Three days before graduating from the Naval Academy, Cameron Kinley and Charlie Connolly were summoned to a meeting with the Commandant of Midshipmen – Col. James “J.P.” McDonough III.
McDonough informed the two senior athletes that their requests to delay active-duty service for the purpose or pursuing professional sports had been denied. Connolly and Kinley would learn later that acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Harker had declined to forward their packets seeking to pursue the pro sports option to the secretary of defense.
Lieutenant Emily Wilkin, a spokesman for the United States Navy, issued a statement to The Capital on Tuesday evening that revealed there were, in fact, “available avenues of review.