United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Parents weekend was not the end of Plebe Summer by any stretch of the imagination. First, we had to move out of our Plebe Summer rooms and into our rooms in our company areas. Some had it easy moving up, down, or over a few decks, others had the misfortune of trying to move out to 7th and 8th wings or for one company, Bicketts. Then came the last test of Plebe Summer, Brigade Trials to prove that we were ready to join the Brigade of Midshipmen. Ah, the Brigade of Midshipmen, the entity we knew only through the stories our detailers had told us: the three-to-one upperclass to Plebe ratio, that it was Plebe Summer with chemistry. Hello night was a terrifying experience with 90 to 100 upperclass in your face asking you 100 differ- ent rates. During Beform, we would walk around in packs, afraid to venture off alone and get cor- nered. BearAdmiral Locklear, our first Commandant, told us The Naval Academy is not Camelot. It wasn't perfect and it wasnlt for everyone. Once the year really began, we found out that things had been slight ly exaggerated. The return of the Brigade showed us there where two stan- dards, the Plebe standard of spotless uniforms and rooms and the Upper Class standard far below that. lt was all a part of the indoctrination. Our first football game was a disappointment, the worst lost in Navy history to Geor- gia Tech, and foreshadowed the long season ahead of us. Instead of betting that we would win, we bet in the hope of betting the spread, but we always lost this year. Cur first march on was also the last march on in front of St. John's for the next couple years as a tragedy was about to strike our country. I Ain Plebe Year was rolling along just as it should, with pro-knowl- edge, chemistry, and calculus when a day dawned that changed our lives, our careers and our nation forever. September 11, 2001 occurred just a few weeks into our first semester on a regular Tuesday morning. Whether you were in Chem lab, leadershp class, or taking a Calculus quiz, we all distinctly re- member where we were and what we were doing when we found out. Classes were officially cancelled during fourth pe- riod and the Mids sent back to the protective walls of Bancroft Hall everyone gathered in the ward room to watch the chaos and devastation unfold. Lunch was rolling tray with no more than one battalion at a time in King Hall. No one knew what was really going on. Who attacked us? Why did they choose the targets they did? Were more attacks yet to come? We were glued to our computers and TVs as NADN delvered us images that we will never forget. We stood watch armed with our bayonets in front of every door to Bancroft, regardless of location. Suddenly, in the course of one fall morning, we were at war. President Bush addressed the nation that night and told the men and women of the Armed Forces to be ready. He was speaking to us, though we were still in school, we had been given a new resolve and purpose. The country bounced back, as did we. A new sense of pa- triotism surged through the nation as we went back to our ev- eryday lives. The football team still struggled, as we did with Plebe chemistry. The nation mobilized for war against the Tal- iban regime in Afghanistan that had given the terrorists who attacked us asylum and had oppressed its own people. We I

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jwhen it was more amusing than anything else, days when the sweat flowed so freely that you couldn't even do a single push-up because your hands kept slipping and you'd come crashing down to the deck only A to repeat the process while laughing with your classmate on the other side of the P-way who suffered a similar fate. Meanwhile your injured class mates armed with mops tried to soak up some of the sweat so that the detailers could continue their punishment. In case you really got out of line, there was the dreaded Quarterdeck: never a pleasant experience. lf that failed, well, PMP with the Gunnys. Plebe Summer wasn't just about physical devel- opment though. It was an immersion into, what was to most, an entirely g new culture. Former POWs, astronauts, 1 Holocaust survivors and generals tried to , f J' impress on us the ideals of loyalty, honor, ing Attention to Detail talk accompanied by Lean on lVle playing softly in the back- ' ground, the body bag lying on the cold hard floor, the free flowing tears on every face, the staggering emotion in the voices revealing the real life tragedies they experienced due to carelessness. Right then and there we vowed that we would not let that happen to those under our command. We had parades and drill to teach us military discipline and team- work. The O-Course, the old E-Course, the brand-new Tarzan Assault Course, the Squad Combat Course, tested as individuals to give us confidence in ourselves and forced us to work together to learn to trust those around us. We fought our way through the Plebe Hack. We built strong arms from holding out our pillow cases stuffed with our sheets in the mornings before PEP. We had sailing with the Ensigns, A a chance for us to push our socks down and let loose for a few short hours. We had Aught-Five Hour in Dahlgren with the chap- lains and Krispy Kreme. We traveled to Baltimore for an Orioles baseball game where we showed off our new whites and gorged ourselves on hotdogs and soda. Iebe Parents Weekend couldnt have come fast enough for most, but when it did come, many spent it sleeping in their parents hotel rooms. We got our first taste of liberty. We wore our uniforms proudly, used sir and ma'am with regularity even when referring to our parents, and saw our significant others for the first time in six weeks. Plebes and their families packed restaurants in the Annapolis area and the IVlidstore lines were never-ending. All too soon, everyone came back Sun- day with a new room fan and longing for Thanksgiving leave as detailers megan? blasted Christmas Carols out their windows to greet our return to the con- CLASS VBWGB fines of Bancroft Hall on Sunday night. commitment, service, sacrifice, and duty. 1 is No one will ever forget the heart-wrench- g 2

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il ll l l l j. l l . l ii closer on the horizon. X-. j. i l, il ji l ii i l i by our cadre or members of the Class of 1955, but we couldn't wear them l ij their racks to grab some much needed sleep. ll ltogether as a team, building up ' l until after graduation jthe way it should bel. That night marked a new be- departed on Thanksgiving leave and savoring our first taste of home since the end of June. People thanked us for our service to our country but we felt like we hadn't done anything yet. Little did we know when we arrived on June 29 that we would be the last class to come to the Academy in peacetime for many years to come. Clur nation was now at war, not with a coun- try or an easily defined enemy, but against an expression of hatred so deep that men were willing to throw their lives away in suicide attacks to destroy our way of life. This war was going to be fought throughout our whole careers. We came in expecting to be part of a new era of peace and prosperity, to take advantage of free college, cool summer vacations, and guaranteed employment after graduation, only to find out that there was no joke about it, We, as COL Allen would tell us so many times, were a nation at war. On the lighter side, Thanksgiving break signaled the first semester's nearing end. We enjoyed the Thanksgiving feast, showed off our uniforms at home, and brought back some good material for pranks for the week of all weeks: Army Week. Army Week our Plebe Year was not just about the game. lt was about crab meat that had been sitting in the ceilings since August coming out and getting used against the upperclass. lt was about bringing out mattresses and having hall brawls with other companies and the other classes. lt was about getting the detailers back for sending us to the quarterdeck. lt was about flooding the deck with water and soap and practicing carrier landings. lt was drinking a Beat Army, assassinations or Wildmans in King Hall. lVlost of all, it was time to get the exchange cadets. An all-time high for injuries, capped by a broken arm for one ofthe Army Cadets, led to the lock down of Army Week on Thursday night and the end of that kind of Army Week forever. We survived our first Academy Finals and headed out on a Christmas leave that came and went far too quickly. The 2!C welcomed us back with Back to Basics. The Dark Ages set in and though it only snowed twice, the dreariness of second semester was still inescapable, classes were tougher and we became more and more tired of be- ing Plebes. Spring Break couldnlt come soon enough, but more importantly, Herndon loomed ever y Sea Trials was held the week before Herndon and was the last step- l ping stone in our path. Our closing ceremony was held in Halsey, with us in , dirty cammies and the Brigade watching in whites. We were given anchors l gunning as many of us headed out to town to celebrate, others headed to ' . , -.rf -,iw V , -- ' ... ?.'9' L ii i i tl ,l Monday the following week was Herndon, the official end of Plebe ue rim ' Break Army or I have no bearing. We worked and falling down together. We were just a few feet short of the goal. Once found out that packing tape completely little over two hours, Daniel Knott was leave before the end of Youngster year, more Plebes rang out as our class pre- journey to May 27, 2005. year. We wrote funny phrases on our bl s, like close after about a half an hour, we got up to the top, we soon covered the Dixie Cup. After a to be our first Admiral. jHe would so much for that predictionl. No pared for the next step on our Mnfgjjb ,