The Naval Academy leadership development program requires observation, education, reflection, and practice. It gives midshipmen a more sophisticated understanding of the fundamental principles and core values that should guide a leader, and provides an intellectual grounding in those principles and values without forgetting that we are preparing these young men and women to lead in combat. Although leadership is embedded in nearly every activity at the Naval Academy from the positions held by the stripers those who hold official leadership positions within the brigade to extracurricular activities, my focus here is primarily on the formal leadership curriculum in the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law. The classroom experience blends leadership theory and practice to provide each midshipman a solid intellectual framework and an understanding of key leadership principles. Experience is a great teacher, but leaders must be able to think through situations they have never experienced.
Midshipmen also learn the basics of human and group behavior.
The study of these disciplines is fundamental, but it also is important to note that the Naval Academy presents this information in the context of leadership in the profession of arms. To keep the focus on military leadership, many of the classroom case studies and examples that bring theory to life come from combat and the fleet. The military instructors who teach leadership have served successfully in the fleet or Fleet Marine Force and have current and varied operational experience naval aviators with combat experience in Desert Storm, Navy and Marine Corps officers recently back from the Balkans, the Persian Gulf, or the western Pacific. Commanding officers or others recently in command frequently visit to talk with midshipmen in individual classrooms. These warrior role models bring insights from the real world to midshipmen consumed by the daily grind, helping them to remember why they came here in the first place.