Naval Academy

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.

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 lieutenant 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.

WHAT REALLY caused Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations, to commit suicide? Could it really have been because he had worn two little brass "V" buttons without having won them by combat in Vietnam?The answers run deep, buried in the troubles of a Navy that nurtured Mike Boorda's incredible climb from enlisted high school drop-out to top officer of the fleet -- the first "mustang" in history to attain the pinnacle.Those "V" buttons could have been the result of an honest misunderstanding or some darker need for recognition deserved but not granted.

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.

President Barack Obama will return to Annapolis to give the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy this year, the first time he has spoken to a graduating class of midshipmen since 2009, the White House said Monday. The address comes at a time of continued transition for the military, as the administration draws down troop levels in Afghanistan in advance of the 2014 exit and the Pentagon is squeezed by government-wide budget reductions. "It will be an honor and privilege to welcome the 44th president of the United States and Commander-in-Chief back to Annapolis," Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Michael Miller said in a statement.  The graduating class, he said, "will look to the president for his leadership and wisdom as they get ready for their first assignments.

Reports of sexual assaults at the Naval Academy doubled last year, the fourth straight year the number has increased, according to the Defense Department. But do the findings of the Pentagon report on sexual harassment and assaults mean that such incidents are on the rise in Annapolis? Or do they show that midshipmen have grown more aware of sexual assault and are more likely to report it to authorities? Academy officials and critics alike hope it's the latter — but say it is impossible to know for certain.

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 top two positions of command in the U.S. Naval Academy's 4,300-member brigade of midshipmen will be filled next semester by midshipmen Julianne Gallina of Pelham, N.Y., and Daniel Truckenbrod of Sycamore, Ill.As brigade commander, Gallina will have the rank of midshipman captain and will be responsible for the daily military activities and performance of the brigade.Most visible in parades, ceremonies and daily formations, she will also perform administrative functions and will be the key link in the chain of command between the midshipmen and officers.

The Naval Academy is reporting a record number of applications, both overall and in the number of minorities who have applied. Bruce Latta, the dean of admissions, told the academy's Board of Visitors on Monday that the school received 17,416 applications for the Class of 2014, 2,100 more than last year. A typical class at the academy has about 1,230 students. Minority applications went up to 5,382, nearly 1,000 more than last year, an increase of nearly 23 percent. - Associated Press

As it turns out, the Naval Academy is awash in "Gangnam Style. " A crew of mids from the 22nd Company, at least, seem to have it in spades and shows it off in a video that's going viral. The video (see above), just posted Sunday on YouTube, already has more than 267,000 views. In it, the young men, mainly in dress whites, dance around the Naval Academy to the song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper PSY. It's one of the hottest songs in America right now. The mids call it a "spirit spot.

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.

First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to visit the Naval Academy and the State House in Annapolis today as she praises a new Maryland law as setting a national standard for legislation to help veterans get professional credentials, the White House said. Her arrival coincides with Gov. Martin O'Malley signing the bill, which passed the General Assembly unanimously this month. It aims to ease Maryland veterans' transition from the military to civilian jobs and universities, as well as help veterans and military spouses get professional licenses for more than 70 jobs when they move here.

First lady Michelle Obama told the Naval Academy's 4,000 midshipmen that she and the president would honor their sacrifice by making sure the country takes care of them.  "You have a president and a first lady who will keep working to make sure that this country serves you as well as you serve us," Michelle Obama said during brief remarks before sharing lunch with midshipmen.  The first lady was in Annapolis for a State House ceremony where...

President Barack Obama awarded Navy's football team with the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on Thursday afternoon in the East Room at the White House. Here are the president's remarks: Hello, everybody.  (Applause.)  Hello.  Please, everybody have a seat.  Well, good afternoon.  Welcome to the White House.  I want to start by recognizing Coach Ken Niumatalolo, my fellow Hawaiian, for being here once again -- where is he?  There he is right here.  (Laughter.)  Hard to miss him.  Give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Four young men, including a Kent Island firefighter, were killed in a head-on car crash on Kent Island Wednesday afternoon, the Queen Anne's County sheriff's office said. Firefighter medics who rushed to the scene recognized the fireman who was killed, officials said. Eli Dabich, 73, a chemistry professor at the Naval Academy, was injured and flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where a spokeswoman said he was in serious condition as of Thursday afternoon. All of the teenagers killed were from Kent Island.

Natalie Muneses, a student at The Science and Math Academy at Aberdeen High School in Aberdeen, will be among the 2,550 students from across the country invited to participate in the 2013 U.S. Naval Academy Summer Seminar program. The Naval Academy Summer Seminar program is a fast-paced leadership experience for rising seniors in high school that helps educate, motivate and prepare selected students who are considering applying for admission to USNA. Summer Seminar teaches prospective applicants about life at the Naval Academy, where academics, athletics and professional training are key elements in developing the nation's leaders.

Capt. Bill Byrne, a former quarterback at the Naval Academy, will return to Annapolis this spring as commandant of midshipmen, officials said Thursday. "I'm thrilled to become a part of the team that gets the next generation of leaders ready to enter the fleet," Byrne, who graduated in 1987, said in a statement. "The ensigns and second lieutenants coming out of the Naval Academy seem to get better every year. " The 4,400-member brigade of midshipmen currently includes Byrne's daughter Brigid, due to graduate this year, and his son Michael, a plebe.

As an adjunct instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, I take the oath at the beginning of each academic year to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, as I did at the beginning of my naval career at the academy. Yet the Naval Academy is defying the Constitution — specifically the First Amendment. It reads in part: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. " So how is the academy defying the Constitution?

When city or county firefighters have a family event or unexpected obligation pop up on a workday, their solution is familiar to most shift workers: They find a colleague willing to trade hours. But for the roughly 10,000 firefighters employed by the federal government at places such as the Naval Academy and Fort Meade, law limits the ability to swap shifts — a restriction that they say causes them to miss birthdays, graduations and personal emergencies. And so the small federal firefighting force — including about 350 in the Baltimore-Washington region — is again pushing Congress to grant them the same flexibility to alter schedules that their local counterparts have had for decades under the Fair Labor Standards Act. "There are things you miss, like when your child has a play, or some sort of activity," said Trenton Massenberg, 47, a fire captain at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Navy defender Emily Mellin , who played in high school at nearby St. Mary's in Annapolis. A team captain, she leads a defense allowing just 7.22 goals per game for the No. 14 and three-time defending Patriot League champion Midshipmen (11-1). In the fall, Mellin served as commander of the 5th Company, one of 30 company commanders in the brigade overseeing 150 midshipmen.