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

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2002 graduated and went on its way as we put on our new stripe and head- ed into Youngster Summer. YPs or LANTPATTBAIVIID was the highlight for us all. An all expenses-paid trip to Boston, New York, and Newport with liberty in whites, a chance to bond with classmates, and the opportunity to earn the coveted 'fnerd nickel. V-berthing smelt something fierce after two weeks and anchor watch couldnlt have been more boring though. Besides YPs, we also had to do CSNTS or NTT, or for those select few, Summer Seminar or Dive School. CSNTS meant hot racking, navigating through storms, and wrecking some sailboats. NTT was a time to play lVlarines and SEALs for two weeks and have a week of tours thrown in the middle. lt was a good time to meet more classmates and get some liberty on the week- end. After the summer, we were all thrust into new companies, with the Academy's practice of shuffling classes after Plebe Year. Some of us loved our new companies, some of us hated them. Plebe-Year- with-carry-on was a rough year. Cynicism began to creep in for some, as many of the things that we had thought were Naval Acad- emy traditions were labeled bad habits. Admiral Naughton was not the Grand Old Supe that we had become accustomed to, and his incident with a gate guard become something of a joke within the Brigade. Three weekends just weren't enough either, as weekends were given out solely based on class. Army-Navy was a highlight and the steam rolling of Army demonstrated just what our Navy Football teamwould be capable of in the years to come. S . . . . 'X :if V' now in the Dark Ages made staying in on Friday . A -- A j nights dreary. The blizzard of President's Day Weekend -, ,- ' ' Q ' ' Us led to six-day weekends for some, for others it meant a if it few more days of CIVIOD. The t'Shock and Awe of Op- ' at eration Iraqi Freedom began right after we returned from I PM H Spring Break. The end of the year brought the Youngster 5' Luau with our class officers coming through with some good-looking shirts, because in the end, that's all mids really care about, the free shirt. The copious amounts of ice cream bars were pretty awesome as well. Graduation that year was miserable. Despite the poor weather, the Class of 2003 was al- lowed to have their graduation and commissioning ceremonies outside. The other classes watched miserably as a huge rainstorm hung over the stadium dumping water on everyone. Not allowed lke jackets, let alone rain coats, we scrounged for cover where we could: garbage bags, huddling together, trying to hide out in the bath rooms, or by the concession stands. ln a moment of confu- sion, word was passed that the rest of the Brigade could head back. Many bolted right then and there, others waited for more definite word, only to hear that we did in fact have to stay for the re- mainder of the ceremonies. The hat toss finally came, we raced back to the hall to put the symbol of our new rank: dry CIVILIAN clothes. Second Class Summer was also a good time for us to bond as a class. PBOTBA-party 16 .1

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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 ,

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was a great time,-lt helped us to start narrowing down our choices for service assignment. Some of us had the privilege of being detailer for '07. It was a lot of work and the limited liberty barely gave you a chance to recharge before going back at it. No spot corrections and being told we were not providing enough positive reinforcement challenged us to come up with new ways to train and left some wonder if this was what we had really signed up for. Whatever your feelings, we experi- enced a leadership opportunity that could not be replaced. The Grey Hull cruises were definitely a highlight for some. By luck of the draw, our class was spread across the world, from San Diego to Norfolk, from Hawaii to Earle, New Jersey. We came back in the fall with civilian clothes and cars, and the role of trainer. Those of us who had spent our summer with that role were the last Second Class detailers. Second class year saw our weekends increased to 5 per semester and Tuesday and Friday night liberty was a very wel- come addition to go along with all of our new responsibilities. Signing the 2-7 papers had meant partying for the classes ahead of us, but like many other 'traditions was labeled a bad habit . We signed commit- ment papers and treated to a dinner, complete with speak- ers and Catawba. We braved the ravages of Hurricane Isabelle, the Storm of the Century , which wreaked havoc on the yard and resulted in millions of dollars in damage. Due to ex- tensive flooding, classes originally held in the lab deck of Bickover and the j 4 0-Deck of Sampson and A lVlaury where parcelled out to wardrooms, Alumni Hall, just about anywhere where there was litte or no damage. The Navy even brought in a mobile barracks QAPI.-615 to provide more rooms. The labs in Bickover were completely knocked out of commis- sion and would only really start to come back online our Firstie year. But we bounced back as we always do and the semester moved on. wr The football team came into form as we beat Air Force at FedEx Field and crushed Army at the Linc in Philly to improve from 0-10 and 2-10 our plebe and youngster years to 8-4 second class year. We captured the Com- mander-in-Chief's trophy and earned a bowl berth in the Houston Bowl. We also gained cult icons for our class in Kyle Eckel and Bobby the Club lVlcClarin. The Spring saw more snow, more Dark Age dreariness but this time there was something to brighten our skies. The Second Class career starter loan of up to 325,000 was given to us just a few weeks before Spring Break. With it, we went on awesome Spring Break trips, bought cars, paid for our class rings, and just blew it on alcohol. Some of us invested it, but some decided to enjoy every penny right then. l 17