The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) graduated 188 new merchant marine and military officers during its 90th commencement ceremony.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy, whose department oversees the Academy, one of the Nation’s five service academies, introduced the keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll.

Driscoll delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2026 before an audience of more than 3,000 family members, friends, alumni and representatives from the federal government, U.S. military and maritime industry.

Driscoll emphasized the enduring partnership between the Army and the Merchant Marine, both of which predate the Nation itself, as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary: 

“Two days before the Army was officially established on June 14, 1775, a group of local fishermen and sailors in Maine armed themselves with axes and muskets, inspired by Lexington and Concord. They commandeered ships and chased down a British schooner. They boarded her and captured warships of the most powerful navy at the time.

For the rest of the American Revolution, merchant mariners harassed British supply lines and enabled our Army to win. That was the birth of the United States Merchant Marine in fire and fury and revolution.

Just eight days ago, the United States Army celebrated its 251st birthday, which is also a celebration of our shared heritage, because our two institutions have been inextricably linked for over 250 years.

The Army was built to win our nation’s wars, and the Merchant Marine was built to ensure we actually get to the battlefield and then sustain the fight once we’re there. In every single major conflict abroad, sealift has delivered Army heavy metal to the fight — from the shores of Cuba and the Philippines, to the beaches of Normandy, the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of the Middle East.

The most powerful weapons do not simply appear on the battlefield. They are delivered by mariners. All of you on this field are what keep our Army and the joint force moving around the world, and you are more important now than ever before.”

The Academy awarded each graduate a Bachelor of Science degree, a U.S. Coast Guard license as a merchant marine deck or engine officer, and a commission as an officer in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Rear Adm. Michael E. Platt, USCG, commander of the Coast Guard Northeast District, administered the Merchant Mariner Oath. Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, USN, USMMA Class of 1993 and commander of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, administered the oath of office for newly commissioned officers.

The Academy recognized its top academic graduates. Midshipman John Walter Smolenski, a maritime logistics and security major from Colonia, New Jersey, earned valedictorian honors with a 3.87 GPA. Midshipman Connor Conrad Crymes, a marine engineering systems major from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, earned salutatorian honors with a 3.83 GPA. Each will sail on their license and serve a as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserve.