Saturday, May 15, 2010

Midrats - Episode 21: Naval Academy Special


As we are about to harvest another crop of Junior Officers for the Navy and Marine Corps from the United States Naval Academy - over at Midrats, co-host EagelOne an I are dedicating two shows to that essential institution.

For Part I last week in
Episode 20: Growing the Seed Corn, we focused on those who help educate out Midshipmen with three Naval Academy Professors: Associate Professor Virginia Lunsford, History Department; Professor Steve Frantzich, Political Science Department; and Professor Bruce Fleming, English Department.

This week in Part II,
Episode 21: Naval Academy Special, we are going to give voice to the end product. If you wonder why I don't worry about the future of the Navy, then listen in and find out why.

We will have two guests, one recent and one soon to be graduate from USNA to discuss what bought them to Annapolis, what they took away from Annapolis, and what they see as young leaders going forward.

Our first guest will be Midshipman Jeff Withington, USN (Class of '10) A future submariner from West Chester, PA, Jeff will be reporting in August to Nuclear Power School in Charleston, SC. At the Academy, he was an honors history major, with a focus on the ancient world and participated in activities from the philosophy club to intramural handball.

Our second guest will be Donnie Horner, ENS USN (Ret.) (Class of '08). Donnie was an Army brat of a career Army officer and West Point graduate, but decided to better his bloodline and head to the Navy. While at the Academy, he was a company commander, played four years of hockey, and one year of baseball. Graduating with a degree in Political Science, he service selected SWO, was the deck department's 2nd DIVO on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) before he was diagnosed with MS on Sept 11, 2009. He was medically retired from the Navy on April 30th of this year.

Presently, he is the executive aide, personal assistant to Mr. Alvin Brown, who is running for mayor of Jacksonville, FL. Donnie is looking to attend law school and run for office in the future.

The show will air live
Sunday, 16 MAY at 5pm EST. Catch it live if you can and join the usual suspects in the chat room during the show where you can offer your own questions and observations to our guests. If you miss the show or want to catch up on the shows you missed - you can always reach the archives at blogtalkradio - or set yourself to get the podcast on iTunes.

UPDATE: We now have our third guest - Midshipman Justin North (Class '10), USN. Born in Los Angeles California in 1984, graduated Arcadia High in 2003. Enlisted in the Marines and entered bootcamp in October 2003 earned rank of CPL in 2006 as an Aviation Ordnanceman. NAPS class 06. Majored in Political Science. Heading to Quantico after a TAD assignment at NAPS. Hopes to be an Infantry Officer.

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