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SWORDLESS SAILORS Graduating midshipmen of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis are being told in writing to leave at home or in their vehicles all "ceremonial swords" and anything else "that might be considered a weapon or a threat by screeners" for Friday's outdoor commencement ceremonies featuring an address by President Barack Obama.

[Midshipman 4th Class Curtis] Calabrese, from Boca Raton, Fla., was the first in decades to fulfill a tradition of putting his cover, or hat, on top of the chapel's obelisk, earning himself and the 1,200 other plebes - the school's term for freshmen - a week of relaxed restrictions. His accomplishment wasn't about bravado or a daring climb hundreds of feet above the ground as much as it was about engineering, ingenuity and a cooperative weather system.

By: Laura Limón, Senior Staff Writer Issue date: 1/26/06 Section: Tempo Article Tools:Email This ArticlePrint This Article Page 1 of 1 Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Imagine applying to an educational institution where, on top of keeping up with academics, you're required to do extreme physical training and participate in boxing matches. That's exactly what goes on at the exclusive United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where only 1,200 of more than 50,000 applicants are accepted. In the new movie, appropriately titled "Annapolis," movie-goers are able to get a glimpse behind the scenes of this cutthroat training ground. "I didn't know...

But sentry duty at Annapolis has been a 155-year tradition for Marines. Naval tradition is the lifeblood of the Corps, and I believed – until my former Marine Corps commandant disabused me of that belief – that to remove Marines from the guard posts at Annapolis would somehow lessen the potency of that lifeblood. Other Marines I’ve spoken to have felt similarly.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - As President Bush vowed to keep fighting in Iraq, midshipmen who are poised to graduate from academic life to combat said Wednesday they were reassured by the president's determination. Despite debate about the direction of the war, the president refused to set a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops, a decision that was greeted with enthusiasm by midshipmen who are months from graduating. "It's a great feeling knowing that you're going to be a part of freeing up Iraq," said midshipman Jason Copare, of Pittsgrove, N.J. "You have a direct impact on the freedom of another country. It's...

LIVE THREAD for the speech by President Bush starting at 9:45 AM at the US Naval Academy. Thought I might as well start it as I live 5 miles from the USNA! GO NAVY!

WASHINGTON - The superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy has resigned in response to findings by Navy investigators that he had improper contact with a Marine sentry last New Year's Eve. The Navy said in an announcement Wednesday that Vice Adm. Richard J. Naughton submitted his resignation Tuesday during a meeting with the Navy's top officer, Adm. Vern Clark, and Clark accepted it. Naughton, who had been in the job only one year, was accused of improper contact with a Marine sentry at the Naval Academy after he grabbed the sentry's wrist. An investigation by the Navy's inspector general substantiated...