List of United States Naval Academy alumni
Name Class year Notability
Spence M. Armstrong 1956 Lieutenant general ; F-105 pilot ; Vice commander of Air Force Systems Command and Military Airlift Command ; senior advisor to the NASA administrator
John S. McCain , Jr 1931 Admiral ; submarine commander during World War II ; Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command ( 1968-1972 ) during the Vietnam War while his son John S. McCain III was being held in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war ; both of them are academy graduates , as well as John S. McCain Sr. and John S. McCain IV
Frederick H. Michaelis 1940 Admiral ; Naval aviator ; fleet oiler and aircraft carrier commander ; recipient of the Navy Cross
Don Whitmire 1946 Rear Admiral ; troopship and submarine commander
Jeremiah Denton 1947 Rear Admiral ; Naval aviator and Navy Cross recipient who spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam ; United States Senator from Alabama ( 1981-1987 )
Wendell B. Rivers 1948 Captain ; Naval aviator and Silver Star recipient who spent seven and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam
Robert B. Fuller 1951 Rear Admiral ; Naval aviator and Navy Cross recipient who spent almost six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam
Charles R. Gillespie 1951 Captain ; Naval aviator and Silver Star recipient who spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam
Allen C. Brady 1951 Captain ; Naval aviator and Silver Star recipient who spent over six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam
William P. Lawrence 1951 Vice Admiral ; Naval aviator who was a prisoner of war for six years ; father of Wendy B. Lawrence , 1981 Academy graduate and Navy astronaut ; Superintendent of the Academy ( 1978-81 )
Peter V. Schoeffel 1954 Captain ; Naval aviator who spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam
John Heaphy Fellowes 1956 Captain ; A-6 Intruder pilot ; prisoner of war for 6.5 years ; Silver Star recipient
Robert H. Shumaker 1956 Rear Admiral ; Naval Aviator ; prisoner of war for 8 years ; Distinguished Service Medal recipient ; initiated use of the tap code , a common system of communication with POWs and coining the term Hanoi Hilton for the notorious Hỏa Lò Prison
John McCain 1958 Captain ; Vietnam-era Naval Aviator and POW ; U.S . Senator from Arizona ( 1987-2018 ) ; Republican Presidential Nominee 2008
John Ripley 1962 Colonel , Marine Corps ; recipient of the Navy Cross for stopping a column of tanks and 20,000 enemy troops at the Dong Ha Bridge , Quảng Trị Province , South Vietnam
David S. Bill III 1966 Rear Admiral ; destroyer , cruiser and battleship commander ; recipient of two Legions of Merit ; grandson of U.S. Representative Winder R. Harris
The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland with the mission of educating and commissioning officers for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Academy was founded in 1845 and graduated its first class in 1846. The Academy is often referred to as Annapolis, while sports media refer to the Academy as Navy and the students as Midshipmen; this usage is officially endorsed. During the latter half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th, the United States Naval Academy was the primary source of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers, with the Class of 1881 being the first to provide officers to the Marine Corps. Graduates of the Academy are also given the option of entering the United States Army or United States Air Force. Most Midshipmen are admitted through the congressional appointment system. The curriculum emphasizes various fields of engineering. The list is drawn from graduates, non-graduate former Midshipmen, current Midshipmen, and faculty of the Naval Academy. Over 50 U.S. astronauts have graduated from the Naval Academy, more than from any other undergraduate institution. [a] Over 990 noted scholars from a variety of academic fields are Academy graduates, including 45 Rhodes Scholars and 16 Marshall Scholars. Additional notable graduates include 1 President of the United States, 2 Nobel Prize recipients, and 73 Medal of Honor recipients. [b]