Second lieutenant in the context of "U.S. Naval Academy"

The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the second oldest of the five U.S. service academies and it educates midshipmen for service in the officer corps of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. It is part of the Naval University System. The 338-acre (137 ha) campus is located on the former grounds of Fort Severn at the confluence of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County, 33 miles (53 km) east of Washington, D.C., and 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Baltimore. The entire campus, known colloquially as the Yard, is a National Historic Landmark and home to many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum in Philadelphia that had served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845, at which time the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis.

Candidates for admission generally must apply directly to the academy and apply separately for a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Students are officers-in-training with the rank of midshipman. Tuition for midshipmen is fully funded by the Navy in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,200 "plebes" (an abbreviation of the Ancient Roman word plebeian) enter the academy each summer for the rigorous Plebe Summer. About 1,000 midshipmen graduate and commission. Graduates are commissioned as either ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps, but a small number can also be cross-commissioned as officers in other U.S. services, and the services of allied nations. The United States Naval Academy has some of the highest-paid graduates in the country according to starting salary. The academic program grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades midshipmen's performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Midshipmen are required to adhere to the academy's Honor Concept.

Ensign (/ˈɛnsən/; Late Middle English, from Old French enseigne ["mark", "symbol", "signal"; "flag", "standard", "pennant"], from Latin insignia [plural]) is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy.

As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the regimental colors, the rank acquired the name "ensign". This rank has generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. An ensign was generally the lowest-ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern existed.

Colin Luther Powell (/ˈkoʊlɪn ˈpaʊəl/ KOH-lin POW-əl; (1937-04-05)April 5, 1937 – (2021-10-18)October 18, 2021) was an American Army general, diplomat, and statesman who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. Originally a member of the Republican Party, he was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th national security advisor from 1987 to 1989, and the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.

Powell was born in New York City in 1937 to parents who immigrated from Jamaica. He was raised in the South Bronx and educated in the New York City public schools, earning a bachelor's degree in geology from the City College of New York. He joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps while at City College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on graduating in 1958. He was a professional soldier for 35 years, holding many command and staff positions and rising to the rank of four-star general. He was commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command in 1989.

James Rattray (1818 – 24 October 1854) was a British soldier and artist.

At the time of making his notable sketches, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Grenadiers, Bengal Army, serving in Afghanistan.

General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, during World War II. He was Eisenhower's chief of staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the campaign in Western Europe from 1944 to 1945.

Smith enlisted as a private in the Indiana Army National Guard in 1911. During World War I, he served with the American Expeditionary Forces and was commissioned to second lieutenant in 1917. He was wounded in the Aisne-Marne Offensive in 1918. After the war, he was a staff officer and instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School. In 1941, he became secretary of the General Staff, and in 1942 he became the secretary to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. His duties involved taking part in discussions of war plans at the highest level, and Smith often briefed President Franklin D. Roosevelt on strategic matters.

Bernard Adolph "Bennie" Schriever (14 September 1910 – 20 June 2005) was a United States Air Force general who played a major role in the Air Force's space and ballistic missile programs.

Born in Bremen, Germany, Schriever immigrated to the United States as a boy and became a naturalized US citizen in 1923. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1931, and was commissioned as a reserve second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He transferred to the United States Army Air Corps and was awarded his wings and a commission as a reservist second lieutenant in 1933. In 1937, he was released from active duty at his own request and became a pilot with Northwest Airlines, but he returned to the Air Corps with a regular commission in 1938.

William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of Apollo 8, the first three people to leave low-Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. Along with fellow astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, he circled the Moon ten times, and broadcast live images and commentary back to Earth, including the Christmas Eve Genesis reading. During one of the mission's lunar orbits, he took the iconic Earthrise photograph.

A 1955 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Anders was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF the same year and became a fighter pilot flying Northrop F-89 Scorpions equipped with AIR-2A nuclear-tipped air-to-air rockets. In 1962, he earned a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) of Air University, and was sent to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory to manage the technical aspects of the service's nuclear reactor programs.

A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second lieutenant or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant. Some special units, such as specific aviation platoons and special forces, require a captain as platoon leader, due to the nature and increased responsibility of such assignments. Platoons normally consist of three or four sections (Commonwealth) or squads (US).