Did you ever wonder when our Military Academies were founded? Merchant Marine

By David McClelland

Here are the dates when each Academy was founded:
The United States Military Academy in West Point, New York - 1802.
The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland - 1845.
The United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut - 1876.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York - 1942. *
The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado - 1954.

This is the fifth and final part of a five-part series which discusses each Academy.
Our final look will be of the Merchant Marine Academy.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy, also known as USMMA or Kings Point, is the next to the newest of the five federal Academies. It began in 1942 and is charged with training officers for the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the military or the transportation industry. The students are called Midshipmen, as in the Navy, and are trained in marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs and other subjects for running a large ship.

Congress passed the landmark Merchant Marine Act of 1936 after a disastrous fire in 1934 killed 134 passengers aboard the passenger ship, SS Morro Castle. This luxury liner ran between New York City and Havana, Cuba. After beginning in temporary quarters, the Merchant Marine's permanent site at Kings Point, New York, was acquired in 1942 and the new Academy was dedicated in1943 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During WWII, from 1942-1945, the Academy graduated 6,895 officers. After the war, a peacetime four-year college course was instituted. Graduates receive a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1974, the Academy became the first to enroll female students, two years before the other four Academies.

In 1990, the Academy acquired the largest campus based training vessel, the T/V Kings Pointer. Her mission is to supplement the classroom training by providing an operational shipboard platform for use by the academic Department of Shipboard Training. The American Merchant Marine Museum is located at the campus in Kings Point, New York. In 2006, President George W. Bush gave the commencement address at the Academy, the first president to visit this Academy.

For admission to the Academy, candidates need to be physically fit, have strong GPA and SAT/ACT scores and obtain a nomination by a member of the Senate or House of Representatives.

Unlike the other Academy graduates, Merchant Marine graduates are required to fulfill their service obligation on their own by providing annual proof of employment in a wide variety of occupations. About 1/3 elect to work as licensed officers on U.S. flagged merchant vessels, another 1/3 work as civilians in the maritime industry and the final 1/3 become active duty officers in a branch of the armed forces of the United States. They must maintain their Merchant Marine officer's license for at least 6 years.

On October 7, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation permitting women to enter the United States service academies. The Class of 2014 at the Merchant Marine Academy has 342 plebes, of which 43, or 12.5%, are women. The total enrollment is 986 with 89% men, 11% women and 100% full-time.

Some distinguished graduates include: Lane Kirkland, a former head of the AFL-CIO; Warren Leback, head of the U.S. Maritime Administration under President George H.W. Bush; Joseph Williams, First African-American graduate & New York Supreme Court Justice; Elliot See, Project Gemini astronaut, killed in training; Romulo Espaldon, Admiral, Philippine Navy, Commander, Philippine Southern Command and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Yemen and Albert Herberger, First graduate to become a Vice Admiral in the U.S. Navy and Head of the U.S. Maritime Administration under President Clinton.

A tour of the Merchant Marine Academy and Museum will give visitors a better idea of the history of the Academy and a better appreciation of the experiences of Midshipmen. The Academy is open to visitors year-round except for federal holidays. A visit to Kings Point, New York may be worth considering.