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Vice President JD Vance Addresses the Naval Academy's Class of 2025, May 23, 2025

May 23, 2025 · The White House · 2:31:39

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Vice President JD Vance delivered the commencement address at the United States Naval Academy’s graduation and commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 23, 2025 — the full ceremony, carried here, at which, as Provost Samara Firebaugh announced, 1,048 men and women graduated, including 14 graduates from 11 nations. Vance, then, as he noted, about 120 days into the vice presidency, told the class their education was “an investment by the American people… in the strength of your minds and the promise of your leadership,” and that technological change “only heightens the importance… of investing in our military’s human capital.”

His central pledge concerned how the administration would use them: “For too long, we asked too much of too few. Past leaders sent our service members on mission after mission with no exit strategy, no end in sight… the job we have taken on is to never misuse that sacrifice or never ask you to do something without a clear mission and a clear path home.” He advised the new officers — from his own enlisted Marine service — that the men and women they lead are their “most sacred charge,” and he remembered Major Megan McClung, a Naval Academy graduate and fellow Marine officer killed in Iraq, ahead of Memorial Day: “Memorial Day isn’t for those who served and came home, it is for those who served and didn’t.” He closed: “I’ve been Vice President for all of about 120 days… I have never in those 41 years been so proud as I am today to honor you.”

After the address, the class took its commissions: Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith administered the oath to the 257 midshipmen presented for commissioning into the Marine Corps, and Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jim Kilby presented 764 midshipmen for commissioning into the Navy and administered their oath, as the figures were announced at the ceremony. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan attended. Vance then presented diplomas to the graduates with distinction.

Why it matters

The Naval Academy address is the Vice President’s first service-academy commencement speech and the fullest statement of his view of the officer’s bargain: the country owes its warfighters a clear mission, and officers owe their people the same care the administration pledges to them. As the address of record to the Class of 2025, it anchors his Foreign Policy & Defense record for the year.

Sources: The White House, “Vice President JD Vance Addresses the Naval Academy’s Class of 2025” (official upload, embedded above; Annapolis, MD). Remarks and ceremony figures as delivered and announced at the event.