GALVESTON, Texas — A guaranteed sight on Texas A&M University at Galveston’s campus is students in Navy-issued khaki uniforms.
The Galveston County Daily News reports this year, 579 of the students on the Pelican Island campus participate in the Texas A&M Maritime Academy and the Corps of Cadets.
The Maritime Academy’s mission is to provide Texas and the United States with highly trained, U.S. Coast Guard licensed merchant officers to serve on ocean and inland waterways vessels, according to its website. The Corps of Cadets is part of the academy and its mission is developing character and leadership, members said.
The Corps of Cadets began in 1962 at Texas A&M in College Station. A year later, the program began on the Galveston campus, which was a year after the campus was founded.
With 579 students in the Maritime Academy, 23 percent of the 2,507 enrolled TAMUG students participate in the Corps of Cadets.
The goal of the program is to develop disciplined young adults who are ready to take on any job thrown at them, officials said.
Midshipman Caitlin Bezecny, a senior, is a merchant marine major pursuing a license in both Navy and merchant marine options.
