USNA National Eagle Scout Association Honored for Work With Scouts

MIDN 1/C Drew Bell and LCDR Casey Rayburg accepted the Baltimore Area Council Boy Scouts of America Friend of Eagle Award in front of nearly 400 civic, business, and boy scout leaders from across the state Oct. 29 at the 2015 Maryland Gathering of Eagles.

Approximately 40 midshipmen attended the event, which highlighted local organizations and individuals who have a major impact in scouting in the state of Maryland.

Additionally, the keynote speaker of the event was the academy's own Distinguished Visiting Professor Chris Inglis, former deputy director of the NSA.

The citation given to the midshipmen read:

"While traditionally given to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the ideals of scouting and the programs guiding young scouts along the path of Eagle, this year’s Friend of the Eagle Award goes to an institution that supports Eagle Scouts and scouting in a number of ways. This year’s honoree, the United States Naval Academy, has made exceptional contributions to scouting year after year, not just to the more than 30,000 scouts of central Maryland, but nationwide, and to the four corners of the globe.

The academy is home to one of the country’s largest National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) chapters, and supports a year-round calendar of mentoring, community service, and Boy Scout development programs. Most recently, the USNA hosted the 2015 USNA NESA STEM Jamboree, at which dozens of midshipmen donated their time and talent to teach STEM-related merit badges to hundreds of scouts from across the State of Maryland and its immediate neighbors. We are extremely proud of their work and pleased to confer this award upon them for both their service and their example."

Naptown Funk Gonna Give it To You

MIDN 1/C Rylan Tuohy's latest creation - made with the help of more than 50 midshipmen - is a tribute to the City of Annapolis. It's a must watch.

USNA '78 Grad VADM Tidd Nominated for 4th Star

Congratulations, VADM Kurt W. Tidd (USNA '78), who was officially nominated for his 4th star and assignment as commander of U.S. Southern Command yesterday!

Once confirmed, that will give the great class of 1978 four active duty admirals:

ADM Kurt W. Tidd
ADM Mark E. Ferguson
ADM Cecil D. Haney
ADM Harry B. Harris Jr.

Only four other classes in USNA's history have had four or more 4-star admirals serving on active duty. (While other classes had more than four, many of them were meritorious promotions at the time of retirement.)

Class of 1897
ADM Orin G. Murfin
FADM William D. Leahy
ADM Arthur J. Hepburn
ADM Harry E. Yarnell
ADM Thomas C. Hart

Class of 1927
ADM George W. Anderson Jr.
ADM Charles D. Griffin
ADM Ulysses S. G. Sharp Jr.
ADM John S. Thach

Class of 1933
ADM Charles K. Duncan
ADM Ignatius J. Galantin
ADM Thomas H. Moorer
ADM Waldemar F.A. Wendt

Class of 1973
ADM John C. Harvey
ADM Eric T. Olson
ADM Gary Roughead
ADM Robert F. Willard

Naval Academy Commissions Donated Schooner

The Naval Academy Sailing Center commissioned the donated schooner SummerWind in a ceremony Oct. 28 at the Robert Crown Sailing Center.

The Naval Academy's donated schooner, the SummerWind

SummerWind is a 1929 model 100-foot John G. Alden Schooner and was donated by James Grundy of Oxford, Md.

At the academy she will be used by the Varsity Offshore Sailing Team and by the Off Shore Training Squadron during summer training blocks. SummerWind can hold 12 midshipmen along with a skipper and an executive officer vice the Navy 44’s which hold eight midshipmen, a skipper, and an XO.

MIDN 1/C Alex Cinq Mars christens USNA's donated schooner
with the traditional bottle of champagne.

After long service as a privately owned vessel and commercial charter craft both stateside and abroad, SummerWind was purchased in Spain in 2006 and transported to Palm Beach, Fla., where a massive restoration was undertaken.  

Almost entirely replanked, every structural element was evaluated and either restored or replaced, her engineering systems redesigned, and her sailing rig updated.  The total cost of the restoration is rumored to have been in excess of $8 million.

In most every way SummerWind is a museum piece, the finest example of a classic schooner. However, she is also, in all probability, the “newest” 1929 vessel afloat due not only to her extensive rebuild and modernization of equipment from 2006-2009, but also to continuing meticulous care and upgrades, including replacement of the entire rig (both masts and booms) in carbon fiber by Grundy.

The Naval Academy's donated schooner, the SummerWind

She was chartered to the Merchant Marine Academy in 2009 for three years. The craft was used extensively for sail training of midshipmen in various events: racing events, local navigation training, overnight and offshore voyages and indoctrination training of first-year midshipmen.