How does an 8am pick-up sound? –Uncle Mike. Kinda early, the game doesn’t start till 3:30 –me. OK, 9 then. Lots for you to see there — Uncle Mike, ’77 grad of the US Naval Academy. You don’t even have to ask him if you meet him. He’ll tell you, with a big smile, as …
The Navy owns the water. That was our theory anyway, and 90 midshipmen at the Naval Academy didn’t prove us wrong. The colder the better, apparently, as several went so far as to challenge sub-zero wind chill temperatures with shorts on, pants not necessary. That makes for some good livin’ for such a hearty crew. They took all that we gave them: telephone poles for miles, back and forths over the oh shit bridge, 200 meters of bounding bear crawls…and continual uncertainty. By the end, each of the classes, 011, 012, 013, and 014 relished the shared experiences that outsiders could not quite comprehend. And because Beaux (Challenge Cadre) couldn’t let them have all the fun, he checked out the waters himself and reported back with big smiles that the Navy could keep their cold as hell waters all to themselves. And so as we left Annapolis, now friends with some of America’s best young leaders, shared smiles and shared shivers revealed our pride in proving our original theory right.
