JW. The Wangly one.

Countless people ask why, in 2025, any Navy still trains midshipmen on tall ships. The answer is simple: tall ships teach the fundamentals. No autopilot. No screens. Just wind, rope, canvas and consequences. You learn to respect the sea or it punishes you. You learn attention to detail or things break. You learn teamwork or you fail. Mexico gets it. The U.S. Coast Guard gets it. One US Merchant Marine academy still gets it. But Annapolis? No ship at the dock. No sail training. No physical connection to the sea they’re supposedly defending. What about the Navy’s active duty tall ships? You mean the one that barely ever sails and lets crew wear camouflage fatigues? Please. Ceremonial ships are not the same as training ships. Not even close. Meanwhile, every special operator gets a podcast. Every pilot gets a blockbuster. Congress shrugs when the Navy falters, because ships don’t inspire anymore and we’ve stopped teaching the public, and our officers, why they should. Proper navies build ships. They train on ships. They prioritize ships. Ours doesn’t. And if you want to understand why the U.S. Navy is in decline, start with this: the midshipmen at Annapolis no longer have a ship of their own. Thank go the US Coast Guard still understands this or our great nation would be rudderless.

Don’t care for this description and the implied snobbery.