USMMA Plebe Year

I started as a cadet at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, also known as Kings Point, in August 1966 and was a member of section 70-101.  I lived in Palmer Hall, 1st Battalion, 1st Company.  The BC (Battalion Commander) was Ron Phoebus, the BX (Battalion Executive Officer) was Alan Barry, The CC (Company Commander) was Mike Soenlein, and the CX (Company Executive Officer) was Dennis Neef.


Looking back, I think the members of 70-101 fared really well at the Academy.  Other than losing a few guys in the very beginning during indoctrination, including my first roommate Merrill Lynch (yes, that was his real name), we all made it through.  After Merrill left, Bruno Ravalico and I became roommates.  Other 70-101 section mates included Bob (Ying Yang) McConnell, Hal (Sarge) Melloway, Ennis Kay, Fred (Only the Strong Survive) Jackson, Steve (Doc) Ford, Bill Fairhurst, Gordon Davis, Bruce Brown, Mark (Spike) Carlson, Don Cocozza, Jim Sweeney, Brian Tully, Dave Whitty, Allen Teeter, Don Tierney, Mike Hopkins, Tom Hall, Dave Ahrens, and Fred Warren.  If I've left anyone out, forgive me; It's been a few years.

Two "Old Men" at 40th Reunion

Two Plebes

Some of the Plebe routines we faced were having to walk 6 inches from the right wall, having to square corners, brace against the wall and recite the day's menu, the school's mission and other Academy details.  We were restricted to campus until after Thanksgiving.  During this time, the war in Vietnam was in full swing and Merchant Marine officers were in short supply.  For this reason, the Class of 1967 was graduated in February instead of June so they could join the industry.  Our class was "recognized" earlier than normal.  That meant no more squaring of corners and the like.

I did well academically and having previously attended boarding school for four years and college for one, had no trouble being away from home or with the demerit system.  One thing that helped with the academics was that I had a head start in math.  I had attended the University of Bridgeport the previous year and luckily for me the Academy used the same Calculus textbook. This allowed me to concentrate on the professional martime courses.

As I said above, 70-101 had a really good group of guys. One thing we used to do to alleviate the stresses of being a Plebe was have marathon card games.  Hearts was our game of choice.  Playing cards the morning of exams really helped get my mind off the upcoming tests.


I joined the sailing team and spent spring weekends getting the boats ready for the water. Having sailed small boats as a kid, I wanted something different and signed up for the offshore boats.  We trained on Long Island Sound.  Our first race was the Annapolis to Newport race in the Academy's 42 foot yawl, Cricket. It was an eventful race. Most of the boats stuck to the Western Shore of Chesapeake Bay; we sailed down the Eastern Shore.  The gamble paid off because when daylight broke the next morning, we were in second place.  Unfortunately our good luck turned against us.  A bad storm was just moving down the coast and as one of the lead boats, we were right in its path when we rounded Cape Charles into the Atlantic.  We rode out the storm for twelve solid hours and it carried us way off course.  Our most experienced helmsmen, Mike Hopkins, John Piggott and Mike Lawson had to strap themselves in the cockpit to keep from being washed overboard.  During the storm, the top of our mizzen mast snapped off, we split a seam up by the bow which caused a small leak, and the radio antenna carried away. Of the ninety plus boats that started the race, many were dismasted by the storm and only thirty finished. The boats that had been far behind in Chesapeake Bay fared the best.  The storm had passed when they entered the Atlantic and hence they were able to sail a direct course to Newport.  We limped into Newport finishing second to last, but at least we finished.  Our showing didn't go over well with the sailing department at the Academy.  How dare we do so poorly even if we were in a full gale for twelve hours.  They refused to give us varsity letters.  Over the summer, I was supposed to crew on Nina, the Academy's schooner, in the Marblehead to Halifax race.  I didn't care for the political fallout from the previous race and decided to leave the sailing team.  I missed out because Nina won the race.  The only sailing I did that summer was on our sailfish in York, Maine.

The schooner Nina mentioned above is the same Nina that was lost in a storm with all hands in June 2013 during a crossing between New Zealand and Australia.