NStar Articles

In a letter written by John Paul Jones, he noted that “It is by no means enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner.  He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more”. The world in which John Paul Jones fought and commanded ships bears little resemblance to the contemporary global environment, yet his view regarding the qualifications a Naval Officer must possess is still relevant today.

Young people who choose to serve their country in the United States military might enlist after high school or enter an officer candidate program after earning a 4-year college degree.  But a select few spend their high school years building an outstanding record of achievement that will make them competitive for an appointment to one of the nation’s military service academies.

It’s been a surprisingly warm winter around the Naval Academy. In the fall we all prepped for the Dark Ages and cold weather at USNA by getting our hands on warm gloves, cozy hats, and thick jackets. We’re all starting to realize we aren’t going to need them for much longer considering it’s been a warm 40-50 degrees over the last couple months. There have been cooler days, but overall we haven’t needed to thoroughly bundle up our children too much this year like we did last year. There’s been no shoveling snow by the midshipmen - or grumpy teenagers - around Annapolis, and I don’t either of them are too upset about that.