We Are Ready

    Tucked away in Morrow Cove, where the Carquinez Bridge crosses the junction of the Napa River and Carquinez Strait, lies what has been called “the best-kept secret in higher education on the West Coast.” Camouflaged by trees, it is hidden from drivers whizzing past overhead. The approach from I-80 is short; the exit ramp quick and sharp. And even the long, winding road to the front door challenges random visitors, flanked as it is by the unexpected—a run-down motel, towering eucalyptus trees, a gated entry. From the water, however, the layout reveals a remarkable sight—a university campus like no other: the California Maritime Academy.
    While it is by far the smallest of the California state universities, Cal Maritime, as it is known, is arguably the most prestigious―and definitely unique. Instead of cheering a football team like the Cal Bears, for example, students cheer the training ship Golden Bear. Instead of the blue-jeans-T-shirt-and-flip-flops dress code of other college campuses, students wear uniforms: khaki pants and starched collars. Instead of calling their teachers Amy or Robert or Sarah, cadets (as Maritime students are called) address their professors formally with “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.” And while this discipline may seem to run counter to the philosophy of teaching students to think for themselves, its centuries-long tradition—not to mention Cal Maritime’s student success rate—proves that creative thought must be anchored in mental orderliness. And no doubt about it, Cal Maritime grads are successful by any measure.

CMA CADETS

As a measure of its stature, Cal Maritime has such an international reputation for excellence that within six weeks of commencement, every member of the graduating class is employed—with many starting salaries in the $70,000 range, says Doug Webster, director of public relations. A Cal Maritime degree (a bachelor of science in one of five fields: business administration, facilities engineering, marine engineering, marine transportation and mechanical engineering; or a bachelor of arts in global studies and maritime affairs) offers amazing versatility in career opportunities: from lawyer to film director; from the U.S. Navy to Genentech. Job opportunities for graduates are plentiful. Webster notes a worldwide shortage of more than 5,000 licensed deck officers and engineers, particularly those licensed to crew vessels carrying liquefied natural gas.
    For most students, job placement and leadership opportunities head the reasons for choosing a military-like campus life. Holly Johnson of Roseville is an example. “It’s not hard to persuade someone to want a job straight out of college,” Johnson told Webster, explaining why she chose to matriculate at CMA. “It was apparent that Cal Maritime students are highly sought after by employers.”
    In addition, those graduates attain positions of status and responsibility. For example, when the Queen Mary II visited San Francisco last spring, it squeaked under the Golden Gate Bridge and threaded through the dangerous currents of San Francisco Bay under the command of Cal Maritime grad Capt. Tom Miller, a Bay Area bar pilot whose job is to navigate the hazards of the Bay and bring large ships to port. The QM II, displacing 151,000 tons, is the largest ship ever to enter these waters and presented a challenge even to Miller.
    But Cal Maritime grads are equipped to meet challenges. Their education includes not only classroom and theoretical training, but practical, hands-on experience as well. While future leaders at other institutions receive leadership training on football teams and in computer labs, cadets serve on board the T.S. Golden Bear, the school’s 500-foot training ship. Each summer two sets of about 270 cadets, along with 25 officers and 21 crew members spend two months cruising to various ports, strengthening the skills they learned on land.

T.S. GOLDEN BEAR
It was the idea of a training ship for cadets that prompted the formation of the maritime academy, first established in what is now Tiburon, in Marin County, in 1931.
    But the school had its genesis much earlier, according to the academy’s historical archives. With the end of the Civil War and the appearance of steam-powered ships, qualified maritime officers were in high demand. To ease the strain and provide crews of specific standards, Congress authorized the U.S. Navy “to furnish U.S. naval vessels to states for the establishment of nautical schools.” According to now-retired archivist Douglas Peterson, who wrote a brief history of Cal Maritime, “In 1911, this authority was amended to also provide funds for the expenses of any established school ship.”
    Only three states took advantage of this opportunity, however, all of them in the Northeast.
It wasn’t until 1929 that California took steps to become the first and still the only state on the West Coast with a maritime school. The next year, the navy assigned the former World War I freighter SS Henry County to the state of California to become the USS California State and the first training ship at the new California Nautical School.
    Later known as T.S. (for training ship) California, the ship served the academy’s first class of 63 cadets, who reported in March, 1931. Two years later, due to severe budget cutbacks and calls for abolishing the school, these cadets and their officers not only held classes aboard the California, but, in an effort to save money, they lived on board her as well. The school struggled, literally, to stay afloat during the Depression years until 1936, when the Merchant Marine Act allowed for federal funding to train Merchant Marine officers and support the maritime school. By the end of the decade, when the school name was changed to California Maritime Academy, enrollment had more than doubled.
    The next year, under growing recognition of impending war, the Navy took command of the fuel depot that housed the school in Tiburon, forcing the academy and training ship to relocate to San Francisco. Not long after, war was declared and the T.S. California State became, under naval tradition, the T.S. Golden State. In 1946 the former freighter was decommissioned and replaced by the second of the academy’s training ships. This one, a former attack cargo ship, was twice the size of the first. Beginning a Cal Maritime tradition, it was commissioned the T.S. Golden Bear.
    Twenty-five years later, its technology outdated, it was replaced with a ship originally built as a luxury passenger liner. At 492 feet the new T.S. Golden Bear was once again almost twice the size of its predecessor. It was then replaced by the third Golden Bear eleven years ago. This ship, which continues in service today, has more than ten times the horsepower of the first training ship, displaces more than four times the water and carries more than twice as many cadets. In the past decade the Golden Bear has carried Cal Maritime students to the Far East, Central and South America, and through the Panama Canal to Honduras, Grand Cayman and New Orleans on missions of humanitarian aid and cadet education.
    “While the cadets and visiting students look forward to the exotic port calls, most of the cruise is spent at sea with long days of class, study and work,” explains Commodore John Keever, Cal Maritime’s vice president of marine programs and captain of the T.S. Golden Bear. “It’s a lot of hard work, but definitely the experience of a lifetime for all who participate.”
    To follow along with the Golden Bear’s journey, visit the academy’s Web site, www.csum.edu, and click on the section called “Follow the Voyage,” which contains a blog of the training ship’s route and activities during the cruise.

CMA’S CHANGING ROLE

From its first small graduating class to its current freshman class of 250 cadets, Cal Maritime has weathered financial and political storms to become a key institution in the state university system, which it joined in 1995 as the 22nd CSU campus.
    The political climate of the 1970s manifested itself at Cal Maritime as well. The first black and Filipino students graduated in 1970. And women, who were first admitted as cadets in 1973, now comprise 17 percent of the student body. In fact, in 1990, Dr. Mary Lyons became president of the college, the first woman to preside over a U.S. maritime academy.
    The school continues to mirror political changes in the nation. In the 21st century and since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, port security has become a prominent—and government-approved—part of the school’s curricula. Two years ago the academy received a $1 million grant from the California Office of Homeland Security to implement statewide standards for maritime security. In the upcoming academic year the academy will begin its first-ever graduate degree program. A masters in security of supply chains will be offered in conjunction with China’s Dalian Maritime University. The first courses will be held in Dalian.
    In the meantime, the small campus under the Carquinez Bridge will continue to expand both its programs and its campus. The newest construction, scheduled to be completed this fall, includes a $13-million Simulator Center, housing what Webster calls “the world’s biggest video game.” With $3 million of the latest in software, it will include, among other amenities, two 360-degree screens and two tugboat simulators to provide “as if you were there” bridge training. Although more facilities are planned for future construction, college administrators and trustees intend, for the near future at least, to maintain enrollment at its current 800 to 850, offering students the best in training and education, and ensuring government and future employers that here are mariners who can stand behind their motto:
    “We are ready!”

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