The newest United States Navy officers are entering a military working to evolve around the COVID-19 pandemic -- and they're already experiencing its impact on the future of military operations. Commencement ceremonies at the academy for the 2020 commencement class were like nothing the Yard in Annapolis, Md. had ever seen before.
Instead of a weekend of Blue Angels flyovers, family, and celebration, graduating Naval Academy midshipmen commissioned in five "shifts." Midshipmen returned to campus, conducted the last administrative tasks needed to commission, and became the Navy's newest officers in five closed-to-the-public events spread across ten days. The ceremonies were recorded and will be streamed on May 22 in a sort of virtual commencement event.
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Social distancing and other COVID-19 prevention measures were built into the commencement processes. No more than 200 or so graduating midshipmen were on campus at any given point. Half-day gaps in between the departures and arrivals of each group allowed for sanitization operations.
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“Our Naval Academy family has missed having our midshipmen on the Yard, and we are overjoyed that our team has been able to organize a safe and memorable swearing-in event for the Class of 2020," superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck said in a statement this week.
While it was certainly a far cry from the pomp and circumstance of traditional commencement events at the academy, the adjusted commencement mirrors efforts at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and West Point Military Academy in New York -- as well as the future of the force.
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