Pag« Six
The Nyssa Gat« City Journal, Nyssa, Oregon
Thursday, March 14, 1974
U.S. ftaval Academv
WHITE HOUSE EROM WASHINGTON MONUMENT
^^jAn^PHOTO
The United States Naval Academy was founded at Annapolis,
Maryland in 1845. Its purpose then, and continuously since,
has been to educate its students to meet the mission and the
needs of the Navy, in other words, to educate young men to
be Naval oficers. Obviously, the Navy's needs have become
much more complex since 1845, and the Naval Academy has
kept up with those needs in a most satisfactory way.
Two weeks ago about 60 high school principals and coun
selors from Oregon were taken back to Annapolis to acquaint
them with the job that the academy is doing, and to more
fully inform these educators on the needs of the academy
in terms of academic and personal achievement of these
young men. I was one of three Oregon newsmen who were
privileged to accompany the educators on that trip, and indeed
it was a privilege and a real source of enjoyment and in
formation to me. Having been associated with the Navy almost
all of my adult life, going to Annapolis was a goal that I
had long looked forward to.
Our group was given two full days of exposure to every
part of the life of the midshipman. We were greeted by the
Superintendent of the Naval Academy, by the Commandant
of Midshipmen, by the Academic Dean, by the Dean of
Admissions, by the Athletic Director, and by heads of every
department at the academy.
We visited Bancroft Hall, where the midshipmen live, the
largest dormitory complex in the world. We ate in the dining
hall, where 4,200 midshipmen eat together, and are served
in 20 minutes. We toured the chapel, an inspiring and beauti
ful place of worship.
John Paul Jones, the father of the
American Navy, lies in a circular crypt beneath the chancel.
We visited the Nimitz Library, the museum, the fieldhouse,
the sailboat moorage, and all parts of the 310-acre campus.
We found out that the instructors are about half military,
bringing with them current problems and experiences of
the Naval officer; and the other half of the instructors are
civilian, maintaining the continuity of classroom instruction.
We were told time and again that the Naval Academy isn’t
for every young man, and only the best academically and
physically can graduate. The academy loses about one-third
of its students in four years, with a 10 percent loss the first
year for various reasons. About 60 percent of those gradua-
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ting make the Navy a career, and all are obligated to five
years of commissioned service after they graduate. There
is only one reason for a young man to come to the academy,
and that is a desire to be a Naval Officer.
Incidentally, there is no plan toenroll girls in the academy.
They can’t serve in combat billets, and women are being
trained for non-combat billets in college ROTC programs.
The academy sends about 9C0 officers to the fleet or the Marine
Corps each year, ROTC sends about 800 regular and 300 con
tract officers to line commissions. Another 2,000are enrolled
at Pensacola for flight training each year. It costs nearly
$60,000 to graduate an officer from the Naval Academy, and
each midshipman has an opportunity to choose one of 27
majors that range from aerospace engineering to literature
to oceanography.
A highlight of our visit each day was the opportunity to eat
with the 39 midshipmen from Oregon at lunch in a private
dining room. Keith Oldemeyer, a Nyssa High School gra
duate of 1971, is in his third year at the academy and
doing very well. He must decide soon between
nuclear en
gineering or aviation, his main career choices, and will
spend six weeks next summer on the staff at Pear! Harbor,
Hawaii.
We three newsmen, which included Ben Cook, KSRV,
Leverett Richards of The Oregonian, and myself had the
opportunity to interview Vice Admiral William P. Mack,
USN, Superintendent of the Naval Academy. Admiral Mack
graduated and was commissioned an Ensign in 1937, and his
most recent command before returning to the academy in
June, 1972 was Commander Seventh Fleet, where he was
responsible for approximately 120 ships and 80,000 men in
the Southeast Pacific.
I think that each of the educators has a better realiza
tion of the mission of the academy after their visit, and will
be better equipped to counsel the right young men in their
schools as to the opportunities and rewards available at
the Naval Academy. It is hard to visualize a better or more
responsible career than that of a Naval officer, and quite
possibly one of our own young men some day will be Com
mander Seventh Fleet.
After visiting with these young midshipmen, it is re
assuring to know that these young officers to-be will be
eminently qualified to take their places on the carriers,
nuclear submarines, aircraft, and other ships of the UjS.
Navy, our first line of defense.
Incident to the tour of Annapolis was an opportunity one
evening to visit the Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, and to see some of the buildings and monuments
in Washington, D.C. by night. Before departing from An
drews Air Force Base to return home we were able to spend
several hours in Washington on Friday morning, March 1.
The whole group visited Arlington Cemetery, the Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier and the graves of President John Ken
nedy and Robert Kennedy.
Then as time permitted we
broke off to visit the White House, Washington Monument, the
Smithsonian Institute, the Capitol, and the National Archives.
Having been in Washington, D. C. several times before,
it still is a thrill for me to re-visit and to be re-inspired
at our seat of government.
George Washington and our
early leaders had a sense of the historical importance of
the decisions they made almost 200 years ago, and many
of them are reflected at every turn in that great and
beautiful city.
DIRICK NEDRY
VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM P. MACK
SUPERINTENDENT. U. S. NAVAL ACADEMY
MARYl ANI» S I ATE HOUSE
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WASHINGTON MONUMENT
NAVAL ACADEMY < HAIT I
MIDSHIPMAN
KEITH OLDEMEYER
SON OF MR. AND MRS.
DON OLDEMEYER
ANNOUNCÍMÍNT !
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