US Naval Academy fires commandant less than 6 months into role

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5. Naval Academy Commandant fired just six months into role

Naval Academy Commandant fired just six months into role

Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr. took over as the Commandant of Midshipmen in June. He was relieved for "a loss of confidence in his ability to lead."

Matt White, Nicholas Slayton
Published Nov 24, 2025 2:51 PM EST


Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr. Navy photo.

In the third major leadership change in less than six months at the U.S. Naval Academy, the senior officer who directly oversees the school’s 4,400 midshipmen was relieved of his position Monday, less than six months into his tour on the Annapolis, Maryland campus.

Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr. was removed as the Naval Academy Commandant by the school’s Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, on Monday. Capt. Austin Jackson, a Navy SEAL and former troop commander at the secretive SEAL Team 6, was named the interim Commandant. He had been serving as the Deputy Commandant. ... Clark graduated from the school in 1998, where he played on the water polo team.

Clark’s departure is the third turnover among senior officers at the school in six months. Both Clark and Borgschulte are in their first semester at the school. Clark took over in June after Captain Walter H. Allman, also a SEAL, left the position after about a year, following a promotion.

Borgschulte took over as Superintendent in August when Navy Vice. Adm. Yvette M. Davids was moved out of the position about 18 months into the job. Under the school’s legal charter, the superintendent is slated as a three-year tour. Davids was one of several high-ranking women in the military fired or moved out of high-visibility jobs in the early months of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s time on the job. ... Davids was the first woman to hold the position of Superintendent, while Borgschulte became the first Marine in the job.

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Matt White
Senior Editor
Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.

Nicholas Slayton
Contributing Editor
Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs).