Midshipmen have been going to sea for professional training since the academy was founded in 1845. That same philosophy of putting midshipmen into the fleet to provide them with a comprehensive naval education holds true today. NTT consists of an indoctrination into Marine Corps, Special Warfare, Coast Guard Law Enforcement and Joint Operations. During this summer, midshipmen at sea learn everything from basic deck seamanship to handling a ship in formation.
Training ashore is conducted in areas such as weapons, damage control and shipboard fire-fighting.
First, a two-week training period in Pensacola, Fla., and Kings Bay, Ga., educates midshipmen about naval aviation and the submarine force, respectively. The midshipmen are introduced to life as an enlisted sailor by being paired with a work center supervisor aboard ship. Those interested in becoming Marine Corps officers spend the summer seeing the Corps first hand. The program consists of four weeks in Quantico, Va., participating in field exercises and junior officer training, and four weeks in the Fleet Marine Force units at both East and West coast installations. This period of training, called Plebe Summer, orients the plebes to life at the Naval Academy and in the naval service.