The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families. Through the perspective of a community of former graduates and Naval Academy insiders, this podcast will help you learn about life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Through our shared experiences, Academy Insider guides families through the anxiety and frustration caused by lack of understanding, misinformation, and confusion. This platform is designed to better relationships between midshipmen and their loved ones. This podcast is not affiliated with the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy or Department of Defense. The thoughts and opinions are exclusively those of your host and his guests.
The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
#080 A Comparison of West Point and Annapolis: The Transformative Path of a Service Academy Education
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Ever wondered what life is really like West Point or Annapolis? Join us as Captain Kelvin White, a proud West Point alum and Army Ranger, shares his unique experiences, from football fields to the battlefield. Kelvin opens up about his journey through military training and his upcoming career shift to pursuing an MBA at the University of Notre Dame, offering a rare glimpse into the transformative power of service academy education.
Prepare to be amazed as we compare the rigorous yet distinct training programs of West Point and the Naval Academy. From weapons qualification and land navigation at Camp Buckner to sailing and seamanship in Annapolis, these institutions forge the leaders of tomorrow through their unique traditions. Personal anecdotes capture the raw shock of the initial training phase and the challenges of balancing academics, athletics, and military obligations.
But it's not all challenges and grit. Discover how the service academy network fosters lifelong connections and mentorship that shape careers and personal growth. Hear about the influential figures who've made an impact on Kelvin's journey, and learn how the network provides invaluable support and opportunities. This episode underscores the enduring bonds and leadership development that come from attending these storied academies, making it a must-listen for anyone curious about military life and leadership.
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The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.
This podcast is independently produced and reflects the views and opinions of its creators. It is not officially affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of the United States Naval Academy or its affiliates.
Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.
He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that matches service academy families with trusted real estate teams all across the country. Text (650) 282-1964 with any real estate questions.
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Service Academy Experience Comparison
Grant VermeerWelcome to Season 2 of the Academy Insider Podcast . Academy Insider is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that serves midshipmen , future midshipmen and their families . At its core , this podcast is designed to bring together a community of Naval Academy graduates and those affiliated with the United States Naval Academy in order to tell stories and provide a little bit of insight into what life at the Naval Academy is really like . I hope you enjoy it . Thank you so much for listening and reach out if you ever have any questions . Hey everyone , and welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast .
Grant VermeerIn today's episode , I'm actually joined by a West Point graduate . All right , don't come for me , but it is the Army-Navy game coming up this Saturday and I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some of the similarities and differences between the midshipman experience in Annapolis and the cadet experience up in West Point , new York . It's a super fun episode . We talk about some and share some funny stories about our times as midshipmen and cadets respectively , but also then talk about life in the fleet for the Navy , his time as an Army Ranger after graduation , and then we end the episode all about just the power of the Service Academy education at large , right , whether you go to West Point . Whether you go to the Naval Academy , whether you go to Air Force Academy , coast Guard , merchant Marine , our experiences are very similar . There may be some things that are different , but the underlying core foundation of who we are as a result of our educations at a service academy is very similar and , as a result , we have those shared experiences . We have those shared bonds that lead us to create an incredible network after graduation and into life for the remainder of our time , and so , if you're potentially interested in a service academy education , you need to listen to this episode . If you know someone who may be considering applying to the Naval Academy , to West Point , to Air Force , whatever it is , send them this episode .
Grant VermeerI think this episode you're going to see is going to highlight some of the incredible aspects of being a Service Academy educated individual , and so I hope you enjoy this . Please , if you ever have any questions , let me know . Otherwise , I hope you love this episode . Thank you so much for sticking around and being a part of the Academy Insider audience . Y'all are the best . Thank you so much and enjoy the listen . The Academy Insider podcast is sponsored by the Vermeer Group , a residential real estate company that serves the United States Naval Academy community and other select clientele in both California and Texas . If I can ever answer a real estate related question for you or connect you with a trusted Academy affiliated agent in the market which you're in , please reach out to me directly at grant at the Vermeer groupcom . You can also reach out to me on my LinkedIn page , grant Vermeer , and I'd be happy to respond to you there . Thank you so much , and now let's get back to the episode All right .
Grant VermeerHey everyone , and welcome back to the podcast , my guy , thank you so much for being here today . We've had a lot of conversations over the past couple months , honestly , actually through the linkedin world , which I think is pretty funny . So for us to get back together here and actually record a podcast here on army navy getting ready to release it , I think this is super exciting . So I'm gonna no mind background a little bit of information about who you are , where you're from , how you ended up at the military academy at west point , what you did in the army and kind of know what this next stage in your life is going to look like .
Kelvin WhiteWell , grant , thank you again for you know inviting me onto your platform . As you know , like extremely humble and all the things that you do are extremely engaging , and I'm just super thankful to be here . But my name is Captain Kelvin White , born and raised in Harrisburg , pennsylvania , a small town in Enola , just across the river , the Susquehanna River , in central Pennsylvania . You know , two brothers grew up playing sports all through my life , probably similar to most people , I didn't know what West Point was until I was a senior in high school and had the opportunity to get recruited by them to play football . Lo and behold , here I am going to the West Point Prep School . The coolest part about it is I was the first class at West Point to go to the prep school . The other classes before me were at Fort Monmouth and New Jersey . So I had the opportunity to go there , went to West Point , played on the football team there , a bunch of clubs , a bunch of things .
Kelvin WhiteActually , after I graduated , graduated , I branched in the infantry and I stayed at west point to be a graduate assistant . I was the tight ends coach and offensive quality control coach . So it was a phenomenal opportunity to just , you know , be a second lieutenant be around my teammates for another six months . You know , and I think it's probably a good place to say it's the first time we beat Navy in 14 years , and every class before me for the last 10 years has never beat Navy either . But you know , when I was a coach , we were able to get it done in 2016 .
Kelvin WhiteAnd then , following that , went to Ranger School , airborne School , and then I was stationed in Germany . I was able to meet my wife . I have two beautiful children , tatum and Kelvin we call them Deuce and now I'm currently in the 75th Ranger Regiment down here in Fort Moore , georgia , and I'm actually transitioning out of the military now . You can probably see my face , but I am going to pursue my MBA at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business , where my wife will be the Army ROTC instructor , the assistant professor military science there , and we'll be there next fall . So super , super exciting . Can't wait to dive into this with you , grant . It's going to be a blast .
Grant VermeerYeah , man , 100% Congratulations , right , Congratulations on a very successful life and career through your time at West Point . Right , like you're saying , if we just take a high-level look , you know , zoom out and take a look at these 10 years of your life , 10 , 11 years of your life , right , it's like met your wife , started a family , got a great education , got to play four years of college football and then come on and coach and get back and stay a part of the program and then do a lot of stuff in the Army right , like real stuff and lead soldiers right and take care of those individuals who have raised their right hand and supported the constitution of the United States . Man , like you've lived a very full , adventurous , purpose-filled life for a good like 11 years straight , right , and that's pretty darn sweet .
Kelvin WhiteYeah , I mean since I was 18 . So it's like it's all I know . You know , it's almost half my life .
Grant VermeerSo , yeah , no , I love it . In today's episode again , obviously the highlighted theme is that Service Academy education is an incredible once in a lifetime opportunity . But we're going to break down and go a little bit of West Point versus Annapolis , Like this is kind of the whole thing . You know we're coming up on on America's game . There's all the pomp and circumstance of these different things . But I want to take the time to kind of break down what some of the similarities are , but especially some of the differences between , you know , being a midshipman at the Naval Academy and being a cadet at West Point . And so we're going to start off with obviously the most iconic of all things , which is again our versions of the military boot camp .
Grant VermeerAnd so when you're a freshman at the Naval Academy , you're known as a plebe and you go through plebe summer . Is that the same terminology that exists at West Point ? Or kind of what is your ? You know , when you go , are you going to plebe summer ? Do y'all have another name for it ? It's like , isn't it Beast ? Like you got the King of Beast , like the commander of it all . Like how's that break out ?
Kelvin WhiteYeah , so it's the same . We have reception day or we call ours our day , and that's where you get like inculcated from like civilian to like military I guess for us it's students and that's like the thing that everybody sees . You have 90 seconds to say goodbye to your parents , so it's like you didn't already just drive up to West Point and spend the night with them and like knew that you're going to leave the next day . But we do call it Beast Barracks and it's about six weeks . They start in July and then they just go until , you know , the school year starts . So we have like reorgie week after that , but really it's just trying to like break you in .
Kelvin WhiteSo it's a lot of people that are enlisted . They have like their basic training and the thing for West Point is units from across the Army come and train you . So they're not technically like drill sergeants , they're not technically , you know drill instructors , but they are soldiers , instructors but they are soldiers . So you have E-5s , E-6s , E-7s , captains across the army , whatever units there for that summer training , you know , actually teaching you .
Grant VermeerAnd are those like specific evolutions ? Because you still have like a detailed staff right , like you have a cadre of cadets that's kind of doing day to day , but those people you're talking about are kind of coming in for specific evolutions and training events or that how that's working yeah .
Kelvin WhiteSo I mean just like the day-to-day stuff . Right , you have , like , your platoon sergeant who's a cadet , you're a platoon leader and then , like you know , as you already mentioned , the cadre who are actually cadets and like peer-led . But when you're on the range , when you're doing like land nav and all of those things that are like army-ish , like , a civilian normally wouldn't do . It's led by an actual soldier , it's an actual officer . So I think that part's pretty cool and it's definitely overlooked .
Grant VermeerYeah , and so just to put this in comparison right , we have Kevin mentioned they have our day where you say reception day , is that what you called it ? Yeah , for us it's I-Day , induction day , right , but same idea , right , like that is the day for us . It's kind of the iconic sound and event when , like you get your last , we actually get like after . So you start I-Day , like you go through processing , you get in your uniform , you get your room , you start the process like everything's going , and then , right before we have a massive oath of office ceremony . You get like 15 minutes with your family before you go in , but you're like in uniform at that time , like you're fully plebe ingrained and you get that last 15 minutes and then you do the oath of office and then you march back in and then they slam the Bancroft Hall like main doors behind and honestly , like they do a good job with it , because it sounds like a resounding , like boom , like through the campus .
Grant VermeerAnd then it's like , yeah , like plebe summer's on right , like plebe summer's on at that point , and you mentioned like going to the range . So I think this is where we're going to start talking about some of the like comparisons of
Military Training Program Differences
Grant Vermeerthe two places . Right like we go , we go shoot once . Right like we go shoot once during plebe summer and qualify , you know , pistol and rifle , but I'm assuming y'all shoot more than once . Like what's that breakdown for y'all of like actually going out to the range and doing stuff like land navigation ? Because for us , like , we're not land navigating anything , we're navigating the seas , baby get us , get us out .
Kelvin WhiteYeah , so I I mean's , as you mentioned , it has been a little bit of like time since I was up through like through my hour day , but like we would trans or we would get on buses or we would get on you know , lmtvs and we would go out to a place called Camp Buckner , which is where all of our range complexes are and all those things , and we'd stay out there for a couple of days and that's where we would do like really it's like a week long . We do like machine guns , you know , rifles , pistols , you get to like drop mortar rounds and stuff like that . And I just remember that being probably a week or maybe two weeks and you got to do all of those things and like I mean it is , it is like really really cool , cause most of the time , like I never shot a pistol before I got to West Point . I never shot like a AR-15 or M4 or anything like that . I've shot like a little 22 caliber or something . But that's the first time you get to do stuff like that and it's like very impactful .
Kelvin WhiteBut we go back to Camp Buckner , like I guess it's our yuck year or sophomore year . So after a few years over . Then we go back to Camp Buckner and it's called cadet field training and that's just like another evolution of Beast Barracks . But like now , you're already in the Corps , you have some experience , you have some stuff like that . But yeah , we shoot a lot .
Grant VermeerYeah , that's pretty sweet and you say you do stuff like land navigation . Are there other from your memory like other iconic like army things that happen during beast barracks ? Because again , for us , right like quite literally , we have a sailing curriculum , right like we actually go out , we get on sailboats , we like learn navigation , we learn nautical stuff , we take seaman , seamanship and navigation courses , right like those things are very like navy specific on our end as like an indoctrination into the naval academy I think so , if you've ever been to west point or any anybody who has ever traveled there .
Kelvin WhiteWhen you're coming in through 9w , like from monroe , and like if you've never been , like you'll understand when you go there . But you're driving on like this long stretch of road , like feels like you're in the middle of the woods , which you are , but you look up on the left hand side as as you pass camp natural bridge and camp buckner and you'll see like a big , like ranger scroll and you'll see like a sapper tab now probably , and it's like this big rock face and you actually rappel down it and you climb up it , um , and I think those are kind of the two things I remember , because I drive by that thing all the time and I always remember climbing up that rock or rappelling down that rock .
Grant VermeerSo those are pretty good experience , definitely , but it is , it is hard , you're right for sure yeah , no 100 , which which is kind of going to lead us to hopefully maybe down some of the similarities here in
Initial Shock and Adjusting to Academics
Grant Vermeerthis experience . I'm going to turn it over to you , which is at any point during Beast Barracks or like during your R day , did you have the like what did I just get myself into moment , Like the moment where you're like yo training , time out training time out . Like I wasn't no hold on . Like I wasn't expecting this .
Kelvin WhiteWell , I think for me . I was a prepster and we can like go back a little bit too , and just like I know that you're a direct admit , you know you're much smarter than me , grant .
Speaker 2I took the four year path , baby , yeah , four year path , come on .
Kelvin WhiteIt's an extra lap for some of us out there , but I think that experience so like the cadet candidate basic training which was , you know , the pre-beast my first year out of high school , that was when I had like the oh no , what am I doing ? Like that was like . And that one's a little bit shorter too . That's probably three weeks long , but I mean when I got into West Point I had already been home or away from home for a year . I've already been home or away from home for a year . I've already been like inculcated into like customs courtesies and like the military aspect of that . So like when I got to Beast Barracks I was way more comfortable . But for me that time , like when I was a prepster man I'll tell you what that was probably day two of like not sleeping , just like writing it at nighttime , like I never even wrote letters before .
Grant VermeerYeah , you quickly turned like life's back in the 1700 , man . You said a candlelight writing the letters back home .
Speaker 2Like what's going on ?
Kelvin WhiteIt's crazy , oh my God .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Grant VermeerNo , I mean spot on right , like what's funny for me is like when I showed up in , like I was saying I came in direct , right , I mean spot on right , like what's funny for me is like when I showed up in , like how am I saying I came in direct ? Right , I was direct from high school admission , so I was showing up 18 years old and I got smacked in the face Like the first time . I got yelled at right , like I was just like in shock , right , because I'm just , like you know , making my way down we call it the P-ways , like the hallways in Bancroft Hall , and I'm getting yelled at by a detailer like what are you doing ? Hit a bullcat , all this stuff .
Grant VermeerAnd I have no idea what's going on , because no one teaches you this stuff , it just happens . And you've got to learn and figure it out . And so I just remember one of my roommates was a Napster , so the Naval Academy has a prep school as well , and dude , the prep school people who were previously midshipman cadets or like you're saying , uh , um , you know , whatever , whatever y'all call it on the west point side yeah like the biggest saving graces during they're in uh , barracks , beast or plebe summer .
Grant VermeerRight , like , because they have that slight experience , they have that knowledge and it's not the initial shock , right like they are like some of the guides and leaders through that process for , like the plea class . Because , man , I'll tell you what , like I went to my it was Amari Ross Amari Ross , my God to this day , love him and Jared Hackmeister , and I was like I was like fellas , I was like I need some help . I was like I don't know what's going on , but like I need some help . And yeah , man , it's just , it is crazy , but you have that little bit of experience .
Grant VermeerAnd I think everybody at one point in time , whether it happens at the prep school , whether it happens , you know , actually at West Point or the Naval Academy , has that moment of like shock , of like oh my , oh , my gosh .
Grant VermeerAnd as much as you prepare , as much as you understand what's going on and know , like the moment it actually happens , and you have that like like the real feeling of being there , like everyone's going to have a little bit of it , right , like a slight feeling and a slight welcome to the experience , for sure , and so so yeah , that's kind of a rundown and again of I would say like that , that first summer period and the emotion associated . Now we're going to transition a little bit into the like actual academic life . What was , what was the experience for you to transition and obviously you had the prep year as well to kind of prepare for some of the academic stuff but what was the experience of turning into the academic world at West Point and what was the experience like as a cadet going to school at West Point ? How does the military training adjust or , you know , shift in its intensity versus the academic and sports like time commitments you have ?
Kelvin WhiteYeah , great , and I think I would be , you know , remiss if I did not say the disclaimer of . You know , everybody's experience may vary , but for me I was a football player , so I was core squad and we got pulled out of Beast Barracks I think a week early before , like the March back , and this was back with Coach Ellerson . So we currently have Coach Munkin . Now he's been there for 11 years . This was a different head coach and we had to go through reorder week , we had to go through practices , we had to go through camp and I think what really was my saving grace and you've already mentioned it was like I went to prep school .
Kelvin WhiteSo like the academic year for me , at least the first semester was all what I took at prep school , and I don't know if they do that anymore , but I'm talking like down to the same books . So I had all the books from the year before , I did all the study and I did all that stuff . But we have STAP , which is like you just take a class in the summer , essentially we call it STAP , and so I did actually did the chemistry course after prep school . So then I walked into class and like that was my saving grace , like I think I ended that semester with like a , you know three over three point GPA and like , as as everything like the , the years went by , like my GPA just like started to trend down a little bit .
Kelvin WhiteBut it started high . That was my grace , dude , because , like , as we got a new coach and we got all these different things happening and you get a little bit more responsibility and all these things happen , like there's really you don't have the time of the day to like make sure everything else is perfect , so things start slipping . Make sure everything else is perfect , so things start slipping . And I think that's probably the one thing that we all , all the service academies do well is they overload us for sure . And when you're overloaded , you have to be able to prioritize things . And then you start doing opportunity costs and you're like , well , I'm just not going to do that paper and I'm not going to do this , and it just gives you that decision-making ability , which is super , super great . I know everybody thinks they're great time managers , but it's really about the prioritization . But for me that first semester was great , dude , just because of the prep .
Kelvin WhiteThe prep here , yeah , but after that dude , that headstart that I had was evaporated .
Grant VermeerYeah , people started catching you real quick , yeah , when you talk about , I thought I think it's a really good point that you brought up , which is that there is a , there is a purposeful overload of like things that you could hate , like any normal person could handle , right . And so what were those things ? At West Point , if you remember , like I just did an episode here on Academy Insider for the Naval Academy , specific talking about what we call professional knowledge , which , like every week there was you know , back in my time it was every week . Now the test is every other week for the plebes , but it's like this perp or like another book , right , where we have to learn professional knowledge about the Navy .
Grant VermeerIt starts with kind of the customs and courtesies and history and tradition of the Naval Academy , makes its way up through you know , a service warfare chapter learning about you know ships , and then making its way and learning about submarines , et cetera , and that's all . In addition , to right your actual academic course load in your sports or whatever the case is , we have these things called signature sheets , where you have to go and meet and learn the name of every single upperclassman in your company , in your unit , and get them to sign like a signature sheet . You have to create all these poster boards for everyone who has like a leadership billet in the company spaces , like there are a lot of things that go on that the plebs are responsible for . Do y'all have something similar to that at West Point that you kind of remember of just these additional time obligations that are put on plebs , that they have to get done ?
Kelvin WhiteYeah , and I think that book that you're referring to we just said like the book of knowledge , the book we did that in the summertime and like I think now it's probably like mainstream , like the bugle notes has like the same information , a whole bunch of things you have to memorize .
Kelvin Whitebut we did most of that stuff in in the summertime . But , to your point , I you know freshmen had to do like duties and responsibilities , so we called minutes . It's just like one of the things that will never , never , ever leave my like my brain . It lives rent free . Just like you know , when somebody tells me what's for lunch , I immediately jump into , like you know , calling minutes and um , but we do that . We do , like you know , take out upperclassmen's trash . You do , like you pick up their , their laundry , you drop off their laundry and then when it comes back , you , you know , you , you do divvy it out to upperclassmen .
Kelvin WhiteWe all were assigned a team leader , so like a yuck who was like in , like we are their direct report and they like looked out for us for counseling's , like physical stuff , academic stuff , and then like throughout the halls , like you have to walk with your hands cut , you have to like rub your shoulder on the wall and when you're outside you can't talk and all of those things , but like you could be quizzed on any information that was in the book , like the book of knowledge from from upperclassmen , and usually that's at lunchtime , like when we're all sitting around at lunch , you know in the mess hall and like you're out there and you're just like standing there waiting to eat and like an upperclassman just starts like quizzing you and stuff and that's really like where that comes in .
Kelvin WhiteBut again , I would just say all experiences may vary . Because I was on the football team , I was actually granted authorization to miss some of that stuff and , based on my timeline , when I was in school at my freshman year , we practiced in the morning , so I wasn't at breakfast with the core , I wasn't doing that stuff , I was just like practice class , back to practice . So that was like my experience .
Grant Vermeerbut yeah , like plebes are definitely overloaded , for sure yeah , 100 , I , I like and I'm going to double down on what you said about everyone's experience may vary and I think that's really specific , like really , uh , a good point , especially when it comes to the academic year , because I think kind of maybe one of the things that may be consistent is that at one point in time during your time at the Naval Academy or at West Point , you are going to struggle . It's going to be extremely hard . That is the consistency . But where you struggle may change based on your experience , your personality type . Whatever the case is right .
Grant VermeerLike for a lot of people , that struggle may come from the academic year , right , the transition to the academic year may be extremely difficult for them , right , and like getting used to the classes and all the workload , et cetera . For me that was like a reprieve , like I lucked out , knock on wood . Like I was good at school , right , so like getting into the classroom , classroom , like felt that that was a more comfortable environment for me rather than plebe summer . Like plebe summer to me like I was a homesick 18 year old kid , right , like never had adversity once in my life . Right , I was like yo , what . Like what is happening ?
Grant Vermeerright and so I hate , like I hated plebe summer , but then the academic year for me , like it became a little bit more sense , comfort , whereas I had plenty of friends who plebe summer to them was like an adventure , like they let , they were like they let yeah it's hard , like it's really hard , but like I like I'm having a good time .
Grant VermeerAnd then when they got to the academic year , they were like yo , this sucks Right . And so you know they're like you're saying , experiences may vary drastically on what things are the like , the actual pressure point that cause you to hit that point of struggle Right . And so you know , I think that piece is , I think that piece is really interesting .
Kelvin WhiteAnd then I'll add something to grant to about that , right ? So like you are the guy who's super smart , you're super intelligent , you're very comfortable in the classroom . Guys like that like for me , for instance , like when I was at prep school , like that , like for me is , for instance , like when I was at prep school , like that summer stuff was easy for me . So all these kids that are like not eagle scouts in high school or like that missed home and stuff like I would carry extra stuff on my back when we were doing ruck marches , and then that same person that I spent six weeks with in the summertime , you know is the valedictorian of his school , is , like you know , the super , super smart guy .
Kelvin WhiteSo when I'm struggling in chemistry , I go , I talk to him and you know , and you , you're like bonded I don't want to call it trauma bonding , but it's very , very similar to that because you just like you're always there for each other , right , we're all here for the same purpose , like trying to be the best versions of ourselves and , you know , support and defend the constitution of the United States of America . And I think that stuff right there , like the bonds that you build and like plead summer training or , you know , be spirits for us , like that thing takes you through the year . So that guy that I was like giving my food to cause I wasn't hungry , you know he's helping me and I'm work citing him like hey , you know . Assistance given to the author Assistance given to you .
Grant VermeerYeah , yeah , give him a little credit . Put him in the footnotes . Put him in the footnotes .
Kelvin WhiteTalk about it , dude .
Grant VermeerYeah , no , look , you're spot on with that .
Grant VermeerAnd I think , again , when we talk about what makes Service Academy so special , is they show you the importance of being an elite team player ,
Summer Training Experiences at Service Academies
Grant Vermeerright , like you have to be incredible at being a part of a team .
Grant VermeerThere's no more like individual , like individualism from a from an ego standpoint , Right . And so I think that piece is really interesting , like you're saying , because some people are going to have one strength and other people are going to have others , and that means one person may excel at one portion of their time at the academy and struggle in others , and vice versa , and y'all are going to have to build those relationships and help each other out when you have arrived at the point where you are struggling , right . And so I think that piece is really interesting because , again , you just got to know your role , embrace your role and then excel in your role , like what you are good at is the school stuff , like you said . Then be ready to actually help people when they're not as good at what you are , because you're going to have a point in time where , like you , are struggling in something significantly and you're going to need the person that you may have been helping in one realm is going to be the person that is going to help you in the next .
Kelvin WhiteExactly .
Grant VermeerAnd so . But that comes , like you're saying , from .
Grant VermeerWe'll redact just from the bonding just from the bonding of the experiences , like through the summer , right , and so , again , that piece is really interesting and it's important . I'm glad you touched on that right Because , again , it's just , people may think it's a classroom experience of like this teaching , of leadership , but I think , more than anything , it's these experiences and , quite literally , the humanness of all of us and the human connection and like , quite literally , the tribalism and reality of like there are things that I'm good at and there are things I'm not good at , and I need to rely on the people around me to help me in the stuff that I'm not good at and I need to have the humility and like put in the extra effort to help the other people with the stuff that I am good at , right , and so , you know , kind of finding that balance is is really important and really cool . So I appreciate you bringing that up . I do want to transition a little bit again , as we talk about some of the cool and unique intricacies of West Point versus Navy , is summer training , because I think this is one of the coolest pieces of the service academies in general . Are these summer training blocks ?
Grant VermeerFor the Naval Academy , we have three blocks , right , so you have again three , basically one-month periods to do summer training . The standard procedure would be to have two military-type trainings during , you know , two of those blocks and then get a leave period where you can go home or travel or whatever the case is during that time . For us , our summer training experiences are you go on a ship , you go on a submarine , right , like you can . You have this thing called pro-trimmed professional training for midshipmen , where you spend a week with each of the different communities so you can get a taste of all the things . You go with an aviation squadron , you get underway on a submarine , you go on a ship , you spend a week with the Marine Corps , right , and so all those different aspects that you get a sense of . What was that like at West Point ? What was your summer training like ? What units are you going with , what cool things can you do and how is
Summer Training and Development at Academies
Grant Vermeerthat experience for you ?
Kelvin WhiteYeah , I think the same thing that you guys have , we have very similar . So we have blocks of training in the summer , every summer , and then some of them are usually like , uh , normalized , so like every freshman . So after the end of your freshman year you go to cadet field training or cft , and that's like two blocks , so that's like you know , all summer almost , and then you have the ability to do like an iad and I'm I can't I don't know what that means at the time because I was never fortunate enough to do them an IAD and I can't , I don't know what that means at the time because I was never fortunate enough to do them . But like you have military ones , you have academic ones and then you also have the ability for leave . So I think West Point just does such a phenomenal job of finding opportunities for guys or cadets to do things all over the world . I mean they travel internationally , they can go do , like you know , courses at Oxford , I'm pretty sure , and like you know , they can do Sandhurst and they , you know , I had friends who went to France for the summer to do like an exchange and that's not like really exchange student for the semester , which they do offer as well . It's just like this IAD , which is , like you know , three to four weeks long of training and things like that . So I mean , those are I can't even name all the ones , but I just know that , like , if you can , if you think about doing it , if you think about doing an internship , you know you have that ability at West Point for those blocks in the summer .
Kelvin WhiteSo after your freshman year you do cadet field training . After your sophomore year , like going into your junior year , you do what's called CTLT , which is exactly what you mentioned already about going and shadowing people . We go out to army units and that's every army unit . You can go aviation rangers , peas , you can do literally anything that you want special forces , and you get to like just shadow officers that do the job that you're going to eventually do . And then I want to say , the last summer you have to do like a leadership , which is , like you know , beast barracks , like cadre or something like that . So it's usually between your junior and senior year you break that up and then you have to do that .
Kelvin WhiteBut again , if we're going to speak from experiences , for me I didn't get to do any military training , so I didn't get to do any military training . So I didn't get to do the air assault schools , the airborne schools , the cool like whoo schools when I was a cadet , because I was like playing football . So I mentioned staff already that's where you like take a class to minimize the load during the semester . So I want to say for every summer I did at least one or two steps which you know again , like if you took 21 credit hours during the semester your sophomore year , I took 17 or something like that . So just like allowed me a little bit more time to give back to the football program .
Kelvin WhiteSo I didn't really again , I didn't get to do like the cool opportunities . I did do CTLT . I went to the 82nd Airborne Division , 2325 White Falcon , and you know I was able to like see them they had Kiowas back then and that was really the experience that made me branch infantry , because I was like doing situational training exercise with that platoon leader there and it was force on force . It was just such a cool opportunity . No-transcript 100% .
Grant VermeerIt's a really actually interesting thing to touch on right now , which is the experience between a varsity athlete and the experience between someone who does not play a varsity sport at the academies can vary your experience right , and again you may hear a lot of opinions about one way or another , what's easier or better or whatever it is . Look , it's just different . It's just a little bit different right , and so you know , I had the same experience where I would do one summer training block and in that second block we always had summer school and we practiced right , because I was a varsity basketball player , I played basketball all four years and so , while I had friends who were , like you're saying , going for a month to estonia to be a part of , like , the un cyber conference , right , and all these different things , like I was in annapolis taking seamanship and navigation and practicing basketball Right , and so , like , again , there are all these different things where there's there's always a give and take .
Grant VermeerMuch like everything in life , there is always a trade-off . And when you choose to invest your time into one thing , that may the trade-off may be a lack of opportunity on the other end . Right , but at the same time , when it came to the academic year , yeah , there was . There was some stuff like military obligations that we were , you know , we didn't have to do march on for the parade . We didn't have to do parades because we were practicing and we were playing , right . And so , you know , there are trade-offs to the experience . But there again , there's beauty in both experiences and there's leadership development in both experiences .
Grant VermeerAnd there is , like , all these different aspects Cause , for me , my main mentors that I had at the Academy were usually the officer representatives of the basketball team , relationships that I likely would not have had if it weren't for basketball Right , and so like , while other people may have found their mentors and some of their summer trainings or other clubs , like I just found mine through basketball Right , and so you know , it's it's , it's cool , it's interesting , right Like there are a lot of different pathways in a variety of experience that you can have while a midshipman or while a cadet , but at the end of the day , I think what is extremely cool and I'll be , you know , calvin , I pass it to you here in just a sec to touch on this is like what makes these places so special is the density of wisdom and leadership experience that is on campus or for us on the yard , right Like what ?
Grant VermeerNo matter what you're doing , there is somebody there who is going to look like you relate to you , someone that you want to emulate , right Like there's going to be someone that you relate to , that you kind of vibe with , and you're like that is someone I want to try and be like , that is someone I want to learn from , and that's someone that who's like , who is going to be my mentor , like a personal mentor , right . And so I think that piece is really cool and I had the investment of a lot of amazing people in my life that helped with my development as a young man and as a leader , right . And so what was that experience for you at West Point , kind of , how did you navigate , building some relationships with some of the staff or some of the officers or even some of the senior enlisted . That kind of helped in your progression and development as a young man going through West Point .
Kelvin WhiteYeah , grant , that's a phenomenal , and I think life is a contact sport , right ? So as we continue to move through life , the more people you know and the more people you connect with , usually the better off you're going to be . And I think , just like the first person I ever met at West Point when I went there his name was then was Major Adisa King ,
Service Academy Network and Connections
Kelvin Whiteex football player . I think he was on the last team to beat Navy , but he was the guy who did , like , the admissions for the football team and he was like crazy , charismatic , bald head , loud , obnoxiousious , and he was an infantryman and without , like you know , being disrespectful , there's in the army , there's the infantry and then there's infantry support . So you're , you know what I'm saying . So , but I wanted to be like a decent king . He ended up leaving , we got a new coach and then he he continued to do crazy , crazy things throughout the Army . Now he is a brigade commander in Hawaii . He's in 325 .
Kelvin WhiteAny Army listeners out there , colonel Adisa King , he's the man and I text him , I talk to him , we're very close . But all of the things that I had pent up in me like do I want to do this ? Do I want to make the Army a career I want to like . Am I going to be able to do this ? Am I capable , blah , blah . He was the guy that I would just text like my big brother and I was a cadet . Then he was a major , like I became like a battalion commander and stuff like that . So we had , like a couple years removed , but just like that human connection that you you mentioned before , like he cares about the people that comes after him and he wants to make sure , like the ranks are like in good standing and good hands . So all the times when I was like hey , I'm just unsure , what do you think about this ? Like his authentic feedback was like definitely the thing that kept me like on a straight and narrow . And then , ultimately , like I just wanted to like make him proud because I came to West Point not knowing what it was and then I stayed because of , like the incredible people and opportunities . Now , like 10 years later , I'm getting out of the army now , but it's still like that's a , it's a lifetime .
Kelvin WhiteWe talked about this in the beginning and Adisa King was my guy . He was the guy who , like had the most impact on me when I was a cadet . But to echo what what you said , again , the people that you meet you just never know right , and I'll just do a quick anecdote here . My boxing instructor's name was Will Kobe and he's from central Pennsylvania , graduated from Trinity High School , went to Villanova and he became my boxing instructor at West Point . After his time there he went to the 75th Ranger Regiment . He's one of one .
Kelvin WhiteThis guy is like one of the best officers I've ever met . He is now the PMS at Notre Dame . My wife's going to go work for him and it's all because I sent him a text . I said hey , sir , you still at Notre Dame , yep . Then all of a sudden , like now me and him talk all the time . I'm going to still be able to like help out the program there when I'm there , like I'm not going to forget all the things I learned or the experiences I've had . So you know , when I'm a I have I'll probably have a little bit more facial hair when I'm a , you know , a student at Notre Dame . But it is that impact that you just never . You never know that like you're going to run into Will Coby again and he's going to give your wife a job at the next place and just like you can't you can never burn a bridge . You got to always just understand that like connection , connection , connection and life's a contact sport and you'll be good . But you know , thanks for letting me throw that in there , grant .
Grant VermeerNo , a hundred percent . Thank you , right . Thank you for sharing that Cause . I think highlighting the very personal stories and anecdotes just highlights this aspect of what we're talking about . Right , and that's that's what I want to jump into here now , because it's not just West Point , it's not just the Naval Academy when you get out of the fleet and I know this is funny because we're getting ready for the Army Navy game and you know , one day out of the year we're ready , hey , we're ready for war , right .
Grant VermeerWe're ready to go at each other and we're worst enemies . But that network that you're talking about , that is a service academy network , right ? No-transcript on to like like kevin , like you were saying , like generating these connections , building these relationships . But what it does do is like I know that if I'm reaching out to someone and they have this shared background , this common experience , I will get 15 minutes with them . They will take the time to talk to us , right , and so you know you have an ability to like build these relationships , build these connections , and there's always going to be people who are willing to listen to you and help you If you like , if you have the proactivity to reach out and ask for help which is a big lesson from your time at the service academies , right Is having the humility to to ask for help , and if you show that you have the humility and the hunger to like want to learn , grow and develop and like know that you don't have all the answers and you're looking for help , like , they're going to be people there who are going to help you .
Grant VermeerService Academy agnostic , right . And so you know . I just want to turn it back to you to see , in your experience now , how you've seen , obviously those ones were from your time specifically at West Point . But I just want to give you an opportunity , for you as well , to kind of talk about and highlight the Service Academy network , what it means to you and what you would just offer about , like the benefits of what that even means .
Kelvin WhiteGreat , you hit on it perfectly . People will give you their time . People will give you , like that , 15 minutes of doing things , just because we are very familiar with the rigor , the things that we had to endure and experience , and that shared understanding of like this person is capable of withstanding and solving problems and doing things the right way . Right , because , like a cadet will not lie , cheat , steal or tolerate those who do , and like you can remove cadet with anybody , especially like in the service academies . We all have honor codes , we all have all of those things and like , just the little tiny trinkets of like have all of those things and like , just the little tiny trinkets of like experiences that we all had . You mentioned , like , closing the doors at Bancroft . Like I'm telling you that probably everybody who's been to Annapolis is probably like that remembers that feeling right if I ask anybody , yeah , the shivers like that thing slams .
Grant VermeerOh , it's all on . But if you ask , anybody at West Point .
Kelvin WhiteYou know , like , how many lights are in Cullum Hall , like they'll tell you , or how's the cow , like they'll tell you , because , like , those are just like weird isms , that like West Point does , but like you immediately build a connection with somebody . All those things , I think , just trying to live up to that , like the honor code , live up to you know , choosing the harder right over the easier , wrong , and all of the things that were instilled in me as a cadet at West Point , and just like making those into , like who I am . Because , again , it's , we all have identities , we all have different things . I mean that we do , but like I am from West Point but like , like I am not a West Point football player anymore you know what I'm saying Like that used to be an identity , but I always have that .
Kelvin WhiteYou know , the West Point identifier , still right , and just as long as you just do the right thing and you just like continuously , like , live up to those values , it's just like a , it's a great opportunity . And like , for me , I , me , I love going back . I have classmates now that are back at school and I'm the type of dude that's like , hey , if I can do anything for you . Let me know , and for everybody out there who's listening to this if somebody says that to you , you have to cash that check .
Grant VermeerCash that check .
Kelvin WhiteYou have to cash that check because I'm telling you what man . There's been many times where someone's like let me know if I can do anything , and like if you say that to me , I'm going to send you the text .
Speaker 2I'm going to follow up . I'll send you a message on Monday .
Kelvin WhiteYeah , you'll get an email and the thing is it's not malicious . I'm not trying to take advantage of anything , but the fact that people are in positions to help or people are in positions to advocate for you or sponsor you , that is the whole . This is what we're talking about . This is the service academy , like as a whole . They've already been there and I mean , and you can go anywhere If you want to stay in the military and service you have , you know one star , two star , three star generals that are like from West Point .
Kelvin WhiteOr you know admirals who are from Annapolis who are like , oh yeah , like this guy , like I'll help him out , but then you like transition into the private sector , like that's what I'm doing now , right , like I'm trying to find somebody who's like oh yeah , like Kelvin is a great guy . And then it just bleeds everywhere because the fact that you finished those four years at Annapolis , at West Point , at the Air Force Academy , like proves that you are capable , proves that you have the basic foundation of just like being a good person and doing like a good job .
Grant VermeerSo yeah , 100% . I shamelessly . I'm a big Ted Lasso fan I promise this will make sense in just a minute , but but , like one , one of the main , one of the main lessons in like one of the episodes of the shows they talk about is like the most selfish thing you can do is not ask for that help . Right , and I was like it was an interesting perspective because they're like , if you ask for help , you are giving someone the opportunity to be that , that source of , of support and help to you . Right , and like for me , right when I go out there , and like you're saying , when I go and I talk to some like midshipmen or younger grads or whoever it is , or even older grads who come in and ask for connections or advice , right , like when I say , let me know what I can do to help , I mean it because I want you to give me the opportunity to like genuinely make a positive impact in your life . Right , and if you don't ask for it , like I'm never going to have the ability to do it , and you may be thinking like , oh , I don't want to , I don't want to ask , it's a burden . Like it's not a burden and I think that's the beautiful thing of this community that we're a part of is that these institutions have instilled in us , truly , this virtue of service . Right , it's not just your military service , your service to nation is the only type of service . No , like , we've been ingrained with the sense of service to like , do things for the betterment of the men and women around us . Right , and it's like I want to live a life where , like , I'm doing things to make your life better if I have the possibility to , right , and so you know , again , it's . It's this really cool aspect , like you're saying , when we come to the network , it's like there is a community of people who have this shared virtue of service , who want to do what they can to get back and make your life better and to help you out , however they can .
Grant VermeerRight , you just got to , but you got to ask for it . You got to , you got to cash that check . You got to like , again , you put in all that work , you made all those deposits at the bank , with those four years going through plebe year , yuck year , for us it's youngster year right , like all that stuff have built that connection where you have the ability to go and cash that check and you need to be selfless enough and I know it feels weird , but you need to be selfless enough to ask for that help and cash that check Right , and so I think that piece is really , again , it's just really interesting . It's just really interesting . You mentioned transitioning back this to you as we go through . It was like there were a lot of things that set the foundation for who you are today from
Military Service Academy Leadership Development
Grant Vermeeryour time at West Point . What are some of those main things that you remember back ?
Kelvin WhiteAre there any main experiences or lessons that you learned that have set the foundation and the cornerstones of who you are today , at like at your core ? Yeah , and I think you already hit on it a little bit Just , I was a varsity football player . I went through a coaching change and I really think , like Jeff Monk and everybody like laughs at me because he's , like you know , arguably coach of the year this year , doing a really , really good job . He's like one of the only coaches that has like a tenure of 11 years or more at the same , the same place , and I really do think you know the conversation that and I'd like laugh when you said this experiences do vary , right . So like I was a core squad football player , and then there's also like the valedictorian who just came direct , who doesn't have any an athletic bone in their body , right . So like we're like completely on opposite ends of the spectrum but like because of the , the camaraderie , and like living together in the core , like we all receive leadership in different ways . So I think that I learned most of my leadership skills and abilities and grit and perseverance like inside the white lines and Mikey stadium , probably like a hundred percent of them , and I and I and I'm like comfortable saying that right , because , like all of the things that you would learn in a classroom or you would learn in like an MS 400 class or MX 400 officership , like we get to do practical exercises of that , how are you , how are you going to respond when things are bad ? You know what happens when you get a holding penalty and you just cost your team 10 yards , what happens when , like , you miss a blocking assignment . You know , and the quarterback gets blindsided . What happened .
Kelvin WhiteLike all of these things are adversity that I've got to experience before I got out into the force and like it is weird because , like I , we got to play on TV , we got to do all these things and like everybody thought we like were better than we were . I won 11 games in four years . So , like , obviously it's not that I just thought I was better than everybody because we were winning , and it's not even that . Like you think that you're better , but you have experience that is different , that it's different . So , like your , your level of tolerance for to do things when you know bad things happen or you know shit goes wrong is just like you , you now have like experience . You felt that and because of that I'll never , ever forget this .
Kelvin WhiteWe have mattress at West point . Coach Moken comes in , we're doing up downs and we're doing Blair crawls in like negative four degree weather , like dudes get frostbite , all this stuff . Things have changed now but my point is that was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life . So no matter what I do I'm 31 years old , I've been to ranger school , I've deployed , I've done all like none of that stuff compares . Like you can ask anybody from my generation like oh yeah , matt , drill is the hardest thing to do , but but again , like honestly , I have that experience on the football field but like to loop this whole thing back together . Those people that don't have like the athletic bones in their body , who are like crazy smart . I can tell them how to set up an L-shaped ambush on the back of my hand . They can teach me quantum physics and stuff . You get me so like it's just that bonding and it's that ability to like be there for one another and really help your teammates and I think that is just like the greatest gift .
Grant VermeerYeah , Speaking about helping your teammates , and just like having these greatest gifts . What did the experience of being an army junior officer mean to you ? Like an actual , an actual officer in the army ? What did that experience mean to you and how was it ?
Kelvin WhiteFor me it was great . I was in Germany , I had like a deployment , operational deployment to Poland in the Sovolki gap there between Belarus and Klinengrad , and I think again I like came in there big , strong , fast . I was like very confident in myself , like I had just , like you know , past ranger school . I was ready to like prove myself to everybody and I think it was just such a humbling experience , you know , because like I was on top of the world and then I blew my ACL out playing in the Turkey Bowl .
Speaker 2Oh , they're busted , baby .
Grant VermeerYeah , survived four years of college football go busted in a flag football game in the Turkey Bowl .
Kelvin WhiteDude , I'm saying but like again , like all of these things , like all of these things , man , like I don't know that had I not had the experience I had at west point that I would have like came back from that that was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life as a junior officer , and I think you know .
Kelvin WhiteAnd then I met my wife and I just like everything from that day when I met my wife not even married her . When I met her , my life had just gotten way way better . So we're here five years later from our wedding and I think all of those experiences are just like who we are today , man and being a junior officer like at the academies , they prepare you so hard , like they prepare you You're going to be a platoon leader , or you know the equivalent of that in the Naval Academy , and you're doing that for four years . Not one time in West Point did they tell me about being a company commander , which this plaque here when I was on 126th , 101st Airborne Division . Not one time at West Point did we talk about being a company commander . It was all about being a platoon leader Four years for 18 months of my life and I just was super prepared for the things I was going to experience just because of the you know , dedication and experiences that they gave me at West Point . So super , super great , humbling experience for sure .
Grant VermeerYeah , without a doubt , I think that's . In my opinion , this is the coolest thing about why Service Academy Also ? Why ROTC also ? Why like OCS , whatever like ? Why being a military junior officer ? But I think this , specifically , is one of the coolest things about the Service Academies Also . Why ROTC Also ? Why OCS , whatever ? Why being a military junior officer ? But I think this , specifically , is one of the coolest things about the service academies in general Is that if you're growing up and you know you have , there's an innate sense of inside you .
Grant VermeerYou know where you enjoy being a part of a team and you enjoy helping people . You have this sense of like service inside you . There is no better opportunity than going to a service academy and becoming a military junior officer Nowhere else in America at 22 years old 21 , 22 years old the moment you graduate , you become that second lieutenant , you become an ensign in the Navy . Are you going to have the ability to make a positive impact in a lot of people's lives . When you show up to your first platoon for me , to my first division , there are going to be like 10 to 15 young men and women who are looking at you at 22 years old because you have the rank and you have the authority to make a positive impact in their life .
Grant VermeerRight , and it's incredible right . Like where else are you going to have the ability to connect with humans , lead humans and help them with their life situations , whatever the case may be ? Like there are not a lot of places where you can have the authority to make a real impact . Like you may be able to be nice to them , but when you show up and you're a platoon leader or platoon commander or you're a division officer , you may be able to be nice to them , but when you show up and you're a platoon leader or platoon commander or you're a division officer , you may have the ability to advocate on their behalf to bring and , like be the champion of their admin package to get them to a school that's going to help advance their career or whatever the case is right , like you have the ability to make a positive impact in the lives of incredible young men and women who have enlisted in our armed services .
Grant VermeerRight and like that's so cool . Right , like the privilege to serve in the navy marine corps team , the army team , whatever it is , be a man or a woman for others . And like help people who genuinely have a desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves , like that's your role , that's the coolest thing . Like you are going , you are commissioning and you are going into a role , a role that is built around being that direct level leadership , that direct level mentor and advocate for these people and to help them out . Right and like that's that's across the board . That doesn't matter if you're West Point , that doesn't matter . If you're Navy , that doesn't matter . If you're the Air Force Academy , the Coast Guard , that's going to be your role in the armed services . And that's freaking sweet dude . That's really cool . That's really cool .
Grant VermeerAnd so you know , as we talk about these things , whether it's Beast Barracks , whether it's Plebe Summer , whether it's some of these different things , summer trainings out in the field , shooting rifles , or whatever or you're on a ship out in Yokosuka , japan , right , you're on a ship out in Yokosuka , japan , right ? Like it all comes down to these shared common experiences , these shared values . It's just like everything that comes with being a part of a service academy , right , and I think that's what makes this game that's coming up next week . You know all the pomp and circumstance , all this , like jets flying over all the TV coverage , everything , blah , blah , blah . It's crazy , it's cool , it's fun , but , like what it comes down to , what makes it so special is like every person in that stadium who's getting ready to commission is going to be put in a place of trust and authority to like , make a positive people or a positive impact in people's lives .
Grant VermeerLike , what more do you want ? Like that's , I guess , so cool , right , and so you know I'm gonna . Calvin , if you want , we're going to start to wrap it up here . We're approaching the hour mark , so just start to wrap it up . But if there's anything else that you want to leave with the audience about your experience , about why a service academy , you know just general thoughts of everything related to this game and you know your experience in the Army , man , now's the time , let it wrap .
Kelvin WhiteYeah , grant , thanks again , man , I think you're spot on with the positive impact . One thing if I could just go back and talk to myself when I was 18 years old , sitting on that couch in high school , I didn't know how important it was to be a West Point graduate .
The Power of Service Academies
Kelvin WhiteGrateful enough for me , I was super grateful to have people around me that were like , hey , you don't understand what the impact of going to West Point is going to do for you . And I can say , after almost 14 years difference of like that conversation that I had , it is the most profound decision I've ever made in my life and it just like sticking it out . And , you know , going back to all those wow , like I don't want to be here anymore moments or like what did I get myself into ? I'm telling you that I got myself into the best trouble I could ever get into . And that is like sticking it out , growing the experiences that I've been able to like have the people I've met , the . You know , life is a contact sport and like you just have to see it through .
Kelvin WhiteAnd for anybody else who's out there , that's like you know , considering a service academy . I can tell you that you know there'll be some like internal bickering and there'll be , you know , some smack talk going back and forth , but I promise you , if you choose any of those service academies , it'll be the best decision that you ever made in your life . And if you have the opportunity to play sports there or just be a part of like sports teams , I'm telling you that it's it'll change your life forever , and I'm it's just . It's such a great experience and not to get away , to get away a little bit more , as we're sitting here talking about service academies and you have all this NIL nonsense going on with the NCAA . Like you're talking about service academies and you have all this NIL nonsense going on with the NCAA .
Kelvin WhiteLike , just know that service academies still build men and women . We're not here to , you know , get bought out and do all those things . Like those guys who raised their hand , those women who raised their hands to go to one of these service academies . They're here for all of us and they're here to get better and they're here to serve and they're here to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America . So yeah , grant , a blast dude I love I could talk about this forever . I just want to say thank you again for having me on your platform . Academy Insider is phenomenal . You know how I feel about you . I'm super grateful for being here and I can't wait to see all the things that you have in store for AI and go Army , be Navy .
Grant VermeerI love it . I appreciate it , man . Yeah , absolutely . You said something that I'm about to extend for just two seconds because I think it's important , so I'm sorry for the sign off . I'll let you throw that in there one more time before we end .
Grant VermeerBut , like you're saying about it , it quite literally being the best decision you ever made in your life , right , and you know , like , from a , from a , from a life trajectory standpoint , as a young , as a , as an 18 year old , right , like , of all these aspects , the service Academy education is so powerful for , and I think like three main reasons that we've kind of summed up in this episode , which is one , the power of the midshipman experience , of the power to the cadet experience . And like learning , adversity , learning , struggle , learning how to be a part of a team , like going through all these different aspects . Right , you have the power of being a junior officer . Right , and we talk about having these responsibilities , actually commanding something , commanding a unit , holding standards . Like being in charge of the performance , morale , welfare of all these people and having an ability to really make a positive impact in people's lives . Right , like there's nothing that will give you more purpose than knowing you are responsible for the welfare and like general morale of these young men and women who are part of your unit . Right , and the power of the service academy network , dude , right , like you were saying , the power of this network again , when you'd make a choice to go to West Point , to go to the Naval Academy , to go to Air Force .
Grant VermeerYou are not making a four-year decision , you are making a 40-plus year decision of a life that is going to be filled with purpose , mission , success , all these different things . You are foregoing the short-term comfort and fun of a normal college experience and you are choosing the long-term vision of like , fulfillment and purpose in your life . Right , and there's nothing better than that . And that happens whether you're in West Point , new York , whether you're in Annapolis , maryland . One thing we didn't get in this episode Annapolis , maryland is so much more dope than West Point , new York . That's a final plug right here for that , like hey , being in Annapolis is great West .
Grant VermeerPoint is cold , dark and gray , no one wants to go there , don't fall for the trap . But yeah , man , I just think it's special and I just like I really appreciate everything you said and for being here again . So , as you know , but it's always go , navy , it's always go . Navy beat Army man .
Kelvin WhiteI'm sorry , brother . I appreciate your time , man .
Grant VermeerYeah , absolutely All right To everyone listening . Thank you so much . If you have any questions , let me know . If you ever want to get connected to Kelvin , let me know as well . Otherwise , I hope you enjoyed listening . I hope you have a great day . Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Academy Insider Podcast . I really hope you liked it , enjoyed it and learned something during this time . If you did , please feel free to like and subscribe or leave a comment about the episode . We really appreciate to hear your feedback about everything and continue to make Academy Insider an amazing service that guides , serves and supports midshipmen , future midshipmen and their families . Thank you .
