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

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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

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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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l. T., li V . g ne thing we did spend money on was Fling Dance. Once 5 Y l Eagain, our class officers stepped up big time and put together a it lj q-great night. We were the first class in recent memory to have clear F4 l' lskies and no rain. Hospital Point was the site of the party under the tent and fireworks over the water. Our rings were christened in water from the Seven Seas and we were one step closer to gradu- ation. As the covers of the Class of 2004 flew in the air, we dashed back to the Yard with our new horizontal stripes to get our parking stickers. We brought our cars on the Yard. Every member of the Class of 2005 was required to serve in a leader- ship capacity under Admiral Flempt's revamping of the summer training programs. Detail became an all First Class affair, more ' H ' ' firsties were needed for CSNTS and being a firstie on the YPs ' ' ' . , 3, meant more responsibilities than in previous years. Leatherneck -20 was a chance for potential Marines to see how they would mea- 5 1 sure up and our cruises this summer gave us a glimpse of life as lf f .. a junior officer. M E g..,,. There is a saying that the two best ranks in the Navy are Admiral and Nlidshipman First Class. It didn't matter if you were a squad leader, team captain or striper, this was going to be a great year for us all. Events leading to graduation came and went with lightning speed. Firstie Parents' Weekend came in September and brought a vic- tory over Vandy and tailgating with parents in the parking lot afterwards. Aiifdif' -vf 'Swv , U W T Service Assignment was drastically changed for us. What had traditionally occurred in the first few weeks of second semester had been moved to the week before Thanksgiving. Tensions were high as the overmanning of the Navy and the going into each branch. Some members of our class would receive unassigne i lopes, as the needs of the service were not yet certain. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan created changes in the numbers d!! n their enve- The semester rolled on. The football team had its best record in a hundred years, defending the Commander-in-Chief's thanks to classmate Geoff Blumenfeldls last second field goal against Air Force and a Class of 2005-led shellacking of Army. Aaron Polanco led the team to victory in San Francisco at the Emerald Bowl. Bri- gade morale was at an all-time high for us. We held march on through DTA for the first time in years and partied like rock stars in the parking lot after the games. It wasnlt without incidents though, from streaking to directing traffic on lVlain Street in Mess Dress, we knew how to make it count.