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
#122 Naval Academy Commissioning Week 2026: Schedules, Tickets, Parking, And More
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Planning for Commissioning Week 2026 can feel overwhelming, but you don't have to navigate this milestone alone. In this comprehensive episode, I sit down with Lori Coogan, Director of Parent Programs at the Naval Academy Alumni Association, to break down everything you need to know for this monumental week in May.
As someone who's guided countless families through this experience, Lori brings invaluable insights from the recent Commissioning 101 event held at the Fluegel Alumni Center. We cover the essential details that will help you plan, prepare, and fully appreciate this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Essential Planning Information You'll Discover
- Complete schedule breakdown from May 15th through graduation day on May 22nd
- Parking strategies and driving restrictions on the Naval Academy grounds
- Ticketing process for graduation ceremony and superintendent's garden reception
- Blue Angels show logistics and traffic considerations
- Post-graduation planning for the ceremonial hat toss and first salute
Managing Expectations and Emotions
Commissioning Week represents the culmination of four years by the bay, and emotions run high for everyone involved. We discuss how to balance family time with your midshipman's desire to celebrate with classmates who will soon scatter across the globe. This perspective helps create realistic expectations while honoring the significance of lifelong friendships forged at the Academy.
Here is the Alumni Association expo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5wWsQvEESo
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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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What Commissioning 101 Covers
SPEAKER_00Welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast. Today's episode is an entire commissioning 101 event. There was a recent expo in person, the Flugel Alumni Center in Annapolis, all about commissioning week 2026 that was put on by the Alumni Association. And today I'm joined by Lori Coogan, who is the head of parent programs at the Alumni Association, to give a like a debrief and a recap of the event. We're going to talk about things from the actual schedule event to logistics to parking to IDs to the day of commissioning to the Blue Angels, all information that you would need for commissioning week to start your planning, you can find here. So make sure to take a listen. We're also going to put a link to the event that was hosted in Annapolis as well. So you can hear TJ Grady talk about it at even more depth about information and how to plan, prepare, and what considerations you need to be putting into your thought process in preparation for this May in Annapolis. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Make sure to take a listen. I look forward to it. Let me know if you have any questions and have a great day. All right, everyone, and welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast. Lori, thank you so much for taking the time to join
Meet Lori And Parent Programs
SPEAKER_00us today. I'm really excited about this opportunity to get the word out about Commissioning Week and talk all about it from the perspective, especially of the Alumni Association and what information they push out to midshipmen families. But before we do that, if you don't mind, just giving a quick introduction about you, your relation to the Naval Academy, what you do at the Alumni Association, especially in support of parents and parent programs in Annapolis.
SPEAKER_01Yep, you bet. So I'm Lori Coogan, and my title here is the Director of Parent Programs. And fun fact, today is my exact to the day fifth year anniversary here. Oh congratulations. So I've been doing this role, I've been in this role for five years. So I I kind of I've been working with parents, and my my primary goal essentially is to basically all the current parents of the of, I mean the parent of current midshipmen is I'm their support center, their connection, their communication center. And I make sure that I provide that service to them, whether it's through parent events that we have or through our network of our Naval Academy parent clubs across the country. My husband is a grad, he graduated in 95. We've been sponsored parents for years, starting in gosh, 2007 was our first. That's a long time. That's a lot of mids to sponsor. I know. And our kids don't live at home anymore. And it's like, oh, we were like doing we shouldn't really want to come over. It's so quiet and boring at our house, but they still do, they still come.
SPEAKER_00Quiet and boring is good, as it turns out, after a week in Bancroft Hall. Yeah. I'll take quiet and bored all the time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So it's it's I I have a really strong connection. And and my my kids, although they didn't go to the Naval Academy, it was a very important part of their life, you know, whether it was through sports, they did, you know, youth sports at the Naval Academy. They obviously had midshipmen brothers and sisters, and and obviously their dad being a grad, we went we went to church at the Naval Academy, our family did. So I kind of know the ins and outs. I feel like I'm I'm after five years, I have a pretty good uh working knowledge of any questions that a parent might want to throw my way as far as helping them navigate this whole experience from I Day to Commissioning Week.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and we'll, I'm sure we'll we'll be back at some point talking I Day. But today, what you're saying is all about commissioning week. And again, it was one of these things that recently the Alumni Association hosted at the Fugal Center in Annapolis at the Alumni Association, a commissioning 101 event in person, breaking down. Again, we will also link everything in our descriptions in the notes as we publish this episode for that actual video where you can listen to TJ Grady actually give this presentation. But we wanted to follow up on the discussion that was hosted in Annapolis, kind of breaking down commissioning week and making it very understandable, digestible, and just kind of all the information put into that. And again, that can be tough for everyone to make to get out to Annapolis in February. Not everyone has the ability to do it. So we're gonna take the opportunity today to talk about it as here as well. But with that, is what is the alumni say excuse me, the alumni association's goal with this commissioning 101 event? And like why, like, why go through the trouble of of taking the time, effort, and and just like overall presence of a of a day in Annapolis to go over commissioning week events?
SPEAKER_01Good question. It's you know, commissioning week is there's a lot going on. And you know, you there's so much going on, and there's so much emotions involved in this whole week and all the events and everything that their mid their midshipments going through. It's just you kind of want to have some sort of direction. You know, like the first time you go to Disney World, you're never just gonna show up in Disney World and be like, where do I go? Like you're probably gonna go online and try to figure out like what how long, you know, where do I get my fast pass and what why should I do or must do? And you know, those kind of details. So that's what commissioning 101 is essentially for parents. It's just kind of a framework of like, these are the events that goes on, this is what to expect. You you're not gonna be able to do everything, but we're just gonna give you a little bit of snip of what what each thing is and and whether or not that's something that you and your family want to participate in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And speaking about fast passes, uh I'm all I'm all about that idea. All about the analogy is perfect to me. Because, like you're saying, if you're not, if you're not planning your Disneyland or Disney World trip and knowing exactly what your schedule of events is gonna be and what you're fast passing and what you're waiting in line for, then we're messing up. We're not doing it. Totally.
SPEAKER_01Totally. It's not gonna be the same experience, right?
SPEAKER_00But so along that, again, talking about really the schedule of events is where we're gonna start
Why Commissioning Week Needs A Plan
SPEAKER_00off. Commissioning this year is slated for the 22nd of May, with festivities really starting. Festivities, I love that word, but with the the celebrations of commissioning week starting on the 15th. Can you provide a little breakdown that what will happen during that week between the 15th to the 22nd? What are we generally looking at for kind of major events on the yard and throughout Annapolis?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I would say every starting on that Friday before, that's when they have the Jewish baccalaureate service. So that kind of kicks off Commissioning Week. And then on Sunday they'll have the Protestant and the Catholic baccalaureate service. And then Sunday through Tuesday during that week is the Soup's Garden reception, which I just from my personal experience, and this is my only my opinion, I feel like if there's anything that you're gonna want to go do, I think that was pretty other than graduation, obviously that was pretty spectacular. It's a must-go. It's a must-go. It's worth like it's an hour, hour and a half, and hopefully the weather weather is typically pretty good, but if the weather's great, it's just a beautiful, beautiful reception. And you get to, you know, parade around the, you know, walk around the gardens, and the food is amazing, and they have all kinds of different stations and entertainment, and it's just it's really great for photos. So that's happens between Sunday and Tuesday. Monday, what do they have on Monday? Oh, Monday is like various award ceremonies. So we in the presentation, you'll hear TJ say, like, ask your mid if they're getting an award because sometimes they're just so overwhelmed and so busy, and then they're like, Oh, wait, I have to go to that thing. And then you, you and your family didn't plan for it.
SPEAKER_00So that's I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in there really quick because that was me. Uh my parents had no idea. I received again, really cool opportunity. I received one of the distinguished midshipment graduate awards, one of 25 midshipmen of the graduating classes 2017 to like get that award. My parents had no idea. They didn't show up to the event. I have a picture with with the old Ted Carter on the stage shaking his hand and getting this plaque. And they're my parents are nowhere to be found. They're not here, and that is 100% my fault because I was like, I again, so much going on. I didn't even think to begin to tell them. I was like, I just know on my schedule I have like a mandatory like event that I have to be at, and I'm gonna show up there, and like that's that.
SPEAKER_01So parents are gonna be very disappointed if the you you don't tell them that. Tuesday, they have the the Marine Corps silent drill team, Aith and I, they do uh you know presentation that's amazing. The Blue Angels rehearse on Tuesday, and they usually do some morning stuff where they're you know doing their checkpoints, and and then in the afternoon they essentially do the their show. It's just their rehearsal of the show. So if you want to, if Wednesday seems very overwhelming, you got going on, you can you can watch it Tuesday and skip Wednesday, or or you know, if Tuesday you have stuff going on and you want to you have a party you have to go to and you miss it, you can go, you know, Wednesday, it's the same exact show. And then yeah, so Wednesday they have that. Blue Angels, they have grad rehearsal, very important. If your machine does not go to grad rehearsal, they're probably not gonna grab get their diploma that on Friday. And then in the evening they have the grad ball, which is in Dahlgren and another family favorite. I will tell you, my my husband graduated. I was I went to his commissioning week. I we were dating at the time, and his he had the grad ball, and his parents are like, Are we gonna go? We were all are we gonna go? And I brought a dress and everything, and he was like, I'm not getting back in my uniform and going back to you know, the to see, you know, in a crowd of people, like he just wanted to relax. And now looking back, I'm like, oh man, I really wish we went to that. So it's a family favorite.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there are certain things, there's certain things, much to your point. Again, I'm gonna break in just like this. Now, this one is just random grant opinion. You're getting real information from Laurie. This is random grant opinion. There are a lot of things during commissioning week that are like for the midshipman or for the graduate, right? Like it's their week, it's all these things. There are certain things that are for you as like the family, right? And and the grab ball is one of them. Like, what an incredible opportunity to like get to celebrate, get to dress up, get to have these pictures, do all this stuff. Again, if that's not your scene, no issues. But don't be afraid. Much to your point, Lori, like, in my opinion, that soups garden party is such a must-go. Like, it's so fun. If you guys don't know the superintendent's house on the Naval Academy,
Key Events And Must‑Attend Moments
SPEAKER_00you've probably walked past it. You may realize that it's like the superintendent's house. It's really beautiful. It's by the, you know, the chapel. In the backyard, it is a massive backyard. If you have no idea, like if you've never seen it, there is a massive backyard. And it's quite literally, again, they call it a garden party because there's a massive garden back there, big fountain in the middle, drinks uh station set up all around. You get a, again, schmooze and have conversation with all of the important figures that have been a part of your son or daughter's journey at the Naval Academy, from battalion officers to company officers to the superintendent, the commandant, so many people who have been a part of that journey will be there for you to have the opportunity to shake their hand, look them in the eye, have a quick conversation, and just put some faces to stories of faces to characters of stories that you've heard over time. Right. And so an incredible opportunity here. Again, we're going over a lot of information, doubling down. Do not miss that grad rehearsal. If there's one place as a parent to be involved in that week, is make sure your son or daughter does not miss that rehearsal, because that will blow up your entire event really quickly. Yeah. But sorry for the interjection there. I just wanted to add like double down on those for parents listening. Like to me, those are like the must-goes while you're there.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And then Thursday's color parade, and and then Friday we they go on to graduation. So it's a lot. And then you you you combine that with everything else that you have going on in that your family's doing in Annapolis. You know, you want to go out to dinner, you want to go to your friends' graduation parties, you you know, there's just so much going on and so many events, and it's really just a matter of planning, knowing ahead of time what's going on and making a plan to the best of your ability. You can't, it's not always going to go perfectly to plan, but it's definitely that's why that's why we do it. We just want to ease parents' minds when they're going into this and kind of know what to expect.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Now, with that, as we're talking about, a million things going on, so many different events, places to be. And and there's a million and a half people in Annapolis that weekend, which makes logistics very difficult. And so, one of the things that I wanted to, again, get your conversation and opinion on, again, for the logistics of the week, is especially around parking and driving on the yard. As parents are kind of planning where they're gonna be, where they're gonna go, and how to get there, and planning time and distance associated with these things. One of the main topics is parking and driving on the yard. So I'm gonna kind of turn it over to you to kind of guide them on this initial discussion where they can go find more information and like information again, parking, driving on the yard.
SPEAKER_01Yep. So it this is kind of a big topic because the Naval Academy will not allow anyone, unless you have a military day, you cannot drive on to the yard. So if you have a military ID, you can park on the yard, you can drive on and you can park. But it's first come, first serve. And I would say on any normal weekday, it's impossible to find parking at the Naval Academy, let alone, you know, commissioning week. So I advise everyone, you know, go and the parking is at the stadium. They will charge, it's it's $10, and then there's a service fee. So it ends up being $11 a day. But the shuttles run nonstop to and from the yard. They're air conditioning, it's nice. You don't have to be driving around the yard a gazillion times trying to find that one spot. And so they they will that's my that's how what I advise is just avoid driving on the yard. Now they will open the gates back up for D bids uh after six o'clock because they're aware that there's been shipmen that are moving out, and some of the young, you know, underclassmen have to get their stuff out of bankrupt so their sponsors drive on and whatnot. So, but from the hours of 8 a.m. and thing until 6 p.m., there will be no nobody on the yard even with the D bids. Yeah. That's important. Important. And then you can access the yard through the visitor gate if you say you park downtown or you have a house that's a walking distance to the academy, you can go in through gate one at the visitor's gate, and it has to be a real ID. So if this is a kind of a really important uh tidbit, if you do not have if you're not a US citizen or if someone in your family is not a US citizen or you have a guest, they the midshipmen will have to fill out a form and they get it in their portal that comes from the Commandant's office, and they'll have to fill out a form to grant to get permission for that non-US citizen to come to the yard. Once they're approved, they'll have they'll have a list and they can come in, but they will have to have their passport on them. Okay. They can't just say I'm on the list and then they don't have to worry about having ID. They have to have their passport with them. But if parents, if you're listening to this, make sure you get with your midshipmen to fill out that form. It's not available for parents to fill out online, it's a midshipman request only.
SPEAKER_00There we go. Perfect. Thank you. Again, I'm sure lots of families fall into that category of bringing someone in. Again, you don't want to go through the effort and cost of bringing someone internationally to attend this event and not have everything taken care of. But again, it is possible, just gonna require a little bit of coordination and effort between you and your midshipmen to really make that happen. Uh now, along those lines, again, especially people flying in and we're trying to coordinate, make sure everyone's gonna have an opportunity to be together, see the event, I want to talk about tickets. And we're gonna start ticketing again, because there's a lot of uh tickets to to go for, but we're gonna start with tickets for the for the actual commissioning event. And so if you don't mind just kind of giving a rundown of like the general ticketing idea, and then we can kind of have some conversation break-offs of some FAQs uh about tickets in general.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So there's there's only gonna be tickets that are distributed for two events. It's a Soup's garden party, which is every midshipman will get four, and that doesn't include the midshipmen. So there'll be five total. And then the other one is graduation. So the way it works with graduation is the midshipmen will have there'll be a period of time, they'll get an email to say, put in your request for your tickets, and they are allowed up to six tickets in their company area. So they'll put in that request, they'll say request received, and they'll give them a date that they have to go down somewhere in Bancroft and pick up their six tickets. If they need more than that, the way they're doing it this year, the midshipmen used to just get there, they call them uh general seating area. So it's not in the company area. So the midshipmen used to be able to go to some that same room and say, I need an additional eight tickets for the general seating. This year, what they're doing is they're gonna have parents, and I think it's open currently, you can put your request in now. Parents can go to the Naval Academy portal, which is usna.connectesp.com. Or you can just do a Google search for United States Naval Academy parent portal.
SPEAKER_00Perfect.
SPEAKER_01And you you have to register with them, you have to establish a password and a username if you already haven't. And then there's a section you can go in and it says request tickets, general seating area, and you can put your request in through that. So midshipment will receive six in the in the company area. All any additional ones will be through the portal.
SPEAKER_00Yep. What if we, if I'm a family planning and I have young children, do the young children need a ticket or kind of what's the cutoff between, you know, being able to needing tickets for children versus like being able to plop someone on your lap?
SPEAKER_01So if the if there's someone that's gonna sit on your lap, they don't they won't require a ticket. Okay. It's just if you're gonna have a seat. Perfect. And you know, tickets, I obviously you you're you're familiar with this. I mean, it's never a problem. Sure. There's never there's always gonna be enough seats. It's just a matter if you want to be in your company area or not. Now, I can say I know I remember for my husband's graduation, there was, I think, like eight or nine of us, and we all wanted to be together. So what we did is we just ended up sitting in the general seating area, which is just it's just one row over from where the company area is. Yeah. So that gave us that enabled us to all be together. So that it's it's an option.
SPEAKER_00Perfect. I know again, parents probably have a million questions about it though. They're like, oh, well, I have a group of eight, and I don't want two people sitting in the general section and you know, the other six of us in the company area. Is there any way to maneuver that? And want to kind of open it up for like potential ways that again, really the midshipman can can work to kind of figure that out.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah. So I mean, in in the case like with my husband, for example, you know, he had six tickets in his company area that he didn't need
Tickets For Supe’s Garden And Graduation
SPEAKER_01anymore because we were all gonna sit in general mission. So you can make those, you can do the that trade with your company mates, just make sure you just ask around.
SPEAKER_00Uh exactly like you're saying. There's gonna be families who they're only using two tickets, they're using four tickets, or they're figuring it out and they're not gonna have six. So, like, again, just encourage if it comes up for your midshipmen to just kind of ask around the company and see if there are additional like tickets for the company area. And like Lori's saying, this stuff always works out. It again, the the stadium's huge. It it will again, you you will get in to watch. Again, it's just about potential coordination to make sure that you're sitting together if you want. And that can be handled by the midshipman uh internally if you need extra seats in the company area. You know, one thing that I kind of want to talk about about like why a company area is a thing on graduation. And uh I feel like I may be throwing you in loop because I don't think I actually put this on the outline, so I really apologize. But it's about it's about seating in the procession of the midshipman during like graduation day, and then why associated company area seating would quote unquote matter, right? If you don't mind just kind of running down how the procession would would work in a very high level.
SPEAKER_01You know, I it's funny as far as like the details of like the procession, typically the company area is you know, it's gonna go from lowest company to higher company, and that's generally how they're seated when they're in their their third graduation, unless you're in the top 10%.
SPEAKER_00Correct. So yeah, you'll be broken up in the top 10%. The top 10%, if you got a smarty pants, just talk to them because it's gonna be a whole different situation. We're gonna we're gonna address the top, we're gonna address the 90%. We're gonna address the majority here. Top 10%, your Smarty pants, you're going in order of merit. Like number one order of merit will process first, and there is a process for that. For the remaining 90% of you, you're gonna be split up between like odd and even companies on the left and right side. And then from there, it'd be like, you know, company one and company two, then company three, then company four, so on and so forth. And they'll process off the stage in different directions. Now, if you're wondering what those directions are, it's on an audio podcast that's gonna be hard to explain. We are going to put the link to the Alumni Association presentation that TJ Grady gave with the slideshow, with the presentation, with the slides that you can see everything and how it would work. But that's again just to provide perspective into why the company, quote unquote company seating would matter is it's meant for you to sit on the side where your midshipmen will be processing off of. So you can see them walk off the stage, shake the hand, wave to everyone in the stands. It's one of my favorite pictures of all time. I got like my diploma in hand, and I'm pointing up to my parents like in the stands, and everyone's cheering and going crazy and waving at me, right? And so just again, just a little perspective into like why that would matter. But again, like Lori's saying, the general seating area is also great. Just wanted to provide a little bit of background into that stuff that is going on. All right. So we kind of went through logistics of the week, parking, driving on the yard, the idea of IDs. Can you really re-need a real ID or a passport? And especially for your international folks, non-U.S. citizen family members potentially coming in. We talked about tickets. We talked about general admission tickets, company area seating, conversation to be had there. Lori mentioned you may be required or asked for assistance in moving all of their, pardon my French, but their crap out of Bancroft Hall and trying to get out there, not just for the first East, but also for the underclassminshipment. To move out of Bancroft Hall, get ready for summer training. It is madness. And so, again, coordination around all that that is going on is very helpful. We talked about the soups reception, which I love. Again, four tickets, right? Have a conversation of who really is going to really appreciate that event, right? Again, here, no advice for you besides knowing you have four tickets and me just continuing to articulate. It's a really special event that, like, it's it's nice, right? Again, hour and a half. You're gonna get to take a picture and shake the hand with the superintendent and your midshipmen. You're gonna interact with a lot of the senior officers and senior staff on the yard that have been a part of the midshipman's life. So just have fun with it, right? Like really enjoy that opportunity and make a point to attend that. And so, you know, we talked about, again, there's so many different factors for this, from, you know, graduation day and potentially a ball to a nice dinner at the superintendent's house and at this garden party to walking around in what's gonna be probably blistering heat in Annapolis and going to the Blue Angels and having a lot of stuff going on. So, how do how do parents even begin to plan for this from like the perspective of emotional side to long days to what to wear and how to pack? Where does conversation start? And and in your opinion, how do you even go about starting to begin that process? All right, we're taking a quick break from the episode because I want to tell you about what I actually do for my day job. Because at the end of the day, it's what allows me to continue making new Academy Insider episodes and producing this entirely free resource for our greater community. I love to joke, you know, I have my sugar mama, okay? I have my wife who's still on active duty making that stable paycheck. But as it turns out, I would love to also continue contributing towards our household income. And I do that via residential real estate. Ever since getting out of the service, I have been in the real estate world and I've built a residential real estate consultation and referral business that serves Service Academy families nationwide. Again, it's my goal to be your guide, mentor, connector, and overall consultant through the entire process. And so if you are listening to Academy Insider, I would love to also have the opportunity to help you in this world. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home moving forward, I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you, help with you, consult you, and then connect you to a great real estate team anywhere in the country. I've helped multiple midshipmen families buy a second residence in the Annapolis area or even buy or sell their homes across the nation. I've helped graduates in the fleet buy, sell, and navigate their PCS, and I'd love the opportunity to do so. I've had people ask me how they can support me in the Academy Insider effort. And honestly, by supporting my actual job and my business would be the greatest way. So if you do anyone who's considering buying or selling a home in 2026, I'd love if you reached out or put us in touch. Means the world to me. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy the rest of the episode. Have a good day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the the reality is that you're just gonna have to communicate with your midshipmen and really be prepared with a lot of flexibility. Yep. You know, like I said, sometimes some it's hot, it can be very hot, it's there's a lot going on. And like I said, like we I mentioned earlier, you know, they're gonna want to go see their company mates, they're gonna go see their classmates. And this is, you know, they're looking, they're like these, they're gonna go, some are going to flight school, some are going to subschool. They're not gonna see them for a long time. So it's very emotional for them because they want to have these last moments, these fun times. This is their opportunity to have fun with these, with this group of people that they've been with for four years. So it's it's a managing like what they want and and giving them that flexibility, but also obviously your family's here and people you know make a long trip to come and spend a lot of money to rent places and and to be part of this experience. So it's really just a matter of communicating and having that flexibility.
SPEAKER_00100%. I this is a massive topic. I appreciate you bringing it up is this idea of managing expectations. This is a big week for everybody. And to your point, again, it in reflection of my time there,
Parking, IDs, And Yard Access
SPEAKER_00there's so many grad parties, there's so many friends. Again, as as silly as it sounds, you know, I've been obviously been brainwashed and love the Naval Academy with every ounce of my being. Uh, you know, in our alma mater, it literally talks about spending four years by the bay, right, where the seven meets the tide. Like you spend four years together, and then right after graduation, you're scattered far and wide. And these people who are your closest friends in the entire world that you have just gone through this past four-year experience with, which is extremely difficult, you are going to quite literally be spread far and wide. And there are people who I was extremely close with at the Naval Academy that I did not see for six plus years after graduation until we had like come back and finally were in the same place. Some of my best friends in the world went straight to Japan when I went to Maryland. And I'm deploying on my submarine, they're deploying on their ships, other friends in Jacksonville deploying to the Europe area and flying multiple years without seeing people who are you are most close with in the entire world. And I know as a parent, it can be tough, and as a family member, it can be tough because you like you want to celebrate with them, you want to be with them, you want to have all of those moments with them of this very special week. Proactive communication and empathy and understanding between all parties. To include, there are certain times where you get to say, like, hey, we need you, like this is a family event. But also, I need, again, everyone to understand that there is a lot of going on, and midshipmen are gonna have competing priorities as well of where their presence needs to be. So just take that, treat that with the respect and sensitivity that it deserves. That like everybody involved in this week is gonna have personal feelings and want to spend this time and want to spend special moments. So just do a good job proactively communicating and trying to figure out where things need to be and having clear expectations of where presence uh is gonna be during that week because there's a lot going on and there are a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And one thing that we didn't we didn't talk about yet was, but but it kind of ties into like managing the expectation is if it if it turns out that it's raining on graduation day, they will have an indoor graduation in alumni hall. And the midshipmen will only get four tickets. So that's something that you probably want to plan a little bit ahead of time. Like, who are those four that are gonna have those tickets? You know, I think I think in I look back and then my husband's graduation, you know, his grandparents were there and his parents and his sisters, and so you know, and I was just the girlfriend, and I would have loved to go, but you know, the reality is is like you gotta figure out ahead of time who who those four will be. Now, as TJ pointed out in the presentation, it hasn't rained in the graduation since 1987. So we're not gonna worry.
SPEAKER_00We're not gonna worry the Annapolis weather.
SPEAKER_01Um they will do everything in their power to get that graduation outside.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, 100%. All right. Well, so we kind of talked about that. The blue angels. I know we I know we touched on it briefly, but I figure this is a a a good conversation just to kind of go a little bit more in depth about because it affects Annapolis. There's gonna be road closures, there's gonna be bridge closures, there's gonna be different things. We talk about, you know, potentially watching the actual, the quote unquote actual show versus the rehearsal. And would love for you just kind of talk about this what people should at least be considering when it comes to planning for the Blue Angels and how it's going to impact Annapolis on both days.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's really impactful to Annapolis. So they will have road closures and they will close the Naval Academy Bridge during those practice sessions and obviously during the show. And when they close the bridge, you can't, there's no getting across at all, unless you want you could go around to this the uh 50 uh Severn River Bridge and then you know work your way around. But that there's going to be bottlenecks of traffic everywhere you go. So my recommendation is that you get to wherever you want to watch that the Blue Angels, whatever day you choose to go, whatever time plan on getting there. I I you know I've been living in Annapolis for almost 20 years and I've done Blue Angels every year since they've been, you know, every year they come they've been here. And I always make sure I'm on the other side of the Naval Academy Bridge by at least like 11 o'clock in the morning. Yeah. That that you know, it's just you're safe, you're over there, you don't have to worry about anybody closing traffic down. You know, it's just it's safer that way. So one I can make a recommendation is like just go plan on having like an early lunch, maybe downtown or going to the Naval Academy Club, and then you can work your way into like where you want to watch the show. There's a lot of great places to watch it. Ingram Field is like kind of like center spot, but I've always gone to Hospital Point. Hospital Point's great. There's certain there's gonna be certain road closures on the Naval Academy, so just mind that there'll be signage everywhere. Just be just I would say get your car parked by 11 o'clock that day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then and then you can work around it. You if your midshipman is with you, he can, he or she can get you on the yard. Yep, but then you have to find parking, and that's uh that'll be the challenge.
SPEAKER_00And that'll be the challenge, right? I I think it's quite literally on the presentation, and I and I tend to agree with it. It like parking is gonna be such a premium, right? I plan early, go go like park at the stadium, take the bus down or walk if you want. And then again, my personal preference uh this is not sponsored in any way, shape, or form. I again, I've been such a fanatic of the big cheese for so long. I had a million and a half of those different sandwiches. Here's my recommendations go park at the stadium, take the bus down, go get your sandwich from the big cheese nice and early, go get Grant's three-pointer shout out on the menu. Uh, when you order a sandwich enough times over the course of seven years, you get on the menu, which I love. So go get Grant's three-pointer and uh and then and then you can like be relaxed, go go find your spot, try and find some shade to watch the show and claim your spot early and just just know that it's gonna be like a full-day event. But it's really cool, right? But if you're trying to force it and like be max efficiency on time, like you you're gonna probably put yourself in a spot where you end up being way more stressed than anything.
SPEAKER_01So and here's a little pro tip too about that. Yep getting off the yard after the show, it is it will take forever. It will take. So if you are planning to go to the grad ball that night and you want to go to the grad ball early, or if you have dinner plans, put keep that in mind. So that's why the I like Grant said, if using the buses is probably the better option because at least it gets you away from the yard and you can get your car, and then the traffic it'll be still be bad, but it won't be as bad. I mean, I've I've driven off the yard and I think I've sat by the time I got to from hospital point to gate eight, it was probably an hour and a half. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And for anyone who's not aware, that amount of distance that takes about an hour and a half is about a tenth of a mile from hospital point to gate eight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just
Seating Strategy And Procession Basics
SPEAKER_00for perspective there. Yeah. So, okay. Yeah. So Blue Angels really important on the on the plan there. And it was we were talking about ticketing in the sections. We talk a little bit about uh the schedule and processions. Again, day of commissioning, it's an early day. It's an early day. Again, your machine are gonna have to be showing up again. I think it's a 0700 must or like 7 a.m. They're gonna be there. Again, physically there, which means really they're getting there like 645, which then means they need to be up, showered, shaved, ready, presentable, ready to go, you know, at that point. So early morning on commissioning day for them. But most important for you, as you're kind of planning out the week, in my opinion, is having a plan for after. What happens after they toss their hat in the air, right? Because it's going to become a madhouse. It is going to be chaos. There's going to be kids sprinting through trying to pick up the covers with dollar bills in them. There's going to be families trying to claim their spots, trying to get pictures. There's a thing known as the first salute that happens after that point in kind of the presentation of your brand new officer shoulder boards if you're going to be an officer in the Navy, or your second lieutenant bars if you're going to be a Marine officer. And so there is a lot going on. In my opinion, and Lori, feel free to back me up and/or provide a counterpoint. Go spend a little bit of time earlier in the week and just pick out a spot that you guys are going to meet at. It's almost like I Day. If you remember back to your I Day of like when you have 30 minutes after the oath ceremony and before you process back in, you go find your spot somewhere on stribbling so you know where to meet for maximized efficiency. Go find your spot. Go find your spot and know. Pat pass it over to you if you have any thoughts on that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would definitely avoid anything on near the 50-yard line. It is chaos. Like everyone, they're just and it's hot and everyone's trying to find each other. And then you get there and you see each other and you're just all squished together and you can't take pictures. And so definitely designate something after, you know, even if you go to like the far corners of the field, that's fine. It's gonna be there's gonna be more space. But if you try to just get on that field where that's where they all, they're all they're hugging each other, they're you know, they're saying their goodbyes to their friends and that you know family's coming, it's just chaos. So I would avoid anything in the center of the field. There's you know, some people like to be down on the field and take the pictures there. You know, you can actually go up to like the top deck, actually. No one's there, no one is there, it's quiet. And if you wanted my my my husband's father did his first salute up there and it was quiet and was private, and we were at the family. And um, so there's places that you can go that are gonna be a little more intimate if that's what you're looking for. But definitely avoid, and for some reason, every time I've been to graduation, no matter what, even though we provide this information, everyone just kind of rushes right to that middle of that field.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's a lot. Class, it it is it's a lot, and again, having space, like you're saying, to really uh settle in that moment and be able to take pictures. The first loot in the presentation of the shoulder boards is very cool. Again, I had pictures, uh old Ed Pilcher. Old Ed Pilcher was the guy who kind of gave me my shoulder boards, which was incredible, and put them on me. And again, the pictures that I have from that day of him clipping the shoulder boards on me and giving him a big hug, like those are pictures that will like live with me for the remainder of time, right? Like they are they are really special moments. And so I encourage you just to like have a plan because you have an ability to potentially capture a really, really special moment. So just taking a little bit of time to proactively plan that out and make sure that it goes smoothly could be really great. Could be really great. So all right. Well, obviously a ton of information kind of going through again for for everyone who's listening. I hope this provided you know a good amount of information, helping plan. If you want an even further, like deep dive, deep dive, again, I'm just gonna encourage you. We'll put a link in the description here for everything. Go watch the presentation that was given at the in-person event by TG Grady. Again, it'll have additional and continued information and further deep dives and some FAQs that have been answered. But before we wrap up here, Lori, do you have anything else, final thoughts or suggestions, conversation pieces for parents that may be listening as they're planning for Commissioning Week 2026?
SPEAKER_01You know, the the bottom line is it's it's just it's such a great week. It really is. I mean, I I I lived it 30 years ago with my husband and and I've had midshipmen that we sponsored and we relived it again. And it just, it's just such a fun, memorable week that you truly, it's gonna be one of those things that you'll remember for the rest of your life, no matter where if you're you're the sibling, if you're the parent, if you're the grandparent, you'll always remember it and you'll always have really fond memories of it. So just go into it with that kind of excitement, go in with that flexibility, have those communications, have those conversations ahead of time, just so you know, you can uh work around all your guests and everything that you want to accomplish. But but just enjoy it. You're gonna come home on that Saturday or Sunday and you're just gonna be relive in the memory, and you're it's gonna be it's gonna be great. So it's just one of those things that I'm like it it's hard to explain to somebody unless you've both gone through it, right? Like I there's no other school that I can think of, no other event in your life where you have like a week dedicated to this milestone of graduating from the Service Academy. So enjoy every single second.
SPEAKER_00Enjoy every single second. Yeah, not to be obnoxious or brag, but like my sister
Blue Angels Timing And Traffic
SPEAKER_00graduated from an elite institution. She graduated from Yale. It was so cool. We went to her graduation. It was like 45 minutes. You know what I mean? Like they kind of like separated schools and houses and they went and they had their their ceremony, and we all kind of like gave a hug and then we had dinner, and it was like, congratulations. Like, this is awesome.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00The Service Academy's commissioning weeks are like nothing else. And it's truly special. And so, again, if you have an opportunity to get out there, you know, amazing. And and again, I would say my my final piece, this is such a fun week. Social media is a very big thing nowadays. It's my my Lenten promise. I'm actually off social media right now. As a consumer, I still have to post. That's my job, as it turns out. So I still have to like post stuff. But I've been scrolling less, which has been great for my life. You are gonna see uh, again, of the a thousand and fifty-ish families that are gonna be part of Commissioning Week, everyone's gonna do it a little bit differently. And everyone's gonna do it at a different level, and the houses are gonna be different, and the costs associated with their weeks are gonna be different. My number one, just like thought and final piece of advice for you is do not live this week in comparison. Live this week as a week to just truly be present and celebrate your son or your daughter or the young man or woman in your life who is graduating from the Service Academy and the accomplishments they put over the past four years. It is gonna be super special and super fun, no matter how you do this week. Just enjoy it, soak it in, appreciate it, love it, and just like know that this is a really special week and have fun. And if you do that, I think you're gonna have a great time. And uh yeah, Lori, thank you so much for taking the time today to jump on and explain all this. And we look forward to future episodes. Again, if any incoming plea parent is already listening because they're just craving information, we will have an episode all about I day planning and preparation for you coming up as well from the Alumni Association. So stand by for that. We appreciate you. And again, yeah, thanks for taking the time to do this today. Thank you. Thank you so much. Of course. Good to see you to everyone listening. I hope you have a great day. I hope this is helpful. Again, we'll put more resources in all the descriptions for the Alumni Association resources that they put out. And we look forward to seeing you next week in the next episode. Have a great day. Thanks. 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.
