make the Naval Academy as truly honorable as it has always purported to be. He quickly put his finger on the problem -- a too lenient atmosphere and lack of emphasis on character development -- and unhesitatingly began cracking down.

The Anti-Defamation League, arguing that the lunchtime prayer at the U.S. Naval Academy violates the separation of church and state, says it will ask Congress and the secretary of the Navy to stop the practice. The group sent a letter last month to the academy in Annapolis but has received no formal reply, said Myrna Shinbaum, a spokeswoman for the organization devoted to fighting anti-Semitism and other discrimination. "We will continue to make our concerns known through the Armed Services Committee of the Senate and House, as well as with the secretary of the Navy, and continue to raise the issue in the public arena," she said, declining to be more specific.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- As recently as a few weeks ago, Rear Adm. Rodney P. Rempt was telling subordinates at the Naval War College here that he planned to retire this summer. He and his wife, Pam, were building a house in Montana -- far from saltwater. He told colleagues that he would celebrate the end of a 37-year Navy career with a big retirement party in August. But the abrupt resignation two weeks ago of the Naval Academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton, sent senior Navy officials scrambling for a replacement who could restore stability to a school whipsawed by Naughton's leadership style.