Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
May 25, 2007
Pg. B1
Tenure Marked by Alcohol Checks, First Female Commandant, Sex Assault Cases
By Raymond McCaffrey, Washington Post Staff Writer
In many ways, the 1,000 midshipmen who will graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy today resemble those who have gone before them -- quite literally, in some cases, as some follow generations of family members who launched military careers at Annapolis.
And yet the Class of 2007 is unique. It is the first to be subjected to routine breathalyzer tests to support a tough new alcohol policy. It has served under the academy's first female commandant. It has endured questions about high-profile sexual assault cases involving two football players.
It is the graduating class that witnessed the premiere of a Hollywood movie about their lives, "Annapolis," and withstood criticism from alumni for a lack of decorum shown in an Internet video of midshipmen marching to a football game.
It is the first class to spend its entire tenure at the academy at war with Iraq, learning the lessons of Abu Ghraib in ethics class and knowing that graduation day would move them a step closer to the front lines. And they were fine with that.
"You get the feeling you're not going into war by yourself," said Ben Mulloy, a 21-year-old midshipman from Gaithersburg who will become a Navy pilot. "You're going with the rest of the brotherhood."
Mulloy talked of his yearning to fly supersonic jets at a time of war but also described how -- with congressional oversight of sexual harassment and assault at the military academies -- he shied away from social relationships with the women he went to school with.
"I feel there was no way I could date any females at the academy," Mulloy said.
Though circumspect in their opinions about the war and the sexual assault cases, a half-dozen midshipmen interviewed this week offered frank assessments about the effect these and other events have had on them during their four years in Annapolis.
"I was raised with a real love of country in my home," said Katie Fahrner, a 22-year-old from Germantown who will become a Marine. "That was just solidified by 9/11."
The Class of 2007 also will be the last for Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, the academy's controversial superintendent. Rempt, who will retire this summer, has been criticized by some alumni who say he has been overzealous in prosecuting sexual assault cases and praised by others for tackling alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and honor violations.
Surveys have found higher approval ratings among female, as well as male, midshipmen on such issues as whether the academy provides a positive environment for women.
Fahrner did not dispute that. "I really haven't experienced any sexual harassment," she said.
Some midshipmen noted that it was sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, not Annapolis, that generated much of the pressure from Congress.
A major change during their time in Annapolis was the addition of strict penalties, including expulsion, to the drinking policy. Of the breathalyzer tests, P.J. Riester, 23, of St. Mary's County said: "You get used to it."
"If you don't drink that much, it's not an issue anyway," added Sanjay Stone, a 23-year-old from Columbia. Stone was less sanguine about the midshipmen involved in the sexual assault cases.
The highest-profile case was that of quarterback Lamar S. Owens, who was acquitted of raping a female midshipman but found guilty of related conduct charges and expelled.
On the streets of Annapolis, midshipmen found themselves frequently queried about the Owens case.
"Everywhere you were in uniform . . . 'What do you think about Lamar?' " Riester said.
The midshipmen also were asked often about a subject that will have far more impact on their lives.
"If you're out in town, people will say, 'What about the war?' " said Alexander Ludington, 22, of Severna Park, who will serve aboard a submarine. "Of course, we don't have opinions."
Most midshipmen do have opinions about the war, though they are precluded from sharing them with civilians. Their opinions are formed by classes that focus on such topics as the abuse at Abu Ghraib or by listening to those who have been deployed overseas.
Many said they were influenced in some way by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Riester, who has chosen to become a naval flight officer, will be the fourth generation in his family to graduate from Annapolis. He recalled learning of the attacks while in high school and hearing his mother sob while she told him that his father had been in the Pentagon. The family didn't learn until 8 p.m. that he had survived.
"It was pretty hairy," Riester said. "It was still on fire that night."
Mulloy had a similar experience that day: The family could not account for his father, a businessman who had taken a flight out of Dulles, the departure point of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
His father was okay, but Mulloy didn't forget. He vowed to be "another force to serve my country."
May 25, 2007
Pg. B1
Tenure Marked by Alcohol Checks, First Female Commandant, Sex Assault Cases
By Raymond McCaffrey, Washington Post Staff Writer
In many ways, the 1,000 midshipmen who will graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy today resemble those who have gone before them -- quite literally, in some cases, as some follow generations of family members who launched military careers at Annapolis.
And yet the Class of 2007 is unique. It is the first to be subjected to routine breathalyzer tests to support a tough new alcohol policy. It has served under the academy's first female commandant. It has endured questions about high-profile sexual assault cases involving two football players.
It is the graduating class that witnessed the premiere of a Hollywood movie about their lives, "Annapolis," and withstood criticism from alumni for a lack of decorum shown in an Internet video of midshipmen marching to a football game.
It is the first class to spend its entire tenure at the academy at war with Iraq, learning the lessons of Abu Ghraib in ethics class and knowing that graduation day would move them a step closer to the front lines. And they were fine with that.
"You get the feeling you're not going into war by yourself," said Ben Mulloy, a 21-year-old midshipman from Gaithersburg who will become a Navy pilot. "You're going with the rest of the brotherhood."
Mulloy talked of his yearning to fly supersonic jets at a time of war but also described how -- with congressional oversight of sexual harassment and assault at the military academies -- he shied away from social relationships with the women he went to school with.
"I feel there was no way I could date any females at the academy," Mulloy said.
Though circumspect in their opinions about the war and the sexual assault cases, a half-dozen midshipmen interviewed this week offered frank assessments about the effect these and other events have had on them during their four years in Annapolis.
"I was raised with a real love of country in my home," said Katie Fahrner, a 22-year-old from Germantown who will become a Marine. "That was just solidified by 9/11."
The Class of 2007 also will be the last for Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, the academy's controversial superintendent. Rempt, who will retire this summer, has been criticized by some alumni who say he has been overzealous in prosecuting sexual assault cases and praised by others for tackling alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and honor violations.
Surveys have found higher approval ratings among female, as well as male, midshipmen on such issues as whether the academy provides a positive environment for women.
Fahrner did not dispute that. "I really haven't experienced any sexual harassment," she said.
Some midshipmen noted that it was sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, not Annapolis, that generated much of the pressure from Congress.
A major change during their time in Annapolis was the addition of strict penalties, including expulsion, to the drinking policy. Of the breathalyzer tests, P.J. Riester, 23, of St. Mary's County said: "You get used to it."
"If you don't drink that much, it's not an issue anyway," added Sanjay Stone, a 23-year-old from Columbia. Stone was less sanguine about the midshipmen involved in the sexual assault cases.
The highest-profile case was that of quarterback Lamar S. Owens, who was acquitted of raping a female midshipman but found guilty of related conduct charges and expelled.
On the streets of Annapolis, midshipmen found themselves frequently queried about the Owens case.
"Everywhere you were in uniform . . . 'What do you think about Lamar?' " Riester said.
The midshipmen also were asked often about a subject that will have far more impact on their lives.
"If you're out in town, people will say, 'What about the war?' " said Alexander Ludington, 22, of Severna Park, who will serve aboard a submarine. "Of course, we don't have opinions."
Most midshipmen do have opinions about the war, though they are precluded from sharing them with civilians. Their opinions are formed by classes that focus on such topics as the abuse at Abu Ghraib or by listening to those who have been deployed overseas.
Many said they were influenced in some way by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Riester, who has chosen to become a naval flight officer, will be the fourth generation in his family to graduate from Annapolis. He recalled learning of the attacks while in high school and hearing his mother sob while she told him that his father had been in the Pentagon. The family didn't learn until 8 p.m. that he had survived.
"It was pretty hairy," Riester said. "It was still on fire that night."
Mulloy had a similar experience that day: The family could not account for his father, a businessman who had taken a flight out of Dulles, the departure point of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
His father was okay, but Mulloy didn't forget. He vowed to be "another force to serve my country."
