U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin III will ship the keynote speech throughout the 2024 U.S. Naval Academy commencement and commissioning ceremony, the academy introduced Wednesday.
Austin is scheduled to deal with the graduates at 10 a.m. Might 24 on the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The ceremony is open to invited friends solely, however shall be livestreamed on YouTube. Roughly 1,000 midshipmen within the class of 2024 shall be commissioned as officers within the Navy or Marine Corps.
The procession of graduates and college will start at 9 a.m., with the ceremony beginning at 10 a.m., in keeping with the academy’s commissioning week schedule. The Blue Angels are scheduled for a flyover at 10:04 a.m. The flight demonstration squadron shall be practising and performing in the times main as much as the ceremony.
Austin, 70, made historical past on Jan. 22, 2021 as the primary Black particular person to function the secretary of protection. A retired four-star common, Austin was additionally the primary Black particular person to steer the U.S. Central Command — a place he held from 2013 till his retirement in 2016.
Born in Cellular, Alabama, in 1953, Austin was raised in Thomasville, Georgia. He graduated from america Army Academy at West Level in 1975. Austin later earned grasp’s levels in schooling and enterprise administration from Auburn College in Alabama and Webster College in Missouri. He’s additionally a graduate of the Army Command and Basic Employees Faculty and the Army Conflict Faculty.
After graduating from West Level, Austin was commissioned as a second lieutenant within the infantry. His 41-year profession within the Army took him throughout the U.S., Europe and the Center East. Austin served because the Commanding Basic of the U.S. Forces in Iraq, overseeing all fight operations within the county, along with a tour because the Army’s Vice Chief of Employees.
Austin can also be a recipient of the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor in fight, for his management of the Army’s third Infantry Division throughout the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Austin delivered the commencement keynote speech final yr. He acknowledged the adversity the category of 2023 had confronted of their 4 years on the academy, together with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however he assured them that they have been prepared.
President Joe Biden spoke in 2022 and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in 2021. The speech usually rotates between the president, vice chairman and secretary of protection.
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