What a naval idea

Mathis Winkler

Newport Harbor High School senior Joey Snelgrove hasn’t been counting

the days to his graduation today, and for a good reason.

While hundreds of Snelgrove’s fellow graduates in the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District can look forward to months of summer fun, the

18-year-old has barely a week left before heading to Annapolis, Md.,

where he’ll begin his basic military training at the U.S. Naval Academy

on June 29.

Graduation “is the beginning of me leaving,” said Snelgrove, adding

that he’ll spend the next few days surfing and not working at all. “I’m

excited to graduate, but school isn’t that bad.”

Not that Snelgrove isn’t excited about entering the academy as a

“plebe,” as freshmen are called there. As an outstanding water polo

player, he managed to get into the college, which charges no fees and

pays students a modest stipend, on early admission. But just like all

other applicants to the academy, he also had to go through a rigorous

selection process, which requires good grades, medical and physical exams

and a congressional nomination.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), whose district includes

the Newport Heights neighborhood where Snelgrove lives, helped fulfill

that last requirement.

It’s not the first time the congressman has stepped up for the family.

Four years ago, Rohrabacher did the same for Snelgrove’s brother,

Andy, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.,

on June 2.

The brothers’ father, John, who works as a firefighter in San Pedro,

said he told his sons about the academies as an affordable path to a

college degree.

And “when they’re done, they can have just about any job they want

to,” the father said, adding that he had good memories about his service

in Vietnam.

Sitting in his family’s living room next to his brother, Andy, 24,

said Monday that he also felt his bachelor’s degree in geospacial

information sciences and environmental engineering was more prestigious

than graduating with thousands of others from universities such as UCLA.

“It’s a way to set yourself apart,” he said, adding that as a result

of his own experience, Joey at least has an idea of what to expect.

“He knows what I went through,” said Andy, who -- like his brother --

also works as a lifeguard on the city’s beaches. “And that it will be the

same or easier for him.”

Easier, because rules in Annapolis aren’t as strict as they are in

West Point, Andy added.

While saying that rivalries between the institutions are mostly

limited to athletic competitions, Andy showed some pride in his alma

mater’s tougher reputation when talking about his brother’s academy of

choice.

“The naval academy has a lower standard as far as discipline is

concerned,” he said. “They don’t stress tucking in shirts. They even had

beach balls floating around at their graduation.”

Overall, the college experience at both academies is a far cry from

other universities. Breakfast and lunch are mandatory for students, they

only get about three weeks of vacation during the summer, and during the

first two years, parties and drinking are banned -- on base, that is,

Andy said.

Because only 16% of the academies’ students are female, the gender mix

also is a little skewed.

Women “have got a lot of choices,” Andy said, laughing, adding that

the guys get by just fine by finding girlfriends at other colleges

nearby.

On academy grounds, romance is fairly restrained anyway, Andy said.

Public displays of affection are prohibited, and two members of the

opposite sex can only spend time in a room without the presence of a

third person if they sit on different pieces of furniture and keep the

door propped open.

Joey, who is single and was voted “best-looking” senior by his

classmates, said his friends “don’t understand why I want to spend four

years of my life in a place like that. But they accept that I got in.”

He said he hopes to join the Navy SEALs after graduating in four

years. Just like his brother, who plans to fly helicopters and will begin

his first assignment in Ft. Rucker, Ala., Joey will have to spend a

minimum of five years in service after his college graduation.

And while Joey’s older sister, Elizabeth, 21, chose to stay local and

attend Orange Coast College, John Snelgrove said he still hopes to

convince his youngest daughter, Mary Ellen, 14, to complete the family’s

academy attendance and apply to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado

Springs, Colo.

“I’ve tried to talk her into” it, John said. “But right now, she says

she doesn’t want to go.”

Andy put it more bluntly.

“She’s too girlie,” he said, laughing.