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My guest is author Ricky Conlin.  He is a proud member of the mighty class of 1999, was an economics major and a member of the sixth company. 

Ricky describes himself as a very mediocre midshipman. He graduated smack dab in the middle of the class militarily and was relatively quiet. He did stand 14 days of collective restrictions. He played varsity football at the Naval Academy. He describes his football career also as mediocre but is a really, really proud member of the Navy Football Brotherhood and has friends from there to this day that he keeps in touch with. 

He graduated, served as an officer and eventually became a novelist. Ricky has had the opportunity to write all about his Naval Academy experience in the first book of his trilogy The Black N.  He has some forthcoming books on the horizon.

Ricky and Grant discuss what a Black N is (The Naval Academy scarlet letter). You get it for getting the maximum disciplinary penalty without getting expelled. Ricky never received a Black N but does hold some sort of unofficial Naval Academy record in that he has lived with five different Black N "winners"... all from separate disciplinary incidents.

Ricky tells some great stories from his Naval Academy experience and makes an announcement about his next book in the trilogy Sex in the Hall.

Ricky is thoughtful, funny and a proud graduate of the academy that lets readers with his fictional novels behind the scenes of the midshipmen life.

His book The Black N is a must-read for those who love stories set at the naval academy with a little edge to the story.  Please order a copy today on Amazon here.  I highly recommend it.

The Black N is described as - Sometimes good guys do bad things: The nineties were a turbulent time for the U.S. Naval A

The Vermeer Group is a residential real company matching military families with trusted real estate teams across the country.  If you have any real estate questions at all, please text Grant at (650) 282-1964 or email [email protected]

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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. 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 residential real estate company that matches service academy families with trusted real estate teams all across the country. Text (650) 282-1964 with any real estate questions.

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

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If you are interested in sponsoring the podcast, have an idea, question or topic you would like to see covered, reach out: email [email protected] or text Grant at (443) 951-3064