Navy seniors learn what jobs they will do on graduation
Getting a first-choice assignment ‘is everything’
When A.J. Beal of Edgewater entered the U.S. Naval Academy 31⁄ years ago, his head was shaved.
That’s standard practice on the academy’s Induction Day.
On Thursday, his head was shaved clean again, this time to celebrate his placement in the Marine Corps as a member of its ground combat element. In minutes, his light-brown locks were gone, and he was as bald as the day he started at the academy.
About 1,053 seniors at the academy in Annapolis received their service assignments Thursday. In late August, they submitted their preferences among 24 possible career paths within the Navy, and nearly all of them were assigned to their first or second choices.
Beal got his first choice. The 21-year-old said he would like to become a ground intelligence officer.
“I’m excited that a lot of the leadership tools that we learned here, I’ll get a very direct application of that really soon after I graduate, and a chance to hit the fleet and hopefully make a difference in the lives of the Marines I’ll be leading,” he said.
Including Beal, the Marine Corps will get 251 new officers from the academy.
Three dozen members of the 12th Company gathered in a common room in Bancroft Hall to listen for their assignments. The room shook with applause and cheers as the announcements were made.
Company Officer Lt. Sean Heenan called out each name in alphabetical order, followed by assignments — Navy pilot, Surface Warfare officer, Marine Corps aviator, Marine Corps ground combat.
Many seniors turned, smiled and waved to a web camera in the room as the verdicts were announced — their loved ones were watching remotely. There were also hugs, jumping and spinning, fist pumps and a few tears as they realized their years of hard work had paid off.
Beal said he had been introduced to the academy at a young age. His family had sponsored eight midshipmen when he was growing up, and he said those men and women became like brothers and sisters to him. They treated him as an adult, and impressed him with their humility — a characteristic he believed they picked up at the school.
They inspired him to join the academy, and while he acknowledged that he struggled as a plebe, he persisted and decided during his junior year that he wanted to be a Marine.
Midshipman 1st Class McKenna Niemer, also of the 12th Company, received her assignment as a Marine Corps pilot. The Seattle native said she’d like to become an astronaut someday — over the years, 54 academy graduates have been selected for NASA’s astronaut program. The most recent is Lt. Kayla Barron, a 2010 graduate.
An accomplished rower, Niemer came to the academy and has competed with the women’s rowing team. When she arrived in Annapolis, she fell in love with everything about the academy, she said.
Becoming a Marine Corps pilot was her first choice, and she was nervous before she got her assignment.
“This means everything that I’ve worked for and everything that I’ve tried has been enough,” she said.
“Getting something else wouldn’t be nothing,” she said, “but this is everything.”