The back-and-forth duel between the Army and Navy teams has gone uninterrupted since 1930, but the interservice battle dates back even further to their first matchup – November 29, 1890. The Navy Midshipmen played the fledgling Army Black Knights, beating the newcomers in the name of their branch and kicking off a rivalry that has persisted for over a century. In the moment, taking the win from the Army is the goal of the Midshipmen. But in the long run, the real triumph is in lessons the players take off the field into their military careers and beyond.
Former Midshipmen Wyatt Middleton, now Lt. Cmdr. and Officer-in-Charge at Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) Program Management Office, Flight Systems, and Mike Davis, retired U. S. Marine Corps Major and current Nuclear Weapons Security Policy Lead at SSP, reminisced on their time playing Naval Academy football, and how the values instilled in them back then apply to the work they do today.
“It’s the ultimate team sport. I played offensive line, the ultimate position in the ultimate team sport,” said Davis.
According to Davis, it’s reminiscent of both his time in the Marine Corps and his current work today at SSP, where working as a team is critical because “you’re not looking for the lone ranger to come help you.”
Meeting the academic challenge of the prestigious and stringent United States Naval Academy, while also focusing on playing football, is an accomplishment few collegiate athletes can claim. Though they played in different roles, different eras, and with different outcomes, the two former Midshipmen agree that those experiences helped mold them into who they are today and shape how they face the challenges of supporting the Navy’s strategic deterrence mission at SSP. As the Navy’s command responsible for Navy Nuclear Weapons Programs and strategic deterrence capabilities, SSP provides the bedrock of national defense ensuring the most survivable leg of nuclear deterrence.
Middleton played from 2007 to 2010, in the midst of Navy’s domination in the rivalry and the longest win streak in Army-Navy history. Playing safety, Middleton was there to experience four wins against the Black Knights. In his final year at the academy he was voted team captain, helping to lead the team to victory. He personally added to the historic win streak with his own record, completing the longest fumble return in Army-Navy history.
In fact, Middleton’s tenure was part of a fourteen-year win streak for Navy from 2002 to 2015. More recently, Army has won six of the last eight Army-Navy games, coming out on top both of the last two times the teams have met.
According to Middleton, the same pride in his work that served him on a winning Navy team is something he’s worked to maintain throughout his career. Middleton shared his advice for success.
“Take pride in becoming a student of the game…I applied my dedication of learning the game to the classroom, and I do that to this day. Getting to know your job, people, and everything in between. Investing in everything you do is how you make the mission successful,” said Middleton.
That being said, success on the gridiron or in work is no guarantee. When it comes to Army-Navy football, in the past decade the teams have been more evenly matched than perhaps ever before. The 2016 and 2017 games were two of the only four games since 1963 that had both teams entering the field with a winning record, and in 2022, the game ended in a nail-biting double overtime. Prior to that game, no Army-Navy game had ever gone past the fourth quarter.
There are more than a few parallels to be drawn between being a leader when it comes to sports and being a leader when it comes to the workplace. Their shared history as Midshipmen means Davis and Middleton are no strangers to pressure, and the ability to be confident in the team is particularly important in the work Davis and Middleton do within SSP.
“You’re under a lot of pressure… Getting yourself through that, and then getting people younger than you through that, that’s valuable,” said Davis. “At some point, you’re going to be a leader…you’re invested in those younger guys because you want the team to succeed.”
Despite his own successes, Middleton stresses that in the end, everything comes down to how the team works together. “Every job is equal, no job is greater than any other,” Middleton said. Relating it to his work at SSP, he said, “You’re not going to be successful if only one person does their job, and you’re not going to be successful if one person isn’t doing their job.”
Davis echoes the sentiment. “If I know my assignment, that’s good. If I know the assignment of the person next to me, that’s better. But if I know the assignment of the person next to that person, we are going to operate as the most effective team possible,” Davis said.
“Just like SSP, it’s dynamic. You need to know what you do here, but you should also know what the other people in your section do. As the people and tasks around you shift, you need to know how to shift with them.”
Davis, who played from 1988 to 1992, was a Midshipmen before the Midshipmen settled into an era of domination. Playing guard, Davis was on the front lines for two Navy wins, but he was also on those same front lines for two Navy losses. Highlighting the atmosphere of the rivalry, Davis said, “there’s nothing more painful than losing an Army-Navy game, and there’s nothing more enjoyable than winning one.”
Leadership lessons on the field helped lead him to where he is today, Middleton said. “Being team captain, and having the opportunity to be a leader among leaders at the Naval Academy…gave me the skills to be a great officer.”
“If you’re going to do something, you’re going to do it to the best of your ability,” Davis said. “A lot of it is about what can you do to get better, and getting better requires effort.”
The rival football teams have demonstrated that effort throughout the season. Both teams won the first six games this year, and the dual winning streak seemed on a path of pitting the Black Knights and the Midshipmen against one another twice in the same season for the first time in nearly eighty years. The December 14th game slated to be the 125th clash had the potential to actually be the 126th match up as hope persisted for the teams to play each other early in December for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) title. The Midshipmen rounded out the overall season fourth in the conference with an 8-3 record, and the Black Knights head into the ACC Championship game at 10-1. The double match-up is no longer a possibility, but the pressure is still on for the big game.
Hundreds of thousands of loyal fans will turn up for the annual gridiron battle, cheering “Beat Army!” and “Beat Navy!” and hoping it’s their team’s turn to take the lead. Whatever the score at the end of the game, the Midshipmen and the Black Knights ultimately come together under the same flag to defend our Nation. As General Douglas MacArthur said, “On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields, will bear the fruits of victory.”
But on December 14th, “Beat Army” will be the only battle cry you’ll hear from Middleton and Davis!
This "Former USNA Midshipmen Discuss Working as a Team, On and Off the Field" was originally found on https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Term/3087/
