An exercise in sacrifice

The Washington Times ^ | 5-23-08 | Brian Witte

[JZelle]

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — The all-day physical exercises that mark the end of a midshipman's first year at the Naval Academy were never exactly fun. But this year, they've gotten even more serious.

Dodgeball is no longer on the program. Parents aren't allowed to gather on bleachers anymore to cheer. And each stop of the exhausting day is dedicated to a fallen service member.

The academy has put greater emphasis on wartime sacrifices, hoping to inspire plebes — the term the academy uses for freshmen — to think about what they are doing behind the academy's walls on the picturesque Severn River.

"You are here to be tested and to learn how to be leaders of our magnificent sailors and Marines out there in the fleet," Col. Mike Shupp told about 1,000 midshipmen last week in a chilly, pre-dawn gathering on Rip Miller Field. "You are here because we are still fighting the war on terror."

For the next 13 hours, upperclassmen pushed them through challenges of body and mind — obstacles scattered between miles of running around the academy's campus and the neighboring Naval Station Annapolis.

From the start, things looked different. T-shirts and colorful headbands that in the past gave the event the feel of a college ballgame were banned.

The event — called the Sea Trials — has become "more military focused," said Stephanie LaLiberte, a third-year student from Orlando, Fla.

For the first time, the day's events included a simulated improvised explosive device, or IED, the weapon of choice for Iraqi insurgents.

[JZelle]

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Duing and after a war, there is always an uptick in militancy instead of militarism. Drill & Ceremonies in crisp uniforms and shined shoes is for when you have nothing better to do than look pretty.

[CholeraJoe]

Strategic Air Command was like that when I was in. Most of the real warriors wore flight suits, missile crew uniforms or BDUs every day. We only had full-base parades if somebody was killed in a crash or a change of command of the general on base.