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The United States service academies, also known as United States military academies, are federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States Armed Forces.
There are five U.S. service academies:
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Service academies can be used to refer to all of the academies collectively. While they are often referred to as military academies, only the Military Academy, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy are operated by the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard Academy is operated by the Department of Homeland Security, and the Merchant Marine Academy is operated by the Department of Transportation. Students enrolled at the Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy are considered to be on active duty in the United States Armed Forces from the day they enter the academy, with the rank of cadet or midshipman, and subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Students enrolled at the Merchant Marine Academy serve in the U.S. Navy Reserve, with the rank of midshipman and are only subject to the UCMJ while actively training with the U.S. military on Navy orders.
The Naval Academy and Air Force Academy are noteworthy in that they each serve two different services. The Naval Academy commissions midshipmen into both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. The Air Force Academy commissions cadets into both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force.
In the case of the non–military Merchant Marine Academy, midshipmen may elect to receive an active duty or reserves commission in any branch of the uniformed services, including NOAA and the United States Public Health Service, most are commissioned into the Navy Reserve, Strategic Sealift Officer Force.
Students at the Military Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy are cadets, while students at the Naval Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy are midshipmen. All cadets and midshipmen receive taxable pay at a rate of 35% of an O-1 under two years of service (which can be used to pay for textbooks and uniforms), free room and board, and pay no tuition or fees, with the exception of USMMA who receive taxable pay at US$1,217.10 a month only during their required 300+ days at sea during their four-year studies.
All applicants, except for the Coast Guard Academy, are required to obtain a nomination to the academies. Nominations may be made by Congressional Representatives, Senators, the Vice President, and the President. [1] [2] Applicants to the Coast Guard Academy compete in a direct nationwide competitive process that has no by-state quotas.[ citation needed ]
The admissions process to the U.S. service academies is an extensive and very competitive process. The Military Academy, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy all require an applicant to submit an online file and proceed through pre-candidate qualification before an application is provided. The Merchant Marine Academy requires an applicant to submit part 1 of the 3 part application prior to receiving a nomination. All these schools have an extremely competitive application process and are ranked annually by U.S. News & World Report and Forbes as some of the most selective colleges and universities in the United States. The average acceptance rate is between 8-17% for each of the schools.
Upon graduation and the receipt of a Bachelor of Science degree, the cadets and midshipmen commission as second lieutenants or ensigns and must serve a minimum term of duty, usually five years plus another three years in the reserves. If the student's chosen occupation requires particularly extensive training (such as aviation or special operations), the service commitment may be longer.
At the Merchant Marine Academy, midshipmen repay their service obligations through a variety of methods depending on their selected career path. On average, about one third of the graduating class each year will actively sail on their Coast Guard license as either Unlimited Third Mates or Third Assistant Engineers in the U.S. Merchant Marine, about one third will go to work in the civilian maritime industry ashore, and the remaining one third will enter active duty military service.
A Merchant Marine midshipman who enters active duty military service will typically assume a service obligation similar to those of cadets and midshipmen entering the military services from their respective service academies (i.e., a Merchant Marine midshipman entering the U.S. Marine Corps would assume a similar obligation to a midshipman from the Naval Academy entering the Marine Corps).
Merchant Marine midshipmen not entering active duty typically assume an eight-year obligation to the Navy Reserve Strategic Sealift Officer Program, unless they have elected to enter another branch of the armed forces. In addition, midshipmen who do not serve on active duty are restricted from working outside the maritime industry or merchant marine for a period of five years following graduation and must seek annual MARAD approval for their employment.
Preparatory schools provide for strengthening of academic potential of candidates to each of the above-described U.S. service academies. Admission is restricted to those students who have applied to an academy, failed initially to qualify, either academically or physically, but who have demonstrated an ability to qualify during the initial admission selection process:
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 Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Typically, officer candidates have already attained post-secondary education, and sometimes a bachelor's degree, and undergo a short duration of training which focuses primarily on military skills and leadership. This is in contrast with a military academy which includes academic instruction leading to a bachelor's degree.
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.
The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, and engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine primarily transports domestic and international cargo and passengers during peacetime, and operate and maintain deep-sea merchant ships, tugboats, towboats, ferries, dredges, excursion vessels, charter boats and other waterborne craft on the oceans, the Great Lakes, rivers, canals, harbors, and other waterways. In times of war, the Merchant Marine can be an auxiliary to the United States Navy, and can be called upon to deliver military personnel and materiel for the military.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen to serve as officers in the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the United States Armed Forces and the transportation industry. Midshipmen are trained in different fields such as marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is the foundation of the system of military justice of the armed forces of the United States. The UCMJ was established by the United States Congress in accordance with their constitutional authority, per Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides that "The Congress shall have Power. .. to make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval forces" of the United States.
A cadet is a student or trainee, and is typically used in military settings to denote an individual undergoing training to become commissioned officers. Several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime organisations, and police services, also designate their trainees as cadets.
Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air Squadron; however, these are not trainee officers with many not choosing a career in the armed forces.
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".
The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps is a congressionally chartered, U.S. Navy-sponsored organization that serves to involve individuals in the sea-going military services, U.S. naval operations and training, community service, citizenship, and teach an understanding of discipline and teamwork. The USNSCC is composed of two programs; the Navy League Cadet Corps (NLCC), which is for cadets ages 10-13, 5th grade through 8th grade; and the senior program (NSCC), which is for cadets ages 13-18.
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Selected Reserve (SELRES), the Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR), the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or the Retired Reserve.
The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.
Pay grades are used by the eight uniformed services of the United States to determine wages and benefits based on the corresponding military rank of a member of the services. While different ranks may be used among the eight uniformed services, pay grades are uniform and equivalent between the services and can be used to quickly determine seniority among a group of members from different services. They are also essential when determining a member's entitlements such as basic pay and allowances.
A direct commission officer (DCO) is a United States uniformed officer who has received an appointed commission without the typical prerequisites for achieving a commission, such as attending a four-year service academy, a four-year or two-year college ROTC program, or one of the officer candidate school or officer training school programs, the latter OCS/OTS programs typically slightly over three months in length.
A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, is a type of military school intended to prepare cadets for a military life, with the school typically incorporating real military structure and ranks within their respective program.
The US Navy had four programs for the training of naval aviators.
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
The Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) is a one-star echelon III command of the United States Navy that is responsible to the Chief of Naval Education and Training for the indoctrination and training of all new accessions into the Naval Service, with the exception of Midshipmen who access through the United States Naval Academy. This includes all new recruits through Recruit Training Command, the Navy's only enlisted recruit training location and all Officer "Candidates" who are seeking a commission through the Officer Training Command at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. Also under its purview is the operation of the various Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) units in universities across the country. The current NSTC is Rear Admiral Craig T. Mattingly.
In the Philippines, Cadet is a rank held by candidate officer during the training to become commissioned officers in their preferred branch of military service.