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About USNA
As the undergraduate college of our country’s naval service, the Naval Academy prepares young men and women to become professional officers of competence, character, and compassion in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Naval Academy students are midshipmen on active duty in the U.S. Navy.
They attend the academy for four years, graduating with bachelor of science degrees and commissions as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Naval Academy graduates serve at least five years in the Navy or Marine Corps.
Mission Statement
“To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.”
Student Life
General Information
As the undergraduate college of our country's naval service, the Naval Academy prepares young men and women to become professional officers and leaders of Sailors and Marines.
Naval Academy students are midshipmen on active duty in the U.S. Navy. They attend the Academy for four years, graduating with bachelor of science degrees and commissions as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps.
Naval Academy graduates serve at least five years in the Navy or Marine Corps.
Life in the Brigade
All Naval Academy students are called midshipmen. The student body is the Brigade of Midshipmen, or simply "the Brigade," and the naval service often is called "the Fleet." The Brigade is divided into six battalions. Six companies make up each battalion, making a total of 36 companies. The midshipman command structure is headed by a first class (senior) midshipman chosen for outstanding leadership performance to be Brigade Commander. He or she is responsible for much of the Brigade’s day-to-day activities and the professional training of other midshipmen.
All midshipmen live in Bancroft Hall, a huge dormitory complex. You and your roommates live in close proximity to about 150 other midshipmen in your company.
Leadership Responsibility
Life at the Academy prepares you to be a naval officer in the United States Navy or Marine Corps and leadership is one of the foundational skills required.
By the time you take your position as a naval officer leading sailors and Marines, you will have had four solid years of experience developing and growing your strength as a leader.
During your time at the Academy, you will be taught and guided by a world-class faculty as well seasoned officers and senior enlisted.
By the time you are a first class midshipman in your final year at the Academy, you will be making daily decisions affecting the morale and performance of other midshipmen, and your influence will shape a team’s ability to accomplish its goals and objectives.
Extracurricular Activities
More than 70 extracurricular activities are available at the Academy to help you explore your personal interests and passions, develop additional skills, and build connections with your fellow midshipmen.
The Gospel Choir and the Glee Club are two of our most popular clubs and give students the opportunity to perform around the country. The Midshipmen Action Group (MAG) offers a variety of educational, environmental, and social service volunteer projects coordinated with community partners from the Annapolis, Baltimore, and D.C. areas.
You can choose from a variety of other clubs including the Infantry Skills team, SCUBA Club, Parachute Team, Astronomy Club, and a selection of honor societies and club sports, just to name a few.
There is room for you to try something new or build on a skill you already developed before coming to the Academy. There is something for everyone.
Athletics
Athletics play a major role in how we accomplish our mission. We challenge midshipmen physically so that when they graduate they will be prepared to successfully lead in combat. We want our future officers to be team builders, learn how to motivate others to excel, and compete on the athletic field and win. In order to win, midshipmen must set high goals for themselves and their team and find a way to achieve them. Our hope is that by the time they join the fleet and Corps as junior officers, they will have learned not only what teamwork, determination, and leadership mean, but also how they transcend to succeeding in combat. Developing midshipmen physically is also about hard work, stamina, and physical and mental toughness. Aggressiveness, perseverance, and toughness in the face of adversity are qualities we want our graduates to demonstrate as second nature.
Plebe Summer
All midshipmen begin the four-year program with Plebe Summer, a period designed to turn civilians into midshipmen. Plebe Summer is no gentle easing into the military. Soon after entering the gate on Induction Day, you are put into uniform and taught how to salute by first class midshipmen who lead the plebe indoctrination program.
For the next seven weeks, you start your days at dawn with an hour of rigorous exercise and end them long after sunset. Forget television, leisure time, and movies. You will have barely enough hours in the day to finish your assigned plebe tasks.
The frantic, exhausting pace of Plebe Summer gets you ready for your responsibilities when the Brigade returns from summer training and the academic year begins. The summer also builds the foundation for the tangible and intangible qualities that make an outstanding naval officer. You learn self-discipline, how to organize your time, and to decide which things are most important.
Daily Schedule
A typical weekday schedule looks something like this:
Spiritual Opportunities
The copper dome of the Chapel is an iconic symbol of the Naval Academy and a representation of the moral courage that is an important dimension of military life and leadership.
The Academy’s Religious Ministries program strives to foster spiritual fitness and promote the moral development of the midshipmen within the tenets of an individual’s personal faith or belief. The Chaplain Center serves the religious and spiritual needs of the brigade by ministering to the midshipmen through pastoral care, spiritual and religious mentoring, ritual and sacramental obligations, and by providing pastoral care for all regardless of their faith background.
The Academy embraces freedom of religion in all that we do. This means allowing our midshipmen to worship or not as they desire while placing no requirements on them to embrace specific beliefs or participate in specific religious services or events. We provide support for a wide variety of faiths so those midshipmen who desire to worship are free and able to do so for their own personal moral development. Some midshipmen choose to attend local churches that meet their worship needs in or around Annapolis.
Special Events
Throughout a midshipman's time here at the Naval Academy, there will be many significant milestones that we celebrate. These include Induction Day (I-Day), Plebe Summer, Plebe Parents Weekend, Second Class Parents' Weekend and Commissioning Week.
Induction Day (I-Day)
Induction Day marks the beginning of Plebe Summer. It includes the in-processing of the entire plebe regiment and an Oath of Office Ceremony. Members of the plebe class are also afforded time to say goodbye to family and friends prior to beginning their indoctrination into life as a Midshipman.
Commissioning Week
Commissioning Week honors the first class (1/C) midshipmen upon completion of four years at the Naval Academy. Parents, family members, and guests are invited to attend a series of events in honor of the graduates including the Blue Angels flight demonstration, Color Parade, special awards ceremonies, and musical performances.
