Watch live: Naval Academy graduation and commissioning ceremony
Naval Academy Commissioning Week culminates Friday morning with graduation and commissioning ceremony at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Midshipmen will begin their procession into the stadium at 9 a.m. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. with a Blue Angels flyover set for 10:04 a.m. During the ceremony, the graduating midshipmen are commissioned into the Navy as ensigns or into the Marine Corps as 2nd lieutenants. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III is the keynote speaker.
Read and view our Commissioning Week coverage:
Vice Adm. Davids returns to Naval Academy graduation in historic fashion
This Friday won’t be the first time Navy Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids has walked across the stage at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, but this time, it’s historic.
This year, Davids will take to the stage at the United States Naval Academy’s graduation and commissioning ceremony as superintendent – the first time a woman has done so.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to return to the Naval Academy and serve as the 65th superintendent,” Davids said in a statement. “The energy and excitement that surrounds Commissioning Week has exactly the same feel as it did in 1989.” READ MORE
From Herndon Climb to hat toss: Naval Academy Commissioning Week traditions
The U.S. Naval Academy’s Commissioning Week, which concludes with graduation on Friday, is full of traditions, some borne by the 179-year-old institution, others by midshipmen themselves. Read on to learn some of the history and customs of Commissioning Week, the Herndon Monument Climb, the Color Parade, the Blue Angels and the graduation ceremony, including the hat toss. READ MORE
Meet this year’s Blue Angels: Naval Academy graduates and a history maker will take to the skies during Commissioning Week
All eyes have been on the skies in Annapolis this week as the Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, return for the Naval Academy’s Commissioning Week festivities. Six pilots will be flying in the popular air shows, including two academy graduates and the first female pilot to fly with the squadron. READ MORE | PHOTOS FROM DEMONSTRATIONS ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
Naval Academy Class of 2027 scales Herndon Monument in 2 hours, 19 minutes
It was a tall and slippery climb up the Herndon Monument, but Ben Leisegang did it twice. Balancing precariously on the shoulders of two Naval Academy plebes stacked in a human pyramid at its base, Leisegang outstretched his arms around the greasy 21-foot granite obelisk, clenching an upperclassman’s cap in his teeth. He shifted along one side, then supported only by one set of shoulders. Extending his right arm upward, he placed the cap atop the monument. Success, or so the academy’s Class of 2027 thought. While the upperclassman’s cap was in place, a plebe’s hat known as a “Dixie cup,” which was to have been removed, also remained secure at the pinnacle, held in place by several pounds of thick grease. “We have to go back up,” another plebe at the base appeared to mouth to his classmates below, making slashing and pointing motions with his hands. READ MORE | PHOTOS