For the primary time, a Navy SEAL will lead the U.S. Naval Academy as its commandant of midshipmen.
Capt. Walter H. Allman III, a profession naval particular warfare officer, took the reins as second-in-command on the army establishment Wednesday. He returns to Annapolis from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, the place he served as director of Concentrating on and the Fires and Results Middle for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Allman assumes the function from Col. James “J.P.” McDonough III, who held the place for the final three years. The outgoing commandant will retire after 30 years within the Marine Corps.
Although he graduated from the academy in 1997, Allman, a father of 4, has saved an in depth eye on Annapolis. His son Stanton is getting into his second 12 months on the academy. Seeing McDonough’s take care of the longer term officers was inspirational, Allman stated.
“Simply from watching you from the surface as a father, I knew the academy was in good condition,” he stated to McDonough throughout a change of management ceremony held on the T-Court docket exterior Bancroft Corridor. “It was apparent watching Stan undergo this and watching him develop this 12 months, lengthy earlier than the thought of us coming right here was an possibility, so a very neat testomony to what you guys are doing.”
The commandant of midshipmen is liable for day-to-day conduct, army coaching {and professional} improvement of greater than 4,400 midshipmen on the academy. The function is just like a dean of scholars at a college.
“You have been the fitting man on the proper time to be a steadying chief popping out of COVID … simply a whole lot of dynamic occasions,” he stated of his predecessor. “You’re all in, on a regular basis, each day.”
Although McDonough didn’t face the identical pandemic challenges as prior commandant Rear Adm. Thomas R. Buchanan, he was tasked with bringing normalcy again to the academy grounds and having troublesome conversations about sexual assault and alcohol use with the brigade.
McDonough urged Allman and his household to organize for an “superior” expertise.
“It’s superior — like wow, what a accountability, and it’s,” he stated. “It’s an incredible accountability, however embrace it each day. You’ll pour your coronary heart into it but it surely’s so price it. You’ll have an influence on the way forward for our naval providers.”
Naval Academy Change of Management Ceremony | PHOTOS
Allman’s earlier assignments embody SEAL groups 1 and three and SEAL Supply Automobile Workforce 1. He additionally was a part of the Naval Particular Warfare Growth Group, the place he accomplished a number of fight deployments and contingency operations in help of Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Allman earned a grasp’s diploma in protection evaluation from the Naval Postgraduate College. He later researched ideas for the Navy’s way forward for undersea warfare operations and was a naval particular warfare officer detailer in Tennessee.
He’s a recipient of quite a few army awards, together with the Silver Star, the Legion of Advantage, Bronze Star with Fight ‘V’ and the Protection Meritorious Service Medal.
Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids welcomed Allman because the academy’s first Navy SEAL commandant.
“You include an exceptional file of success and nice management,” she stated. “I sit up for seeing the midshipmen who will look as much as you as an inspiration, to problem themselves, to make themselves higher, to be better individuals as nicely, and simply be prepared for the fleet.”
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