A recent Naval Institute Blog post by a classmate of mine suggested the Naval Academy get rid of formal parades in order to become a 21st-century institution. Whether or not I agree with him, I was surprised by the hateful comments he received from older Naval Academy graduates and other retired servicemen. Many commenters found his argument more of a whine than an idea. This brought me to two questions: did my classmate deserve the personal attacks for his article; and has the Naval Academy gone soft?
The answer to the first question is no. I know the midshipman, and he has not “anointed himself as brilliant,” nor does he boast “youthful arrogance” as some commenters have said. I do respect the passion of these older grads and servicemen, and their appreciation for the attention to detail required in military parades. I admire those who take their jobs seriously and passionately. I think it is unprofessional and poor leadership, however, to disparage my classmate and the Institution we attend.
As leaders and future officers, we are taught to defend our shipmates, listen with an open mind, and respect new ideas and opinions. How can old veterans attack a young person’s character and then go on to lecture them about leadership? No junior sailor or Marine has ever responded well to such condescending and degrading comments.
Some comments about the midshipman’s article attacked the Naval Academy and questioned whether it has gone soft. What do they mean by “soft?” Is the Academy soft because hazing has been phased out? Do they consider the Brigade soft because it is made up of millennials and Generation Z? Is it soft because my classmate challenged a tradition of the Naval Academy? These seem to be the reasons why current midshipman take flak, but when you begin to unpack these arguments you realize they are not valid.
We don’t physically beat, torture, haze, or harass plebes at the Naval Academy in the 21st century, but that does not take anything from the difficulty of plebe year. Plebe summer is still long, hot, and arduous. It was not the hardest thing I had ever done (Physics II has that title), but it was stressful and challenging. Academically, the Academy has pushed me to learn difficult subject matter over a range of topics and a level of depth that has forced me to exceed what I thought I was capable of learning .
While corporal (physical) punishments are not tolerated at the academy, plebes experience “beat down” workouts (which are very physically demanding). And academics now fills the role of the punisher. Classes like Cyber, Chemistry, Calculus, Physics, Thermodynamics, and Electrical Engineering are notorious for consuming the mids’ time and energy, and those are only the core classes. Academics is more challenging now than it was for those who graduated in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s, with the development of new technology. Midshipmen are expected to know how to work programs and software such as Cengage, OWL, WileyPlus, Webassign, Blackboard, Mindtap, Excel, Google docs, Google slides, Google Chrome, etc. . . and if you don’t know how to operate these or what they are, I envy you. Millennial/Generation Z midshipmen have developed the ability to retain and regurgitate even more information at ease, all while balancing other facets of Academy life.
Midshipmen are critical thinkers, and that is why challenges to traditions (like parades) shouldn’t be a surprise. Beginning in plebe year Leadership class, we are taught to question and think about our choices. That continues in youngster year during Ethics class. Yes, we know how to “suck it up” and we know how and when to say “Roger that, sir,” but the Academy is also creating tactful leaders who can think critically in time crunches.
Recently, I listened to Vice Admiral Walter E. Carter, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, speak about his experiences on the Proceedings Podcast. Talking about today’s midshipmen, he said the millennial/Gen Z generations are the best midshipmen the Academy has ever seen. He told his own class, the great class of 1981, that only a select few of them would even be accepted to today’s Academy, which speaks volumes about the competitiveness and quality of young men and women applying to the Academy.
Data from the Class of 2022 shows that the average SAT score was between 1240 and 1520 on a 1600 point scale. Ninety-three percent of the 1,209 person class were varsity athletes, 73 percent were captains of their teams, 66 percent were in National Honor Society. These numbers represent well-rounded people who have worked hard their entire lives. Admiral Carter certainly does not think the Naval Academy is getting soft; quite the contrary. He believes this generation of midshipmen will go down as some of the best classes to ever walk the halls. So, “has the Naval Academy gone soft?” The answer is no, and as uncertainty around the world grows and tensions increase, current midshipmen and recent graduates will be the ones answering the call.
Thanks for your input, Baby Boomers and Generation X. Thanks for your service in the Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the war against terror. Thank you for the lessons you taught us. Thank you for everything you sacrificed. Now give us a chance to lead. The world is a complex place with lots of challenges to U.S. national security, but we’ve got the watch now.
