from the Gathering of Eagles website
http://www.gatheringofeagles.org/view720247m2851579998.html
“UPDATE on Naval Academy Graduation....
Published: 06/11/2009 Posted On: June 11, 2009 at 5:53 PM By: Kathy
A recent report claiming that graduating midshipmen were told not to wear their ceremonial swords has made the rounds on the internet.
SOF has contacted the Naval Acadaney’s Public Affairs Office, which denied the report.
UPDATE:
The Naval Academy’s press office provided additional comments, reprinted below:
Unfortunately, this article is extremely misleading. Midshipmen are not required to have swords as part of their normal uniform issue unless they are Brigade Officers, and then they are issued temporary swords for parades and other ceremonial events.
Officers may add the sword and wear it at ceremonial events such as change of commands, weddings, etc. as designated. They are not, nor have they ever been worn by Midshipmen at graduation.
Many parents give swords to graduates to be worn with their officer uniform after commissioning, but they along with many other items are routinely banned from being carried into the graduation ceremony for obvious security reasons.
I sincerely hope that this explains the issue.
As far as the regulations that you cite, swords are prescribed for Naval officers LCDR and above: graduating Midshipmen are Ensigns, and therefore, by these regulations, are not required to wear swords.
In point of fact, many, if not all graduatinmg Midshipmen going Navy and all going Marines (A USMC uniform requirement) are given swords as a graduation gift by their families.
For the most part, the major use of swords for these young Naval officers is in the military weddings of their classmates; the young Marine officers do have official ceremonial requirements in which they also use their swords.
I hope this clears things up.
P.S. it will be interesting to see what happens at West Point when Obama goes there for the Class of 2010 - there, the cadets routinely wear their swords to the graduation ceremony, and did so when Pres. Bush attended the graduation in 2006.
So they aren’t issue but they STILL won’t be allowed to have their swords in the Dear Leader’s presence? I don’t see this as much of a change.
I would be very curious to know if this is a new policy? At my commissioning ceremony I received my first salute from a Marine NCO and some other officers were given their father’s or uncle’s sabers.