Consider Kings Point

by Stan Lowe, Chairman (retired), Wyoming Veterans' Commission
Monday, May 26, 2008 12:43 PM MDT

Vice Admiral Joseph D. Stewart, USMS (U.S. Maritime Service), superintendent, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. (Academy or Kings Point), invited me to speak at this year's May 1 black tie Battle Standard Dinner.

The event is held annually to honor the academy's 142 cadets lost during World War II while training aboard U.S. Merchant Marine ships.

As a WWII mariner who sailed with cadets, I spoke about the heroic 142 and then led the attendees, nearly 900 academy midshipmen, distinguished alumni and guests in the traditional toast.

The "Battle Standard" is a colorful, gold-fringed battle flag, on which "142" is prominently emblazoned. The academy's Color Guard carries it when marching with the American and U.S. Merchant Marine's flags.

Kings Point is the only one of the five federal academies n the other four are Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard -- authorized to have a battle standard. That is because during WWII, the academy's cadets trained, part of the curriculum in war and peace, aboard U.S. flagged Merchant Marine ships that suffered enormous personnel losses.

Vice Admiral Albert J. Herberger, USN (ret.), a distinguished academy alumnus, was my dinner host. He had conveyed Adm. Stewart's invitation.

Herberger was the first academy graduate to become a Navy vice admiral. Now, of course, there are more.

After retiring from the Navy, by presidential appointment he became administrator of the Maritime Administration, similar to the wartime agency headed by Wyoming's famous Vice Admiral Emory S. Land, USN (ret.), during WWII, which established the academy in 1943.

Here's another example of important billets that alumni have attained in other services. Vice Admiral Patrick J. Cosgriff, USN, a 1971 graduate, recently was given command of all U.S. naval forces in the volatile Middle East.

Here's yet another. A Navy officer with whom I sat at the head table, Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, USN, has been commanding the prison at Guantanamo Bay and is leaving this month to take a fine billet at Norfolk.

Also among the alumni attending the dinner were several officers of other branches of the Armed Forces.

Why do about 20 percent of the academy's graduates get commissions in the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force and Army?

Herberger explained that since there are relatively few U.S. flagged Merchant Marine ships -- due largely to government overregulation and smaller crews -- not all academy graduates can get Merchant Marine sea duty jobs.

Excellent jobs also are available with onshore maritime industry companies that prefer hiring academy graduates because of the quality education they get at Kings Point.

A Standard & Poor's report on the education background of America's senior business managers ranks the academy 18th in the nation among the top 550 colleges and universities, proportionate to numbers of graduates, which produce presidents, vice presidents and directors of U.S. companies.

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), was principal speaker at the dinner. His command manages all global air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense.

Heavily involved in timely delivering war matériel to our overseas troops, he spoke of the U.S. Merchant Marine's significant role in carrying 80 percent of it to Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is due largely to a 10-to-1 cost advantage ships that have over air transportation. Another advantage is mariners' ability to do it well, gained from doing it throughout America's history.

Since 9/11, the TRANSCOM "team" - air, land and sea - has moved 4.5 million passengers, more than 10.3 million tons of cargo and 5 billion gallons of fuel.

Schwartz equated these figures with South Carolina's population, the weight of 110 Washington Monuments and 12 days of America's gasoline consumption.

He discussed today’s modern U.S. Merchant Marine comprised of much larger ships, owned 70 percent by shipping companies and 30 percent by the government, all crewed with well-trained, experienced mariners, fewer than the government would crew, resulting in greater cost efficiency.

In conclusion, my personally-guided tour of the Academy while there sold me on Kings Point, one of the best kept academy secrets in America. Young men and women interested in a government-paid education should consider it.

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