Midshipman candidates march in formation at the Naval Academy Prepatory School (NAPS) at Naval Station Newport, R.I. The 10-month course prepares Midshipman candidates academically and physically for the responsibilities of Academy life. USNA photo by MCSN Patrick Green.

Roughly 300 Academy candidates attend NAPS each year. And to facilitate their academic and military preparation, there is a group of staff and faculty working to do the job as proficiently as possible.

‘‘We’ve had some really good souls here,” said Stephen Arendt, Special Assistant to the Academic Dean, Naval Academy Prepatory School. ‘‘NAPS graduates are serving with distinction all over the world.”

Located at Naval Station Newport, R.I., NAPS was officially established in 1919, in a document signed by then Undersecretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, and graduated its first complete class in 1920. Since then, the school has prepared students not only for the Naval Academy, but according to Arendt, the Air Force Academy, Merchant Marine Academy and the Coast Guard Academy.

‘‘My mission is to make sure every one of the candidates that want to be here graduates NAPS,” said Command Master Chief Pat Tungate. ‘‘I want them to go to the Academy understanding their military obligation, so they’re prepared.”

Over the ten months the candidates spend at NAPS, they take several courses, including English, chemistry, math and physics. The overall training focuses on academics, with the majority of the military training occurring in the first three weeks, but the senior enlisted advisors are there to maintain a military environment.

‘‘I think I bring the understanding that this is an academic environment and that it’s also a military one,” said Tungate. ‘‘If the military environment is not maintained, then the academics will falter.”

At the end of their time at NAPS, the candidates make the decision to apply to the Academy or try another route to their success. Since NAPS is completely voluntary and not a guarantee to go straight to the Academy, Tungate describes it as a good stepping stone to test out a military environment.

Overall, the staff and faculty at NAPS are ready to prepare candidates for their future at the Naval Academy. After 10 months, the staff is positive that their training is complete and that they are prepared for the next step in their military career.

‘‘They want to be here,” said Tungate. ‘‘Not because they need a job. They understand their obligation to their country.”