Earlier this spring, SOMB got connected with the Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress (LOC) and had the opportunity to meet and speak with the VHP director, Monica Mohindra, and tour the VHP space and the LOC. And that's when we learned that the VHP needs more stories from women veterans. Of course, we agree - there should be more stories out there from women who have served, including women from USNA.

Please join us to hear Monica speak with Jeannette about the VHP, what it does, and some of the stories that have stuck with her over the years. And please consider contributing your story to the VHP -- Jeannette and Chris (also '98) plan to do so in August.

If you're interested in learning more, please take a look at these sites - you can find some of the stories Monica shared (Jamie Fox, George Pearcy, Robert Augur, and many more)

https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/about-this-program/ https://www.facebook.com/vetshistoryproject https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/category/veterans-history-project/ https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.101245/

Monica, thank you so much for joining us for the discussion and for all that you do! And women (and all alums) from USNA -- please go share your story! Everyone has a story to share, and our stories are important.

Hi everyone! Please join us (Jeannette and Kate) as we have the privilege of talking with and learning from the amazing Sandra Fontaine, USNA 81 -- part of the second class with women and one of the first women to commission into the Marine Corps out of USNA. Please join and listen to Sandra's experiences at USNA and in the Corps -- about being in the second class with women at Navy, going through gender-segregated training in the Corps, facing discrimination, building tent cities, and traveling the world. Sandra, thank you so much for joining us! And thank you to the Alumni Association for your support of this work - and to the USNA Women's Glee Club for letting us use your voices to sing us in and out!

Please join us to meet and learn from Erin (Deeds) Beaty '00! Erin doesn't sit still well, as we've learned - from majoring in Aero (Astro track) at USNA, to serving as a SWO (and managing the stress of being a new parent with being a JO on her first ship), to being a published author (of FIVE books), to managing a family with five kids and an active duty Navy husband, to working her way through an accelerated track in nursing school (to graduate in 2027). We're thrilled to get to meet and talk with Erin in this post-50th episode - Erin, thank you so much for joining us during what sounds like an incredibly busy time! (And if you're interested, she has a "Meet the Author" site -- https://www.erinbeaty.com/copy-of-about - take a look at some of her books. We get to talk with the coolest people.)

Thank you as well to the USNA Women's Glee Club for lending us your voices for the podcast.

Beware - some strong feelings here. All of the feelings. About two weeks after the 50th events, Kate, Shannon, and Jeannette met up to talk through their complex feelings and thoughts in the aftermath of that meaningful and wonderful weekend...including both how we feel about the Academy's silence around the 50th anniversary and how amazing it was to have the support of the broader alumni community and the Alumni Association and Foundation.

Please join us.

Hi everyone - we are thrilled to introduce this podcast episode! For this recording, we were so very honored and excited to be joined by Ms. Mouzetta Zumwalt-Weathers (daughter of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., CNO 19), who came on the podcast to talk with us about her father's legacy, the 50th anniversary event, and what it was like to be a teenager in the house of the CNO during such a dynamic and combustible period in the history of the US Navy.

Please join us and listen... forgive us as we get a bit overcome at times, especially as we talk with Mouzetta about how her father's vision and changemaking directly impacted our lives. Mouzetta joined USNA Women for the 50th anniversary events, and we celebrate the knowledge that her father's leadership helped shape a world where all of us were able to attend the Academy and serve in the Navy and Marine Corps ... talk about a full circle moment.

Thank you, Mouzetta! You are carrying the torch of your father's legacy - which lives on through all of us today - and we are so very grateful! Thank you as well to the voices of the USNA Women's Glee Club and for the support of the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation for this podcast.

Please join us for our last live episode from the 50th! This time, we get to sit down with the amazing CAPT Tasya Lacy, USNA '97, to talk about family, service, track, singing, and inclusion. We overlapped with Tasya at USNA, so it was fantastic to reconnect with her - especially as the events of the 50th surrounded us and lifted us up. And - since this was the morning after the Gala - we got to talk about how it felt to dance and celebrate as a group after all of these years.

This is our final live episode, BUT -- stay tuned... we have a number of post-50th podcasts coming up, to include an interview with Ms. Mouzetta Zumwalt-Weathers, the youngest child of CNO 19, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr. We are on a high from all of these.

Thank you for being willing to join us and talk, Tasya! You inspire us and it was so wonderful to reconnect! Thank you as well to the USNA Women's Glee Club for sharing your amazing voices and to the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation for your continued, irreplaceable support of our work! And thank you to Natasha Schleper and Chris Servillo (99) for being rock star editors!

We are so excited to share this episode from the 50th, where Shannon, Jenn, and Jeannette had the opportunity to sit down with Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) 33 (and, if you've been living under a rock, the first female CNO)! We recorded this on Saturday, April 18, just before she sat down for a fireside chat as part of the 50th events. If you can't tell from our voices, we were kind of overwhelmed at having the chance to speak with her and hear about her experiences and perspective. Talk about coming full circle... a theme which we will revisit in another podcast coming shortly after this one.

Please join us as we learn from ADM Franchetti - about her journey from journalism student at Northwestern through her launch into the surface Navy and eventual appointment as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations. And so much in between. Thank you to ADM Franchetti for being generous with your time, for making us cry, and for staying from start to finish to celebrate this momentous occasion. You inspire us, ma'am - THANK YOU!

Hi everyone - this is our second episode live from the 50th events April 16-19, 2026. Please join us this time as we get the opportunity to speak with and learn from RADM Julius Caesar (Ret.), Class of '77 -- Distinguished Graduate, retired Surface Warfare Officer, leader in the Naval Academy Minority Association SIG, and all around amazing human being! He was on hand to support the women of USNA at the 50th and joined us for a mini-episode.

Again, please excuse our exuberance in the podcast -- our big feelings and consumption of copious amounts of caffeine continued in this epside. Thank you so much to RADM Caesar for joining us and for being a leader and ally. This was such a fun conversation ... and we got to think about what it would be like to show up for Plebe Summer with the name "Julius Caesar" -- that must have been character-building!

Please stay tuned for additional mini-episodes in the coming week.

Ok y'all - for the next few episodes, we'll be featuring speakers and special guests live from the Annapolis events to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of women at USNA! These are shorter episodes that we managed to record amidst the craziness - thanks to our guests, who were willing to miss out on a few minutes of the broader programming. Our first guest was LtGen Lori Reynolds, USMC (Ret.), from the class of 1986. LtGen Reynolds was one of the speakers on the "Warfighters Answering the Call" panel, which focused on the key roles of women in warfighting roles in the military. Please join us as we talk with LtGen Reynolds just as the events get rolling! And you'll have to excuse our exuberance in the podcast... we had lots of caffeine and lots of feelings.

Thank you to LtGen Reynolds for giving us her time and energy - and to John Schofield and the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation team for their fantastic, invaluable support! In fact, we recorded these on their equipment, so any weird sounds or mistakes are due to our rookie-ness.

It's the week of the 50th anniversary events in Annapolis (and West Point and Colorado Springs)...in anticipation of the events, Jeff Webb '95, President and CEO of the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation, met with Jeannette at the Fluegel Alumni Center in Annapolis.

Please join us to learn about Jeff's path from the cycling team and ocean engineering at Navy to the SEAL teams to Run to Honor and the private sector ... and onto the Alumni Association and Foundation. And also -- Tainted Love, Welcome to the Jungle, and Nirvana.

Thank you to Jeff and the entire Alumni Association and Foundation team for all of the support (and hosting) you're providing for the 50th anniversary events! We are so grateful for your support and leadership! Thank you as well to Chris Servillo '99 and Natasha Schleper for your magnificent editing, for John Schofield for all of the support you've given us over the past year, and to the USNA Women's Glee Club for lending us your voices for the opening and closing music.