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Photo courtesy of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation.
Hoover natives Jay Hoon Chang, pictured, and Meredith Louise Buchanan were recently sworn in as midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and as members of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
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Photo courtesy of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation.
Hoover natives Jay Hoon Chang and Meredith Louise Buchanan, shown being pinned by her sister Jessica Buchanan, were recently sworn in as midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and as members of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Jay Hoon Chang and Meredith Louise Buchanan, both of Hoover, were recently sworn in as midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and as members of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Chang was nominated by former Sen. Doug Jones and U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer to attend the academy in Kings Point, New York. Buchanan was nominated by former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and Georgia Reps. Jody Hice and Austin Scott.
Applicants had to meet rigorous academic and physical requirements to be accepted.
The Merchant Marine Academy is one of five federal service academies. Others include the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.
All Merchant Marine Academy graduates earn both a bachelor’s degree and a Merchant Marine Officer license and incur an obligation to serve the country as an active or reserve officer in the U.S. armed forces.
The U.S. Flag Merchant Marine’s purpose is to secure the country’s commerce in peacetime and deliver warfighters, weapons and military supplies in times of conflict. The majority of “Kings Pointers” will serve as Navy reservists in the Strategic Sealift Officer Program while working aboard U.S. flag vessels; others will serve on active duty in the armed forces.
As part of their four-year education, Chang and Buchanan will spend one year training as cadets aboard ocean going vessels. The Merchant Marine Academy is the only federal academy where students train on commercial vessels traveling around the globe.
For more information about the academy, visit usmma.edu.
Submitted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation.
