USNA 29th Company

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall


The company is the most important unit in the Brigade of Midshipmen. Companies eat, sleep, study, drill, and compete together. Comprised of roughly 30-35 midshipmen from each of all four classes, they are led by 1/c Midshipmen. There are currently 30 companies in the Brigade, though this number has ranged from 8 in the late 1920s to 36 from the late 1940s to the late 1990s.

Some classes are in the same company for all four years; there is also "shotgunning" (all midshipmen in a class, usually following plebe year, are moved randomly to a different company) and "rifling" (again usually following plebe year, an entire group would move from one company to another). Even though many alumni were a part of more than one company during their four years at the Naval Academy, the list below is reflective of the company from which they graduated.


1949 Goulburn LB.jpg
Franklin Goulburn, Jr.
Class of 1949

LTJG, USN

Collingswood, New Jersey

June 21, 1951 (23 years old)

Operational loss, Patrol Squadron (VP) 9, Fixed Wing, USNA 29th Company


1949 Ousterhout LB.jpg
Dean Ousterhout
Class of 1949

East Lansing, Michigan

May 2, 1963 (36 years old)

USNA 29th Company


1950 Raab LB.jpg
Frank Raab, Jr.
Class of 1950

LTJG, USN

Kansas City, Missouri

September 27, 1952 (24 years old)

Operational loss, Fleet All Weather Training Unit, Fixed Wing, USNA 29th Company

He is not currently listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall.

1950 Raab LB.jpg Frank Raab, Jr.
Class of 1950
LTJG, USN
Operational loss, Fleet All Weather Training Unit, Fixed Wing, USNA 29th Company

He is not currently listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall.





1973 Caesar LB.jpg
Frederick Caesar, III
Class of 1973

LTJG, USN

Clark, New Jersey

January 20, 1977 (25 years old)

Operational loss, Coast Guard, Helicopter, USNA 29th Company




1977 Readman LB.jpg
William Readman
Class of 1977

LTJG, USN

International Falls, Minnesota

February 26, 1980 (25 years old)

Operational loss, Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130, Fixed Wing, USNA 29th Company


1977 Watkins LB.jpg
James Watkins
Class of 1977

LTJG, USN

Chula Vista, California

September 11, 1980 (25 years old)

Operational loss, Attack Squadron (VA) 195, Fixed Wing, USNA 29th Company