Nomination

The students of the Naval Academy are styled Midshipmen. Two Midshipmen are allowed for each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress, two for the District of Columbia, and five each year from the United States at large. The appointments from the District of Columbia and five each year at large are made by the President. One Midshipman is allowed from Porto Rico, who must be a native of that island. The appointment is made by the President, on the recommendation of the Governor of Porto Rico. The Congressional appointments are equitably distributed, so that in regular course each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress may appoint one Midshipman during each Congress. After June 30, 1913, each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress will be allowed to appoint but one Midshipman instead of two. The course for Midshipmen is six years - four years at the Academy, when the succeeding appointment is made, and two years at sea, at the expiration of which time the examination for final graduation takes place. Midshipmen who pass the examination for final graduation are appointed to fill vacancies in the lower grades of the Line of the Navy and of the Marine Corps, in the order of merit as determined by the Academic Board of the Naval Academy.

"The Secretary of the Navy shall, as soon as practicable after the fifth day of March in each year, notify in writing each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress of any vacancy which may be regarded as existing in the State, District, or Territory which he represents, and the nomination of a candidate to fill such vacancy shall be made upon the recommendation of the Senator, Representative, or Delegate. Such recommendation shall be made by the first day of June of that year, and if not so made the Secretary of the Navy shall fill the vacancy by the appointment of an actual resident of the State, District, or Territory in which the vacancy exists, who shall have been for at least two years immediately preceding his appointment an actual bona fide resident of the State, District, or Territory in which the vacancy exists, and shall have the qualifications otherwise prescribed by law."

(Act approved March 4, 1903.)

Candidates allowed for Congressional Districts, for Territories, and for the District of Columbia must be actual residents of the Districts or Territories, respectively, from which they are nominated.

All candidates must, at the time of their examination for admission, be between the ages of sixteen and twenty years. A candidate is eligible for appointment on the day he becomes sixteen, and is ineligible on the day he becomes twenty years of age.