9 September Daily Shipmate

Wednesday, September 9 2026

Football Saturdays and reunion weekends are back. Make Fair Winds your home port for returning to Annapolis— a beautifully restored historic home just steps from the Yard, downtown, and the waterfront. Proudly owned and operated by two USNA alumni.

Chart your stay at FairWindsDTA.com or on Airbnb.

— John O’Leary ’95
President, Naptown Events

1915 - Moored off Cavite, Philippines, an explosion in its ordnance workshop and storeroom rocks the destroyer Decatur (Destroyer No. 5). Chief Watertender Eugene P. Smith repeatedly ventures below to locate and rescue injured shipmates, actions for which he receives the Medal of Honor.

 

1948 - The Navy, in an effort to provide its carriers with strategic capability, establishes Composite Squadron (VC) 5. Equipped with modified P2V Neptune patrol planes, the squadron develops tactics and procedures for the delivery of nuclear weapons from the decks of aircraft carriers. The following March a squadron aircraft demonstrates this capability in dramatic fashion, launching from the aircraft carrier Coral Sea (CVB-43) off the Atlantic coast and logging a flight of nearly 23 hours to “bomb” a West Coast target before returning to land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

 

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.

1971 - LT Edward Smith, Jr. ’67, USN

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.

Academy & Graduate happenings

Each year, the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation (USNA AA&F) honors the 14 alumni who made the ultimate sacrifice on 11 September 2001. As we mark this significant milestone, we wanted to recognize their service in a special and meaningful way. This year, in partnership with our Naval Academy teammates, we will honor these alumni by displaying their names, faces and stories at the Fluegel Alumni Center and along Stribling Walk in the Yard. We are also sharing their stories across our digital platforms so that more members of the Naval Academy community can learn about their lives and legacies.

 

Here at the Fluegel Alumni Center, visitors will find a special display in the lobby honoring our 14 fallen alumni. Along with joining the nation in lowering our flag in remembrance, we invite all who visit throughout September to take a moment to reflect on the courage, service and sacrifice of these remarkable graduates displayed in our front lobby. But that is not all. Shipmate magazine is launching a digital experience featuring both new and archival stories centered on 9/11. More information about this experience and how you can access it will be shared soon.

The Parent Wardroom is a community of U.S. Naval Academy parents who are committed to supporting the Brigade of Midshipmen and strengthening the Academy’s mission through philanthropy. By investing in the Margin of Excellence, members help provide the programs, resources and opportunities that enrich the midshipman experience beyond what federal funding can provide.

 

In addition to their philanthropic impact, Parent Wardroom members enjoy opportunities for deeper engagement with the Naval Academy through exclusive events, conversations with Yard leadership and connections with fellow parents who share a commitment to developing the next generation of Naval and Marine Corps officers.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was nominating Hung Cao ‘96 for the full-time position of secretary of the Navy. Cao has been in the acting role since former Navy Secretary John Phelan’s abrupt departure in April. Yet, Cao will need more than the Senate’s majority rule approval — his nomination from Trump will also require a special waiver to assume the post. Under 10 U.S.C. §8013, federal law requires a seven-year waiting period before former military officers can take several top civilian Pentagon jobs, including deputy secretary of defense, under secretary of defense for policy and comptroller and the service secretaries. Elaine Luria ’97, a Navy veteran and current candidate for Virginia’s Second Congressional District, noted the rule on X over the weekend.

From the Podcast Fleet

We sit down with CAPT Christopher Cassidy ’93, USN (Ret.), whose remarkable career has taken him from the U.S. Naval Academy to Navy SEAL teams, NASA, and ultimately the command of the International Space Station (ISS). Cassidy reflects on the experiences, challenges, and lessons that shaped his journey, sharing stories from spaceflight, military service, and leadership in some of the most demanding environments imaginable. From launching into orbit to living and working hundreds of miles above Earth, this conversation offers a fascinating look at exploration, resilience, and the enduring impact of a Naval Academy education. Join us for an inspiring discussion with one of the Academy’s most accomplished graduates as we continue our Voices from Orbit series celebrating USNA alumni who have ventured beyond our planet. Please listen to season 1 episode 2 of our new podcast on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and now, YouTube!

Government & Military News

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of 8 September 2026, based on Navy and public data. In cases in which a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it had captured a U.S. unmanned underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, releasing images of what state media identified as an Anduril Dive-LD autonomous submarine. The Pentagon confirmed that an underwater drone had malfunctioned more than a day earlier while surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations but said it was an older model that carried no classified sensors or sensitive data. The incident highlights the growing role of unmanned maritime systems in intelligence gathering, infrastructure monitoring and other naval missions as militaries increasingly expand their use of autonomous technologies.

The Department of Defense is exploring a new way to protect military personnel and operations from surveillance: AI-generated digital “personalities” that create realistic cellphone activity to confuse enemy tracking systems. According to a recent DoD solicitation, the concept would use artificial intelligence to generate cellphone signals that mimic the behavior of real people, helping conceal the digital footprints created by service members and military organizations. These decoy devices would produce realistic patterns of activity designed to defeat increasingly sophisticated AI systems used by adversaries to analyze mobile phone data and identify sensitive locations, troop movements, or mission preparations. The effort is currently in its early development stages, with plans for prototype systems and mission management software in future phases. Officials noted the technology could also have civilian applications, including protecting businesses and individuals from tracking and commercial espionage.

Local, Education & other academy news

Prior cast members, you could be part of the 30th Annual Halloween Concert!

Dates: Oct 30 (7 PM & 10 PM) | Oct 31 (7 PM)

Prior cast members invited to sing the Finale (God Bless America):

RSVP: By Oct 8 to [email protected] with your full name, ticket confirmation, and participation intent. Stay tuned for general admission ticket info - coming soon!

2026 Male Survivor Webinar #2 - Survivor Advocacy Network

The Survivor Advocacy Network hopes you'll join us for our second Male Survivor Webinar on Tuesday, 22 September at 7:00 p.m. ET. Join presenters Anthony Riello, MSW, LICSW, and Colleen Moriarty-Anctil, LADC, LICSW

 

This webinar is open to all MEN who have attended a service academy or who have participated in any other commissioning program regardless of completion/graduation/commissioning status and who have experienced unwanted or negative sexual experience(s).

 

In this session, we will explore the different ways that MST can happen to or affect men, sociocultural components (gender role expectations) affecting male survivors, and several healing modalities that men can access. This webinar will be presented by Tony Riello, MSW, LCSW, and Colleen Morierity-Anctil, LADC, LICSW, who are professional counselors at the Worcester, MA Vet Center.

Naval Academy Athletics News and results

Army-Navy Star Series matchups:

USNA and AA&F Events

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