More than 1,200 men and women reported to the United States Naval Academy as the Class of 2018 started their summer of indoctrination. The incoming plebes (freshman) go through the induction process where they have their hair trimmed, uniforms issued, medical exams and begin to learn the basics of being in the Navy. The last step is when the young men and women take part in the Oath of Office ceremony at the end of the day.
Under a relentless barrage of commands, most of them bellowed, some 1,200 members of the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 2017 ran the gauntlet of Induction Day. It is the start of plebe summer — seven weeks of training that bear no relation to any customary notion of summer.
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In a test of physical and mental strength, plebes challenged themselves during Sea Trials Tuesday in a daunting 14-hour obstacle course that marks the end of their first year at the Naval Academy. The training exercise is modeled after the Crucible by the Marine Corps and the Navy’s Battle Stations recruit program and includes a wide array of activities from shore defense to Spartan relay, paintball, land navigation, hill assault and water tactics, according to the Naval Academy.
Photos taken by Baltimore Sun photographer Kim Hairston.
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