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Mountain Ridge grad accepted to Naval Academy
Passes rigorous examination process
With valedictorian status and the help of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, David Rose has been accepted to the 2012 class of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
The Midlothian 18-year-old will leave July 9 to start training and from there, enter the aerospace engineering program.
“It’s hard to explain; ever since I was little I have wanted to fly planes,” said Rose, a graduate of Mountain Ridge High School.
Besides being valedictorian of the class of 2008, Rose has been involved in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship, where he has volunteered repairing houses and participating in other fundraisers and community events.
With a score of 1370 out of 1600 on his SATs, Rose was well-qualified to apply to the Naval Academy.
The acceptance process is lengthy and begins with submitting an online form to the academy and then hoping to hear back. If contacted, the applicant begins to petition for the support of a congressman or senator. Rose contacted U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski before getting the endorsement of Bartlett. In order to do that, Rose underwent interviews until he was nominated out of 10 others who requested Bartlett’s support.
Rose is also getting support from his family. David Rose, his father, Michelle Fagan, his mother, and younger siblings Danielle Rose and Tanner Fagan are all very proud of him.
“It was like it was too good to be true, it was almost like it was destiny,” said Michelle.
Physical capability is also a requirement and each applicant must pass the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Boards. From there, the academy has the final say. They look for “triple-qualified” people, which means those approved physically, by a senator or congressman, and by the academy.
On Jan. 28, Rose received his acceptance letter.
“I am really pleased. Our district has the most students in the country,” said Bartlett.
Rose said that each class at the Naval Academy is comprised of approximately 1,000 students and of those, about 900 go into the Navy upon graduation. The rest make up the Marines, with a very small percentage joining the Army and Air Force. Rose has aspirations to join the aviation sector of the Navy upon graduation.
“A naval aviator has a short amount of stick (flying) time. I would like to fly an F-35 joint strike fighter,” said Rose. Although Rose does not know whether he will continue his military career past the required eight years in the aviation program, he does want to stay in the airplane industry, perhaps designing airplanes.
In high school, Rose was co-captain of the sprinters in indoor and outdoor track his junior year. He is also a certified lifeguard. Not only are academics highly considered, but athleticism as well.
“We look at a variety of attributes,” said Bartlett, “In today’s world, academics are a bit more important than athletics. We take the best of the best.”
Department of Defense medical review board issues either a qualified, remedial or disqualified evaluation based on physical fitness. The exam tests everything from eyesight to physical stamina, in physical, oral and written forms. Passing is required in order to move on, but for the most part, academia is the main focus.
“The military is a great place for nerds,” said Bartlett.
