ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Nolan Kreipe of Carlinville successfully completed four years of challenging academic, physical, and professional military training, graduating with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) on May 22, 2020, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with Mathematics and a commission as a U.S. Navy Ensign.
Kreipe is a 2016 graduate of Carlinville High School, the son of Kevin and Tracey (Williams) Kreipe of Carlinville and grandson of Marilyn Williams and Jack Matlack of Gillespie and Ted and Kathleen Kreipe of Columbia, SC.
At the academy, Kreipe attained academic honors to the Commandant or Superintendent’s Lists all four years. He was elected as a 2020 Class Officer serving as Secretary/Receiver and held additional committee chair positions. Kreipe was ranked #1 #1 midshipmen by his peers, company mates and company officer and was acknowledged as a Navy and Marine Corps Association Leadership Award Finalist.
Furthermore, he was also a finalist for the VADM William P. Lawrence Ethics Essay. Kreipe supported his peers academically by serving as program educators for the Midshipman Group Study Program and Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention (SHAPE). For two Thanksgiving holiday seasons, Kreipe served as a USNA Admissions Liaison completing “Operation Info” Presentations and Outreach at central Illinois high schools including his alma mater, Carlinville High School.
Kreipe’s summer military training consisted of USNA Summer Seminar Squad Leader and Submarine Cruise – Atlantic; USNA Plebe Summer Squad Leader and PROTRAMID -Pacific; and USNA Plebe Summer Regimental Executive Officer and NDSTC SCUBA School, Panama City Beach, FL. During each academic semester, Kreipe fulfilled various billets to include Training Corporal, Company SHAPE Representative, Physical Mission Officer Sergeant, Company Squad Leader, Company Conduct and Aptitude Officer, and finally 2nd Regiment Commander. He was offered a service assignment as a U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer which he eagerly accepted.
Upon graduation and commissioning, Kreipe was awarded the CLASS OF 1897 Sword and Cup which is presented to the midshipman of the graduating class who has contributed outstanding leadership qualities as a Second Regimental Commander and was one of 25 Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Distinguished Midshipmen Graduates. The CNO Distinguished Midshipmen Graduate Program is an award program to honor one graduating midshipmen at each NROTC Unit and 25 midshipmen at USNA who demonstrate the highest standards of leadership, academic, and military performance.
Founded in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy today is a prestigious four-year service academy that prepares midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically to be professional officers in the naval service. The Naval Academy Brigade of Midshipmen consists of 30 companies, divided evenly across six battalions and two regimens. More than 4,400 men and women representing every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries make up the student body, known as the Brigade of Midshipmen. U.S.
News and World Reports has recognized the Naval Academy as a top five undergraduate engineering school and a top 20 best liberal arts college. Midshipmen learn from military and civilian instructors and participate in intercollegiate varsity sports and extracurricular activities.
They also study subjects such as leadership, ethics, small arms, drill, seamanship and navigation, tactics, naval engineering and weapons, and military law. Upon graduation, midshipmen earn a Bachelor of Science degree in a choice of 25 different subject majors and go on to serve at least five years of exciting and rewarding service as commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.
The Brigade of Midshipmen is comprised of approximately 4,400 students from every state in the union. Each year, approximately 1,200 young men and women are admitted to the Naval Academy’s incoming class from a candidate pool of near 20,000. The academy’s more than 81,000 alumni include one president, 21 members of Congress, five governors, 73 Medal of Honor recipients, two Nobel Prize winners, 52 astronauts, and 4,000 admirals and generals.