"Royce visits local Naval Academy midshipmen" from the Orange County Register
Washington,
Nov 16, 2009 -
By Dena Bunis for the Orange County Register -- To go to one of the nation’s military academies you have to get your member of Congress to nominate you.
Today, Rep. Ed Royce went to Annapolis to look in on eight of the young men he appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy.
“We’re looking a t these young people going into the military at a difficult time,’’ said Royce, R-Fullerton. “What really strikes you how tough it is to make the grade.’’ The young men told him that in order to just pass with a D-minus they have to be able to do 45 push-ups followed immediately by 65 sit-ups and then run for a mile and a half at a seven-minute mile pace.
Royce reports that these students have little time to do much other than study, do their physical exercises and play soccer, rugby, run cross country or some other sport. Seems every midshipman has to go out for one of the academy’s sports teams.
These future officers had different goals for their military careers. Jeremy Glass, a senior from La Palma, has just decided to become a Marine. Michael Ramsey, a junior from Rossmoor is studying aeronautical engineering and wants to become an astronaut. Burch Thornley, a senior from Fullerton, plans to go into the explosive ordinance detail where he’ll learn to diffuse the IEDs that have so plagued the service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Royce got a tour of the academy and then had a lunch of cornbread, chicken, salad and mashed potatoes with the eight students the navy selected to meet with him.
Surprisingly, Royce said none of the midshipmen asked their congressman about the decision heir commander-in-chief is about to make on sending more troops to Afghanistan.
“I do think it’s part of their professional demeanor not to get into questions about policy. This has to do with their own feelings that they take their oath to defend the constitution and to follow their orders to the commander-in-chief.”
Like most lawmakers, Royce has a procedure he follows in selecting among the applicants for the service academies. He asks two graduates from Annapolis, West Point and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs to vet the applications and interview candidates before he makes his selections. Royce said Annapolis is the most difficult of the academies to get into.
