US Naval Academy-Annapolis, Maryland

US Naval Academy-Annapolis, Maryland

 

 

Honor-Courage-Commitment

 

USNA Ethics and Leadership(Click here to watch)

 

The Naval Academy's philosophy of education stresses attention to individual students by highly qualified faculty members who are strongly committed to teaching. Classes are small, with an average size of fewer than 18 students. Our 600-member faculty is an integrated group of officers and civilians in nearly equal numbers.  Working together closely, these military and civilian faculty member form one of the strongest and most dedicated teaching faculties of any college or university in the United States.

 

 

Every midshipman's acdemic program begins with a core curriculum that includes courses in engineering, science, mathematics, humanities and social science. This is designed to provide a broad-based education that will qualify the midshipmen for practically any career field in the Navy or Marine Corps. At the same time, our majors program gives them the opportunity to develop a particular area of academic interest. For especially capable and highly motivated students, we offer challenging honors programs and opportunities to start work on postgraduate degrees while still at the Academy.

 

The Academy also provides professional and leadership training. We don't just teach the students about life in the Navy and Marine Corps. After four years at the Naval Academy, the life and customs of the naval service become second nature. First, the midshipmen learn to take orders from practically everyone, but before long, they acquire the responsibility for making decisions that can affect hundreds of other midshipmen. The professional classroom studies are backed by many hours of practical experience in leadership and naval operations, including assignments with Navy and Marine Corps units.

 

Just as the Naval Academy promotes the moral and mental development of midshipmen, so also must it fulfill its responsibility for each midshipman's physical development. The Naval Academy athletic program, as part of the mission, receives a priority much different than at civilian schools. The athletic teams are an integral part of the overall education of the midshipmen. Athletics provide leadership opportunities and the experiences of team play, cooperative effort, commitment and individual sacrifice. In the academy's program everyone has a wide variety of athletic choices, as well as the required physical education curriculum. The primary goal of the physical education curriculum is fitness, which is so vital for midshipman health, personal appearance and well-being.

 

 

As you progress through the years at the academy, leadership responsibilities grow. Each year, you and your classmates assume more important roles in running your company, your battalion and the brigade. By the time you are a first class midshipman, you are making daily decisions affecting the morale and performance of other midshipmen. You are teaching them the fundamentals of the naval profession and helping them through difficulties. You are leading them through personal example, communications, rewards and discipline and other techniques you have learned in the classroom and through three years experience.

 

Your leadership responsibilities also increase in summer professional training. After learning what it is like to be a Sailor aboard ship during second class cruise, you undertake the duties of a junior officer during your first class summer cruise. You build your leadership skills in these and other settings, where you can learn from mistakes and benefit from the guidance of seasoned Navy and Marine Corps officers. By the time you take your position as a naval officer responsible for leading talented Sailors and Marines, you know what leadership techniques and styles work best for you in different situations.