#032. Angela Bailey - United States Naval Academy Protocol Advisor to the Commandant of Midshipmen and Brigade Social Instructor

Angela Bailey is the Protocol Advisor to the Commandant of Midshipmen and Brigade Social Director.

Angela Bailey once attended Ring Dance, and was impressed by the etiquette and manners of the Midshipmen. Her date informed her that Etiquette and Protocol is a part of a Midshipman’s curriculum all four years, and that they had an instructor for it all. Angela, having received formal etiquette training herself, remarked that it would be an interesting job to have, and now, years later, she’s doing exactly that. 

Angela is now the Protocol Advisor to the Commandant of Midshipmen and Social Instructor to the Brigade of Midshipmen. 

So what exactly are etiquette and protocol? Why are they things that matter among life and death military training? Grant—your Academy Insider—and Angela discuss that and more in this latest edition of the Academy Insider podcast. 

Angela shares, when you are a Midshipman, you are an “ambassador of the United States, and of the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Navy once you’re in the fleet.”

“At the end of the day, [etiquette] is about putting others ahead of yourself.”

There are military protocols that Angela and similar advisors know, such as the proper order for dignitaries to be seated on stage at an event, or how flags must be situated. 

Plebes-to-be can look forward to one “very fancy, sit down dinner” during the first set of Plebe Summer training, which is the first opportunity that Angela will have to instruct the newest midshipmen. Later in the summer, Angela gets the plebes ready to meet their new sponsor families by teaching them sponsor etiquette.

From then on, Angela meets with each class of midshipmen once a semester for the rest of their time at the Academy. 

There are many more key learnings and insight into this unique aspect of the Academy, that only Angela can share.

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The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.

Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast and the USNA Property Network Podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.

He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a boutique residential real estate company that specializes in serving the United States Naval Academy community PCSing to California & Texas.

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