27 July Daily Shipmate

Monday, 27 July 2026

1912 - In a successful test of airborne wireless communication, LT John Rodgers ’03, USN, the Navy’s second aviator, and MIDN Charles Maddox ’09, successfully transmit the letter “D” in Morse Code to the torpedo boat Bailey (TB-21) from the cockpit of the Wright B-1 hydroaeroplane flying over the Chesapeake Bay. The message is picked up at a distance of one mile.

 

1917 - Congress authorizes the Army and Navy to take over North Island in San Diego, California, the birth of what will become one of the Navy’s most important West Coast air stations.

 

1953 - The signing of an armistice between United Nations and Communist negotiators at Panmunjom, South Korea, ends hostilities in Korea. On the final day of the Korean War, Navy aircraft from Task Force 77 destroy or damage 23 railroad cars, 11 railroad bridges, one railroad tunnel, and nine highway bridges.

 

1990 - CAPT Anthony Stancil ’86, USMC, was lost when the UH-1N Huey helicopter he was co-piloting crashed in the Chocolate Mountain Bombing Range, about 55 miles from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. The pilot was also killed. Tony was from Merry Hill, North Carolina; in high school he was in the band and several clubs. Following graduation from the Naval Academy, he completed The Basic School at Quantico and then earned his wings in May, 1988. HMLA-367 was his first operational assignment, and with that unit he was deployed to Okinawa, Japan, in June 1989. Tony was survived by his parents and a brother. He is incorrectly listed in Memorial Hall as a 1st Lieutenant; his headstone and all contemporary obituaries refer to him as a Captain. (The Alumni Association has lost contact with the family. If you know how to contact them please email [email protected].) Other alumni lost on this day are listed at Virtual Memorial Hall.

 

Content in “Today in Navy, Marine Corps and USNA Memorial Hall History” is generously provided by our partners and fellow alumni at the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Run to Honor SIG, which supplies the USNA Memorial Hall content. We are grateful for their partnership in preserving and sharing this history, and the Daily Shipmate is proud to serve as a distribution platform. You can learn more or provide feedback through their respective websites hyperlinked above.

Academy & Graduate happenings

NASA added a new X-59 test pilot to support the agency’s Quesst mission: Mike Lippert ’05, a research test pilot based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “This fulfills a lifelong dream of conducting airborne research and experimental flight test for NASA in the high desert — contributing to humankind’s understanding of the science of flight and the nature of the world around us,” Lippert said. Lippert will fly the X-59, along with the F-15 and F-18 support aircraft to monitor the quiet supersonic X-plane when it’s in the air. He joins Nils Larson and Jim “Clue” Less, who have been flying the X-59 since its first flight in October 2025. A South Carolina native, Lippert served 20 years with the U.S. Marine Corps before retiring last year as a lieutenant colonel. Like his fellow test pilots, he boasts an impressive flight resume, including logging more than 2,600 hours of flight time in 60 different types of aircraft. Lippert spent the majority of his career flying the AV-8B Harrier operationally and serving as a test pilot in the F-35 program. He is also an aerospace engineer, earning a bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy. (Link)

U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) Associate Professor Dr. Jaye Falls has been named the 2026 recipient of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) William H. Webb Medal for outstanding contributions to education in naval architecture, marine engineering, or ocean engineering. Dr. Falls, who joined the Naval Academy faculty in 2009, currently serves as an associate professor and program director for the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering major. Over her 17-year tenure at the Yard, she has established herself as one of the nation’s premier educators in ship design, teaching a broad array of specialized coursework to hundreds of midshipmen. “We are incredibly proud to see Dr. Falls recognized with the prestigious William H. Webb medal,” said USNA Provost Samara Firebaugh. “The Naval Academy has a longstanding tradition of shaping and contributing to the naval architecture community. This award not only highlights the caliber of our world-class educators, but also underscores our deep commitment to advancing the Department of War and Acting Secretary of the Navy’s critical priorities to revitalize American shipbuilding.”

Don’t forget to RSVP for the Greater Southern Maryland Chapter's (GSMC) annual Crabfest. We can't wait to see everyone on Sunday, 9 August.

 

And remember, there is a change of venue this year at VFW Post 2632 (23282 Three Notch Road, California, MD 20619). The new location in California, Maryland, is a fitting venue for a group with such strong ties to military service and the Naval Academy. Everyone is welcome! Bring your family and friends for an afternoon of great crabs, conversations and memories. Please RSVP by 2 August using the QR code above or on MyUSNA.com. We look forward to seeing you there! Go Navy! Beat Army!

USAA National Military Monument to open tomorrow 28 July

Tomorrow, USAA will unveil a one-of-a-kind monument to honor the military service members who have defended our freedom for the last 250 years.

Government & Military News

Fearing that its new plans for the U.S. military draft pool won’t work, the Selective Service System wants to create a computer simulation to test scenarios for its national mobilization. The “Readiness Simulation” project comes as the U.S. government is about to change its draft registration system. Since 1940, men within a designated age range have been required to register with the Selective Service. But under a proposed rule, men aged 18 to 26 will be automatically registered starting 19 December 2026. The Selective Service System will work off data contained in other federal databases.

At 9 p.m. EDT on 23 July, U.S. Central Command forces successfully completed the 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran. Centcom targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities to further downgrade the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The international waterway remains open for transit despite recent attacks from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Commercial vessels continue to freely navigate the strait with U.S. military support.

The federal government is hoping that veterans who drove heavy military vehicles will drive large freight trucks. On Friday, the Department of Transportation announced a new interagency effort to encourage veterans to step in to fill commercial trucking jobs around the country. Specifically, the campaign wants veterans with a particular career history of having driven similarly large vehicles. The new push, which the Trump administration is calling the “Freedom Haulers” initiative, argues that they have the skills to make the transition into truck driving. The government is launching an ad campaign to help sell the pitch. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying that “there’s never been a better time for America’s former service members to get behind the wheel of a big rig. “Trucking requires the precision, independence, and discipline that they forged in the military — there’s no one better to tackle the challenge,” Duffy said in a statement.

Local, Education & other academy news

By Denny Moynihan ’86

23 July 2026

The Navy Alumni Golf Weekend has been held for a few decades. It looked different this year as I viewed it from a leadership coaching perspective.

 

I walked down the second fairway with an attendee who had flown in for the event, paid for two nights in a hotel, and stepped away from the pressing demands of raising young children. I asked him why he came. He said he felt connected to the team and to the people who made it a team. Despite the demands of his current phase of life, he made the investment to reconnect with others.

 

Wisdom and perspectives were shared among people who, just hours earlier, had been perfect strangers. A mid-grade Marine walked the fairway with a newly commissioned Marine, sharing insights from his experiences. Later, the Marine joined a former golf teammate and fellow Marine at the 19th hole to answer questions from a midshipman who hadn’t played in the event but was interested in pursuing the Marine Corps.

 

While a few of us had played together on the same team, we could all relate to the shared experience of competing in a sport while meeting the academic demands of the Naval Academy. Those experiences bonded us, whether we were 23 or 63 years of age.

 

It’s easy to get caught up in the crush of the present. There’s value in stepping out and stepping back to rekindle past relationships and form new ones.

 

I thought the event was about golf. It was really about belonging.

Annapolis Mayor Jared Littmann joins us for a wide-ranging conversation marking roughly 200 days in office. The conversation covers progress at City Dock, the challenges facing nearby businesses during construction, proposed changes to downtown parking, the return of the Golden Pass program, and the mayor’s priorities for the next 100 days. Littmann also reflects on what he considers one of his early missteps and what he hopes residents will begin noticing as investments in streets, sidewalks and other city services move forward.

This is the first in a multipart series on military training during the summer at the U.S. Air Force Academy. It’s 0459, and Cadet 1st Class Abigail Anderson is standing outside the door, her hands poised over the wooden surface, waiting. All up and down the long hallway, others hold the same position. 0500 hits, and the yelling and pounding is instant. “Get up! Rise and shine! Shave your face! Make your bed!” Another day of Basic Cadet Training at the U.S. Air Force Academy has begun. Inside the dorm rooms, mostly 17- and 18-year-olds, just a few weeks out of high school, scramble to make their beds, get to the bathrooms, and don their workout uniforms: blue shorts, grey T-shirts, red caps, and CamelBacks.

Naval Academy Athletics News

American Athletic Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti says the Army-Navy Game will remain a priority as college football leaders discuss future College Football Playoff scheduling. Pernetti pushed back on speculation that the rivalry’s traditional standalone date could be threatened, saying protecting the game is “a fact, not a rumor.” While the annual matchup is not in danger of being moved or canceled, concerns center on whether future playoff, bowl, or championship games could be scheduled on the same day and compete for attention. The 2026 Army-Navy Game will remain a standalone event at MetLife Stadium, preserving one of college football’s most respected and enduring traditions.

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