I said that for two reasons 1) In July of '76, the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years in High School, while on our family's four week long Bicentennial tour vacation up the East Coast in our motorhome, we stopped in Annapolis to tour the Naval Academy. I saw how those Midshipmen had to live for four years of college and thought to myself, "No way".
2) Two and a half years later in the fall of '78, amidst all the offer letters from various colleges and universities across the Nation, I received an Academic Appointment offer from West Point (no Senator's recommendation letter needed), which remembering Annapolis, I declined because that was not how I wanted to spend what should be four years of fun and experiences. So, in March of '79, I signed a delayed enlistment in the Army a few months before graduating High School because the tuition benefits for college were amazingly good. Three years after enlisting, I Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army and spent the next sixteen years as an Officer.
So, NO disrespect to your son on his choices to serve our Country and do so by attending the Naval Academy to Commission either as a Navy Ensign or a Marine Corps Second Lieutenant (God help you if he decides to become a Jar Head, LOL!), but for me it will ALWAYS be GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!(and Air Farce, too!).
Sorry for the derail, back to our regularly scheduled thread!