Plebe Summer Series: Being Your Best Every Day with Guest Troy Thompson '17 USN

Grant and Troy Thompson discuss plebe summer, leadership lessons learned at the United States Naval Academy and being your best every day.

I specifically wanted Troy to be my first guest on the plebe summer experience series of the academy insider podcast because there are few individuals that I have more respect for than Troy. Troy is an amazing person and an amazing leader and he excelled as a midshipman. He's incredibly smart, thoughtful, and I specifically remember remarking to my dad during my time at the academy that he was going to do big things one day.

Troy was a standout midshipman and there are not many more people I respect more in the world than Troy who is dedicated to excellence in everything he does.

Troy Thompson is a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States Navy, currently located in Sasebo, Japan.

He was raised in Powder Springs, GA, and attended Hillgrove High School. After his matriculation through high school, Troy attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 2017 with a Bachelors of Science in Cyber Operations. At the Academy, Troy was a 4-year member of the football team, President of the National Society of Black Engineers Chapter, member and organizer of the MBSC, Mids for Kids, MAG, and STEM community service programs, and a Platoon Commander. As a cyber operations major, Troy participated in various projects/showcases and was a guest panelist for the UMUC School of Cyber Security and a guest speaker for a variety of organizations.

Troy and 12 other young men of the class of 2017 started the organization YBE (Your Best Everyday).  Their important cause and movement are growing and influencing people every day.  He has started a company and hopes to build a non-profit based on YBE.

It all came from the community that he and his friends built, that tight-knit group of 13 from the academy.  The number 13 has unique relevance due to the golden 13 who were the first officers of color in the navy. They take their legacy very seriously. They continue to do more things including t-shirts activities in the community, clothes drives, mentoring, tutoring, etc.

In this episode, Troy provides so much tremendous wisdom for midshipmen,

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.

We are here to be your guide through the USNA experience.

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