<p>Nine international students reported to the U.S. Naval Academy as members of the Class of 2011 during Induction Day on June 27.</p>
<p>The students hail from Singapore, Tunisia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Madagascar, Albania, Belize, and the Federated States of Micronesia, and join the ranks of more than 1,200 "plebes," or freshmen, at the Academy.</p>
<p>"I heard from my father that this program was available, but I never thought that I would be selected," said Midshipman 4th Class Alban Dafa of Albania. "I am very proud to be the first from my country to be given this opportunity." </p>
<p>Dafa plans on studying political science while attending the academy and hopes to be able to bring greater stability to his homeland with his education. Upon graduating from the academy, Dafa will be commissioned in the Albanian Navy, where he will serve a minimum of six years.</p>
<p>"One of the larger goals of the program is building relationships with the international midshipmen who will hopefully go on to become leaders of their government and navy, thereby strengthening our alliance with those countries," said Cathy Trebelhorn, Naval Academy assistant head of Nominations and Appointments. "Also, having international midshipmen in the Brigade presents our midshipmen with a broader world prospective."</p>
<p>Each year the U.S. State Department invites selected countries to nominate up to six candidates for con-sideration into the one of the United States service academies' Foreign Student Programs. Nominations must be submitted through the appropriate diplomatic channels, i.e. the Defense Attache Office, the Military Liai-son Office, or the U.S. Embassy in the country.</p>
<p>Foreign appointments to the service academies are very competitive, with almost 90 nominations to the Naval Academy alone. To be considered for admission, candidates must be between the ages of 17 and 23, unmarried and a citizen of the nominating country.</p>
<p>Admissions officers at the service academies use almost the same criterion for selecting foreign applicants as they do when reviewing U.S. applicants. The only difference is that the foreign candidates must be certified as proficient in spoken English and pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language exam. Applicants with a national service obligation to their country upon graduation are given priority during the selection process, as are applicants from "priority countries."</p>
<p>The Office of the Secretary of Defense selects priority countries based on the potential positive short or long-term impact on U.S. security of the participation of a student from that country.</p>
<p>This year, six of the nine international students are from a priority country.</p>
<p>The international students arrived at the Naval Academy approximately 10 days prior to their American counterparts. The extra time allows them to get acclimated to their new surroundings, and gives them a chance to adapt to the American way of doing business.</p>
<p>During this time, the international midshipmen are escorted by recently commissioned ensigns, who not only make sure that the midshipmen are getting to where they need to be, but are also introducing them to American culture; bringing them to the local mall, the supermarket, visiting the nation's capital, and attending a Washington Nationals baseball game.</p>
<p>"We really try to get them ready for the rigors of plebe summer and academy life in general," said Ensign Scott Urbaschich, International Midshipmen Orientation officer. "We run mock PRT's (physical readiness tests) with them, introduce them to members of the International Midshipmen Club, and give them a thorough overview of what will be expected of them during plebe summer and their four years at the academy."</p>
<p>This is the first year that Albania, Madagascar, and Azerbaijan have sent students to Annapolis. The nine international members of the Class of 2011 bring the Naval Academy's total number of international students to 49.</p>
<p>Story Number: NNS070629-18 - Release Date: 6/29/2007 1:54:00 PM
Copyright 2007 Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
Defense Department Documents and Publications
June 29, 2007</p>