Posted on May 20, 2020
Navy Altering, Postponing or Skipping Midshipmen Rites Of Passage - USNI News
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Keeping the Navy’s new officer pipeline open while mitigating COVID-19 risks means altering, delaying or even skipping some of the long-held traditions considered rites of passage for midshipmen.
The Navy canceled most NROTC and U.S. Naval Academy summer fleet training. Some specialized training for Marine Corps NROTC and Naval Academy Midshipmen is occurring with risk-mitigation efforts. The Navy is evaluating whether to grant exceptions to allow prospective SEAL and Explosive Ordinance Disposal officer candidates to be assessed this summer, Cmdr. Dave Hecht, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Personnel, told USNI News.
For the U.S. Naval Academy, Plebe Summer – when new students start their indoctrination into life in the Navy and Annapolis – is starting a week later than usual on June 29. In another COVID-19-related change from past years, the class of 2024 is kicking off Plebe Summer by spending 14 days reading manuals while confined to Bancroft Hall, the Academy’s massive dormitory.
“Induction is being shifted by one week in order to take the necessary precautionary steps to safely induct and train the Class of 2024 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the superintendent of the Naval Academy, said in a statement.
The Naval Academy is cleaning Bancroft Hall and moving all Plebe Summer instructors onto the Academy’s grounds. All plebes are required to endure a 14-day restriction of movement (ROM) once they arrive in at Annapolis. They are also being asked to self-isolate for two weeks before leaving for Annapolis, according to the Naval Academy.
The Navy canceled most NROTC and U.S. Naval Academy summer fleet training. Some specialized training for Marine Corps NROTC and Naval Academy Midshipmen is occurring with risk-mitigation efforts. The Navy is evaluating whether to grant exceptions to allow prospective SEAL and Explosive Ordinance Disposal officer candidates to be assessed this summer, Cmdr. Dave Hecht, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Personnel, told USNI News.
For the U.S. Naval Academy, Plebe Summer – when new students start their indoctrination into life in the Navy and Annapolis – is starting a week later than usual on June 29. In another COVID-19-related change from past years, the class of 2024 is kicking off Plebe Summer by spending 14 days reading manuals while confined to Bancroft Hall, the Academy’s massive dormitory.
“Induction is being shifted by one week in order to take the necessary precautionary steps to safely induct and train the Class of 2024 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the superintendent of the Naval Academy, said in a statement.
The Naval Academy is cleaning Bancroft Hall and moving all Plebe Summer instructors onto the Academy’s grounds. All plebes are required to endure a 14-day restriction of movement (ROM) once they arrive in at Annapolis. They are also being asked to self-isolate for two weeks before leaving for Annapolis, according to the Naval Academy.
Navy Altering, Postponing or Skipping Midshipmen Rites Of Passage - USNI News
Posted from news.usni.orgPosted in these groups: 
Tradition
United States Naval Academy (USNA)
Tradition United States Naval Academy (USNA)
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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Meh. If it saves lives... so be it. Things were "altered" under the last "great pandemic" just over a century ago at Canoe U. However, we should be cautious about dismissing any negative impact of these changes over time. If there's one place on earth where isolation can be effectively achieved... or infection wildly spread, it's the service academies. Each incoming Plebe could be tested two weeks before I-Day and required to isolate for that period on campus prior to swearing in, and once beyond incubation period... allowed to commence traditional training. The same could be achieved for the Cadre. There are few professions where the balance of risk is so critical to success... and it may be setting careers on the wrong track to begin with defaulting to the absolute lowest risk possible.
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