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Rear Adm. James McNeal '86, U.S. Navy, Retired and is an expert on the Herndon Climb.

He joins Grant on the podcast and tells the story of the Herndon monument and most specifically the tradition of the climb which he considers the Naval Academy's greatest tradition.

Rear Adm. McNeal is "the expert" on this topic. He is humble, funny and a great storyteller and you will love this episode.

He has written the book The Herndon Climb: A History of the United States Naval Academy's Greatest Tradition.

A native of Granada Hills, CA, Rear Adm. James R. McNeal graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor's degree in 1986 and holds a Master of Science in Organizational Management from Chadron State College. He graduated from the Advanced Joint Professional Military Education program at the Joint Forces Staff College and is Joint Qualified System (JQS) level II qualified.

His personal decorations include Legion of Merit (two awards), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards) and other unit and campaign commendations. He is a qualified Surface Warfare Supply Corps officer and Navy Expeditionary Supply Corps officer.

Rear Adm. McNeal served six years active duty and twenty five years in the reserves retiring in 2017.  He now is back in Annapolis and coaches on the Sprint football staff.

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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.

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