An era came to a close at the U.S. Naval Academy Friday after Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt turned over command of the academy to Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler.
“I leave here knowing the academy is in good shape,” Rempt told the crowd at Alumni Hall. “The years here in Annapolis were the highlight of my life.”
Fowler takes over an academy that has improved its curriculum, facilities, recruitment of minorities and women and midshipmen development, to which Rempt was credited for achieving during his four-year tenure.
But a number of sex scandals have rocked the academy?s image, including the recent accusation of a Navy physician videotaping midshipmen having sex in his Annapolis home.
“If anything good came out of this, it is that [the scandals] brought a discussion of the important issue – of the culture change at the academy,” Rempt said.
Nevertheless, Rempt and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael G. Mullen said the last four years were high times for the academy.
“You are leaving this place better than you found it four years ago,” Mullen said of Rempt’s service. “You cast a long shadow and leave behind a legacy of change.”
During the ceremony, Rempt’s three-star flag was lower, and Fowler’s was raised. Fowler was also promoted from rear admiral to vice admiral during the ceremony.
Rempt received the Distinguished Defense Award, one of the highest peacetime awards doled out to senior officers. Rempt’s wife, Pam, received the Distinguished Public Service Award for her efforts to promote gender equality and community service.
After Rempt’s speech, dozens of midshipmen in attendance chanted, “fired up,” which apparently was the superintendent’s motto.
Fowler was selected as the academy’s 60th superintendent last fall, during his speech, he recalled all of those who helped him through his time at the academy in the late 1970s.
“If I can be as supportive as they were to me, we’ll be in good shape,” Fowler said.
