US Naval Academy fires commandant less than 6 months into role
Source: The Hill
Defense
US Naval Academy fires commandant less than 6 months into role
by Filip Timotija - 11/24/25 4:53 PM ET
The United States Naval Academy fired the commandant of midshipmen, Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr., on Monday due to a “loss of confidence in his ability to effectively lead” the brigade, removing him than his position less than half a year after he assumed the post.
Clark, who assumed the role in June, was axed by Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte. ... “The naval service maintains the highest standards for leaders and holds them accountable when those standards are not met,” the Naval Academy said Monday.
For now, Clark will be succeeded by Capt. Austin Jackson, currently a deputy commandant of midshipmen, as an interim commandant. ... The school did not provide further details about the reason for the dismissal. The U.S. Navy commonly references “loss of confidence” when firing senior leaders.
Clark’s firing marks another shake-up in the senior leadership at the school, based in Annapolis, Md., this year. Clark assumed his post in June after Capt. Walter H. Allman, a former Navy SEAL, departed. ... Borgschulte, the superintendent, began his position in August after Navy Vice. Adm. Yvette M. Davids, the first woman to serve as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, was reassigned in July by the Pentagon.
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Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5620898-us-naval-academy-fires-commandant/
Hat tip, WJZ in Baltimote during the local news
= new reply since forum marked as read
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).
