The Honor Concept and Honor Treatise are parts of the United States Naval Academy's Honor Program. Similar to the

Cadet Honor Code In the United States, a Cadet Honor Code is a system of ethics or code of conduct applying to cadets studying at military academies. These codes exist at the federal service academies, such as the United States Military Academy and the United S ...

s of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

, the Concept formalizes the requirement for midshipmen to demonstrate integrity while refusing to lie, cheat or steal.''Honor Concept'', USNA Brigade Honor Program website The Treatise adopts the use of first-person point of view, becoming a personal call to obey the letter and spirit of the Concept amongst midshipmen of the brigade.''Honor Treatise'', USNA Brigade Honor Program website The

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast G ...

and

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...

utilize a similar Honor Concept to impart the same call to integrity for its corps of cadets.''Honor Concept'', USCGA website, Cadet Life section Unlike the other service academies' honor codes, the Honor Concept allows a midshipman to confront someone committing an honor violation without formally reporting it. At the other academies, failure to formally report an honor violation is construed as tolerating it, which is itself a violation of the code. Penalties for violating the Honor Concept can be severe, up to and including expulsion from the Academy.

History

The principles of the Honor Concept are as old as the Academy itself, revolving around the principle that an officer's word is his bond. However, examination of the past academy honor practices by 1953 USNA class president

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indepe ...

discovered "no uniform policy for dealing with midshipmen who had violated their class's conception of honor."Gelfand, ''Sea change at Annapolis'', p. 191 While admitting to ''irreverence'' as an "inescapable trait of midshipmen," brigade leaders like Perot,

William P. Lawrence William Porter "Bill" Lawrence (January 13, 1930December 2, 2005), was a decorated United States Navy vice admiral and Naval Aviator who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 1978 to 1981. Lawrence was a noted pilot, the firs ...

and

James Sagerholm James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

worked with Brigade Captain

Charles Dobony Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and academy superintendent Harry W. Hill to create the Honor Concept.Gelfand, p. 192

Notes

References

* * * * {{USNA

Honor concept The Honor Concept and Honor Treatise are parts of the United States Naval Academy's Honor Program. Similar to the Cadet Honor Codes of the United States Military Academy and United States Air Force Academy, the Concept formalizes the requirement ...

Honor Codes of conduct United States Merchant Marine Academy