United States Naval Academy

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(By: Chip Schultz)


Location:   121 Blake Road, Annapolis, Maryland 

Visiting Hours:   10:00am - 5:30pm

Website:   www.usna.edu
Phone:   410-293-8687

Service academies usually refer to the academies of the four branches of the military: those of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, under the Department of Defense, and that of the Coast Guard, under the Department of Homeland Security. These are the only four Academies whose students are on Active Duty in the Armed Forces of the United States from the day they enter the Academy and subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Of these, the United States Military Academy (USMA), founded in 1802, is in West Point, New York; the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), founded in 1954, is in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the United States Naval Academy (USNA), founded in 1845, is in Annapolis, Maryland.

The history of the Naval Academy has often reflected the history of the United States itself. As the U.S. Navy has moved from a fleet of sail and steam-powered ships to a high tech fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships as well as supersonic aircraft, the Academy has changed also. The Naval Academy gives young men and women the up-to-date academic and professional training needed to be effective officers in their assignments after graduation. Once an upper-classman, cadets can choose to be commissioned as a U.S. Naval officer or a Marine Corps officer.

(L to R) Vermazen, Burnett, Carpenter, Capt. Hughes, Green, Antel, Schultz, Capt. Gephart

(Kneeling) Wood, Metcalf

My first Marine Corps duty station (1992) - Marine Corps Security Force Company, Bangor Naval Submarine Base, Silverdale, Washington. Captain Greg Gephart (far right, standing next to me) was our Platoon Commander. A former Artillery Officer, Gephart was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (class of 1987) where he played football. 

Semper Fi, Sir!