The United States Naval Academy is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the second oldest of the five U.S. service academies and it educates midshipmen for service in the officer corps of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. It is part of the Naval University System. The 338-acre (137 ha) campus is located on the former grounds of Fort Severn at the confluence of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County, 33 miles (53 km) east of Washington, D.C., and 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Baltimore. The entire campus, known colloquially as the Yard, is a National Historic Landmark and home to many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum in Philadelphia that had served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845 when the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis.
The Naval Academy Preparatory School or NAPS is the preparatory school for the United States Naval Academy (USNA). NAPS is located on Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. The mission of the Naval Academy Preparatory School is "To enhance Midshipman Candidates' moral, mental, and physical foundations to prepare them for success at the United States Naval Academy".
Harry Binkley Harris Jr. is a retired Japanese-born American diplomat and retired U.S. Navy officer. He was the first American of Japanese descent to lead US Pacific Command and was the highest-ranking American of Japanese descent in U.S. Navy history during his time as commander.
James George Stavridis is a retired United States Navy admiral and vice chair, global affairs, and a managing director-partner of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm, and chair of the board of trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation. Stavridis serves as the chief international diplomacy and national security analyst for NBC News in New York. He is also chair emeritus of the board of directors of the United States Naval Institute and a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Kurt Walter Tidd is a retired United States Navy admiral. He last served as the Commander, United States Southern Command. Prior to that assignment, Tidd served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also served as the Director for Operations, Joint Staff (J-3) from 2012 to 2013, and as Commander, United States Naval Forces Southern Command and United States Fourth Fleet from August 5, 2011, to June 22, 2012. Confirmed by the Senate on December 16, 2015, Tidd received his fourth star and succeeded John F. Kelly as commander of United States Southern Command on January 14, 2016. Tidd held the title of "Old salt", which means he received his qualification for Surface Warfare before any other active-duty navy officer. He passed said title to Admiral Philip S. Davidson upon his retirement. Upon the May 30, 2018, retirement of his United States Naval Academy classmate, Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., Tidd also gained the honorific of "Old Goat" – the longest-serving Naval Academy graduate on active duty. Harris presented Tidd with the Old Goat decanter in a ceremony on April 11, 2018.
The superintendent of the United States Naval Academy is its commanding officer. The position is a statutory office, and is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is, by tradition, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. However, this is not an official requirement for the position.
Hispanic and Latino Admirals in the United States Navy can trace their tradition of naval military service to the Latino sailors, who have served in the Navy in every war and conflict since the American Revolution. Prior to the Civil War, the highest rank reached by a Latino-American in the Navy was commodore. Such was the case of Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy (1792–1862), a Sephardic Jew of Latin American descent and great grandson of Dr. Samuel Nunez; Levy served in the War of 1812. During the American Civil War, the government of the United States recognized that the rapid expanding Navy was in need of admirals therefore, Congress proceeded to authorize the appointment of nine officers the rank of rear admiral. On July 16, 1862, Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut became the first Hispanic-American to be appointed to the rank of rear admiral. Two years later (1864), Farragut became a vice admiral, and in 1866 the Navy's first full admiral. During World War I, Robert Lopez, the first Hispanic graduate of the United States Naval Academy, served with the rank of commodore in command of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and during World War II five Hispanics served with the ranks of rear admiral or above in either the European or Pacific Theaters of the war. As of April 2007, twenty-two Hispanic-Americans have reached the rank of admiral, and of this number thirteen were graduates of the USNA.
Hispanics in the United States Naval Academy account for the largest minority group in the institution. According to the academy, the Class of 2009 includes 271 (22.2%) minority midshipmen. Out of these 271 midshipmen, 115 are of Hispanic heritage. In 2004, of the total of 736 female midshipmen, 74 (10%) of them were of Hispanic descent.
Henry Herrward Mauz Jr. is a retired United States Navy admiral and the former Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet from 1992 to 1994.
Bruce DeMars was a United States Navy four star admiral who served as Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion from 1988 to 1996.
Walter Edward "Ted" Carter Jr. is an American academic administrator and retired United States Navy vice admiral. He has been serving as the 17th and current president of The Ohio State University since January 2024. Carter previously served as the 8th president of the University of Nebraska system from 2020 to 2023, the 62nd superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 2014 to 2019, and the 54th president of the United States Naval War College from 2013 to 2014. He has a record number of flights with carrier-arrested landings for his role piloting fighter-bombers and other aircraft in operations in Bosnia, Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
James Franklin "Frank" Caldwell Jr. is a retired admiral in the United States Navy who last served as director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, a job once held by the program's creator, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. He previously served as Naval Inspector General.
Scott Harbison Swift is a retired admiral in the United States Navy, serving as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from May 27, 2015 to May 17, 2018. He previously served as the director of Navy Staff in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
John Christopher Aquilino is a retired United States Navy admiral who last served as the commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and before that, commander of the United States Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.
Christopher Watson Grady is a United States Navy admiral who is currently serving as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since December 20, 2021.
William Kevin Lescher is a retired four-star admiral in the United States Navy who last served as the 41st Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He held this office from May 29, 2020, to September 2, 2022. Lescher was also the "Old Goat", the longest serving Naval Academy graduate on active duty, from 2018 to 2022.
Stuart Benjamin Munsch is a United States Navy admiral who serves as the commander of United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa and commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples since June 27, 2022. He most recently served as the director for joint force development, J7, of the Joint Staff from 2020 to 2022.
Samuel John Paparo Jr. is a United States Navy admiral who has served as the commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command since May 3, 2024. He most recently served as commander of the United States Pacific Fleet from 2021 to 2024.
