News, Events & More

Free National Park Entrance Extended to Veterans and Gold Star Families

Posted: 11/12/2020

Military Veteran and Gold Star Family Free Access Program

Starting Veteran’s Day, all Veterans and Gold Star Families are granted free access to over 2,000 federal recreation areas – including national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests. The result of a 28 October Secretarial Order (DOI), this benefit will continue indefinitely. To gain free access to sites included in this program, use one of the acceptable forms of identification at the entrance (CAC, Veteran designation on driver’s license, DD214, among others. Link to NPS press release and more details here.

This benefit is somewhat of a program expansion to the existing benefits for active duty and disabled veterans, although executed in a slightly different manner. If you’re still active duty, or if you’re retired with a disability, you are eligible for a free annual pass through the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series. These passes are issued to US military members and their dependents in person at participating federal recreation sites (PassIssuanceList).

Design This Year’s Army-Navy Button: Enter by 16 November! (At-Large Voting to Follow)

Posted: 11/1/2020

From the USNA Alumni Association: We are looking for the best design to use as our Army-Navy button this year. Navy fans are an amazing, creative, spirit-loving group—so show us what you got! Make it fun and eye-catching, family-friendly and all about NAVY! If your button is selected, you’ll have bragging rights for the year!

SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN: Email your design to events@usna.com before 12 p.m. EST on 16 November. Include your name, address and phone number. The top three entries will be chosen by staff and then posted on our social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram: @usnaalumni) for Navy fans to vote for their favorite from 17-19 November. The winner will be announced on social media and this space (USNAAA website) on 20 November.
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS: Button dimension final trim size is 3.5 inches. Live content area is 2.75 inches (copy not to exceed this area).
ACCEPTABLE FILE FORMATS: Artwork can be accepted electronically as a jpeg, tif, eps or PDF. Electronic files must be 300 dpi.

Contest open to all Navy football fans! Share as desired among friends and family. See the USNAAA official contest page for details. Best of luck to all competitors!

121st Army-Navy Game to be Played at West Point (First Time Since 1943)

Due to ongoing limitations on outdoor sporting events in Pennsylvania, this year’s Army-Navy game was moved to West Point in order to ensure that the Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets could be in attendance. See the Oct 23rd press release for more details and remarks by the athletic director and Superintendent.

No official decision on fan attendance has been made at this time, but it is anticipated that attendance will be limited to only the Brigade and Corps. The game will be televised as scheduled. GO NAVY, NAVY, NAVY! BEAT ARMY, ARMY, ARMY!

USNA to Host Virtual Girls’ STEM Day on Saturday, October 17

Posted: 10/12/2020

If you have or know any 6th – 8th grade girls who would be interested in this event, please share with them!

The U.S. Naval Academy STEM Center for Education and Outreach is hosting a virtual Girls STEM Day Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event will take place live on their Facebook page and is aimed for 6th-8th graders who are interested in learning about how engineers and scientists make the world a better place for everyone using hands-on activities! 👩‍🔬📡⚙️🔬🩺 Keep an eye out for more information closer to the event!

(Original post: 30 September on official USNA Facebook page)

Key details: no registration required; event will be live streamed online. Guidelines, supply lists, downloadable templates, and link to live event can be found here.

Please Support Alyce Fernebok’s 50-mile VVSD Paddle Excursion (San Diego – Catalina Island)

Posted: 10/9/2020

Alyce Fernebok will be repping ’96 and VVSD in the Marine Corps kayak for VVSD’s first annual 50-mile kayak excursion around Catalina Island 21-23 October. Six kayaks will be paddling – one each from the Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force, and Space Force. You can join online and support the event as a “virtual racer” by donating to your favorite kayak and paddlers. You can also follow the kayaks on social media (Facebook Veterans Village of San Diego or Twitter @VVSD_Veterans) as they train and when they leave San Pedro on October 21 and paddle to Catalina Island for a total of 50 miles over three days!

From Mike Martin’s FB post: “Classmates…one of our best and finest (Alyce Fernebok) is kicking major ass and kayaking 50 miles over big blue this month to raise awareness and money for the Veterans Village of San Diego. Please support her Marine Corps kayak so we can get our awesome Class of ’96 logo as a sponsor. Hooyah ’96…Hooyah Alyce. Remember to call a squid if you get stranded at sea. :)”

If you’re not familiar with the vision and mission of VVSD, they have for nearly 40 years answered the call to serve America’s heroes by providing programs and services designed to remove barriers to independence and self-sufficiency. This year, in lieu of traditional fundraising efforts, they’ve decided to match our veteran’s determination and hard work. On October 21, 2020 a group of volunteers, veterans, and community supporters will kayak 50 miles from San Pedro to and around Catalina Island to fund programs offered by VVSD including expansion of telehealth to meet the unique challenges created by COVID. With a couple of weeks to go until the event, Alyce’s Marine Corps kayak is absolutely killing the rest of the services in fundraising efforts with over $26K raised. The remaining 5 kayaks have raised a total of $1500 to date. GO, ALYCE!!!

**As of about noon on Thursday, 08 October, our class had raised $3900 towards our goal of sponsoring the kayak with our class logo (which takes $7500 and is needed by Thursday, 15 October). If you are willing and able to donate to this cause, please consider doing so.

Gov. Hogan Approves Midshipmen Attendance at Tomorrow’s Football Game v. Temple

The decision to keep Navy’s stands empty was recently reversed and the Brigade will now be in attendance on Saturday for Navy’s fourth game of the season (second home game). The Brigade will be socially distanced by company and pods of roommates in the stands. No family or guests will be in attendance, and tailgating is still prohibited.

Press releases: Capital Gazette NavySports.com ESPN

Football Update: No Fan or Brigade Attendance at Navy v. Temple on 10 Oct

Posted: 9/30/2020

Help Support Wreaths Across America at USNA: Donate or Volunteer

Posted: 9/25/2020

As many of you know, Wreaths Across America lays memorial wreaths at sites throughout the country, including those at the Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium. This foundation relies on monetary donations to fund wreath purchases, and volunteers to lay the wreaths out each year in December. The event at USNA is currently scheduled for Friday, December 11, 2020. I recently received an email from Mrs. Carol Turman, the local USNA Wreaths Across America Coordinator, calling for donations and volunteers. Wreaths cost $15.00 apiece, although if you purchase two, a third is automatically sponsored. You can purchase wreaths or volunteer to lay wreaths online using the USNA WAA page, or you can mail a check for a donation to:

Wreaths Across America
PO Box 249
Columbia Falls, ME 04623

Please mark in memo section of your check “MD0011” (so they will give credit to the USNA cemetery)

You can find more details online or in the entire call for donations letter here. Please donate or volunteer if you are able! If the event is cancelled due to COVID restrictions, all monies donated will be applied to next year (2021).

Live Patriot Boot Camp Event Today: Lunch and Learn Webinar with Dennis Volpe

Posted: 9/24/2020

Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm EST

Late breaking – just saw this on the wire. Patriot Boot Camp will be hosting Dennis Volpe this afternoon for a live webinar. Please join Patriot Boot Camp and Dennis Volpe, Principal, Leadership Research Institute as we discuss “Entrepreneurship and Resiliency.” Q & A will follow.

The New ’96 Hour is Back! Tune in Friday, 25 September with Jenn Campbell and Harrison Schramm

Posted: 9/20/2020

On Friday, 25 Sep, at 1pm ET, Harrison Schramm will be our first guest of the 2020-21 season of the New ’96 Hour. While on active duty, Harrison (then, a helo pilot) entered the realm of Operations Research at NPS and has made it his full-time pursuit since retiring in 2016. What’s Operations Research? I’m glad you asked, and…you’ll have to tune in to learn more! Harrison will be sharing his insights on how to get people to believe your model, listen to you, and follow your recommendations.

Join us to hear Harrison talk on the subject of Persuasion: Bridging the Gap between Analysis and Policy by registering (ahead of time) here. Sure, you can stream the recording when it’s over, but for Q&A, you’ve got to be *LIVE.* I know you’ve got questions, so we look forward to seeing you then!

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25th Reunion

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BEAT ARMY!!!