Since turning into commandant in 2021, Col. James P. McDonough has considered the roughly 4,400 midshipmen at the US Naval Academy as much like his kids.
His steering on their day-to-day conduct, army coaching {and professional} growth is just not in contrast to the way in which McDonough, a father of 4, raised his personal kids, two of whom adopted him into the Marine Corps.
“To me, that implies that I like them, however I’m going to carry them accountable,” he mentioned. “And in the event that they should be corrected or if they should study, I’m there to do this.”
Whereas “dad” is a title he’ll maintain perpetually, McDonough’s time because the commandant of midshipmen on the academy got here to an finish Wednesday. An artillery officer commissioned into the Marines in 1994, McDonough capped off his 30-year army profession by relinquishing the place to Capt. Walter H. Allman, the primary Navy SEAL to take the position.
McDonough’s time as commandant was marked by a sequence of transitions. As he stepped into the position, he was tasked with restoring normalcy on the academy grounds after the COVID-19 pandemic. In his three years, the academy had three completely different superintendents. three superintendents on the helm. “]Although present Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids was slated to take over from Rear Adm. Sean Buck final summer time, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama blocked army appointments within the Senate in a protest of the Pentagon’s abortion insurance policies. Rear Adm. Fred Kacher served in an interim position from August to January earlier than Davids started her time period.
“The concept of reestablishing normalcy and getting folks again to what we’re imagined to be doing right here on a day in, day trip foundation, was a problem,” McDonough mentioned. “And it required explaining to the midshipmen why it’s necessary that we stay a disciplined life.”
It took numerous prompting, McDonough mentioned of the mids — as the scholars are generally recognized – to get them to even go to breakfast every single day. Sooner or later, nevertheless, they realized it was for their very own good.
Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids mentioned McDonough was the “proper officer” for that reconstruction part.
“Upon his arrival, [former] Superintendent Sean Buck charged J.P. with enhancing the professionalism, the accountability and the esprit de corps throughout the brigade, all of which wanted to be bolstered after the distant studying pressured on the academy by the [COVID] pandemic,” she mentioned throughout a change of management ceremony Wednesday. “And he rose to the decision and did fantastically.”
Identical to the midshipmen, McDonough was being educated, too.
“I most likely realized extra within the final three years about management than I had within the 27 years earlier than that,” he mentioned. “It sounds wonderful to say that, however I realized loads about folks.”
Whereas the challenges that at the moment’s midshipmen face are completely different than what he handled whereas on the academy within the Nineties, McDonough mentioned he constructed resiliency, partly by having wanted laborious conversations.
“We referred to as them four-minute drills — placing an issue in entrance of the midshipmen whereas they’re at squad tables in King Corridor [the dining hall] — to problem a number of the issues happening round how we deal with one another,” he mentioned. “The whole lot from concepts of locker room discuss or different issues, simply so folks know that as an alternative of simply turning a blind eye to issues, that it’s a must to confront them.”
Earlier than beginning, McDonough knew he would want to speak with the midshipmen about sexual assault within the army, he mentioned in August 2021. These conversations got here following a sexual assault case in opposition to a midshipman earlier that yr. Although Garrett Lee Holsen, now 22, was acquitted of rape, a retrial is pending, with renewed scrutiny on the assault and different intercourse offense expenses.
Reflecting throughout Wednesday’s ceremony outdoors Bancroft Corridor, McDonough mentioned the academy is in place.
“We’re doing effectively however we can not relaxation,” he mentioned. “We owe it to the mids and the sailors and the Marines they’ll lead to ensure their character is stable.”
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