Armed Forces News

Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy will begin learning how to navigate the way their ancestors did – by the stars. Fifteen years after the Navy dropped it, and nine years after the academy followed suit celestial-navigation instruction will be part of the curriculum at the Annapolis, Md., school. It will become part of the Navy’s Officer Professional Core Competencies manual. Interest in celestial navigation arose as Navy leadership contemplated emergency scenarios in which computers could become non-functional. “If we can navigate using celestial navigation, then we can always safely get from point A to point B,” said Cmdr. Adan Cruz, the academy’s director of professional development.