"ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- When Navy quarterback Blake Horvath returned to his dorm room during Army-Navy week last season, he found pictures of Army quarterback Bryson Daily taped all over his door. Elsewhere, banners had mysteriously appeared in the dining hall, reading, "GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY." The likely suspects? West Point cadets spending a semester in Annapolis, Maryland, as exchange students. It's a program that will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year -- one of several enduring traditions between the two academies."
""They bought a Marine Corps raincoat, cut it as fabric, and then sewed -- and then this is what impressed me because it took time and skill -- they sewed together a miniskirt for me to wear and they got a Marine Corps sweatshirt and they cropped it," Navy senior Michael Middleton said. "They stole all of my uniforms, all of my civilian clothes.""
"(Last year's antics were relatively tame compared to "Operation Black Knight Falling" in 2022, when five Navy midshipmen led three flight crews in formation over the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and dropped thousands of BEAT ARMY ping-pong balls and leaflets on campus.) After spending a semester at their rival school, the tradition culminates when the exchange students stand front and center on the 50-yard line ahead of the Army-Navy football game in what is casually referred to as a "prisoner""
Service academy exchange students swap semesters at rival institutions and participate in long-standing rivalry traditions during Army-Navy week. West Point cadets in Annapolis posted pictures of opposing players on dorm doors and placed banners in dining facilities. Navy midshipmen sent to West Point experienced stolen uniforms and were made to wear improvised costumes, including sewn-together miniskirts and altered Marine Corps apparel. In 2022, five midshipmen executed "Operation Black Knight Falling," flying formation over West Point and releasing thousands of BEAT ARMY ping-pong balls and leaflets. The exchange concludes with students appearing on the 50-yard line in a ceremonial "prisoner" presentation at the Army-Navy game.
Read at ESPN.com
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