Wednesday, June 20, 2001
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Wednesday, June 20, 2001 |
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Surprise meeting with Bush ends Fayetteville native's stint at Naval Academy
By MONROE
ROARK
Many people have a "brush with greatness" story to tell to family and friends. Bobby Rashad Jones did more than brush up against it. He gave it a bear hug. The Fayetteville native received worldwide notice as a result of published photos of him receiving his degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., last month. The one on this page, which originally ran on the front page of a Sunday edition of the Washington Post, shows his jubilation at graduating and his close proximity to President George W. Bush, who spoke at the commencement ceremony. An Associated Press photo, which ran in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers, showed Jones lifting the president off the ground and hugging him after receiving an autographed golf ball. Bush commissioned the gift for Jones because of the young man's status as "anchorman" the term used at Annapolis to designate the lowest ranking member of the class academically. But knowing how hard it is just to get into the Naval Academy, and how much harder it is to finish there, Jones could not conceal his excitement on this special day. "I didn't know he was so light," said Jones, who played outside linebacker for the Academy. "Admiral Locklear [academy commandant] had to calm me down. He said, 'You don't want to get shot, do you?'" While undoubtedly a surprise to many, the incident required no Secret Service action and was simply an interesting and enjoyable reminder of Jones' graduation. The son of Bob and Carolyn Jones of Fayetteville, Bobby graduated from Westminster School in Atlanta, where he began attending in the seventh grade. He was recruited by a number of schools as a football player, but chose to seek an Academy appointment, and got one from U.S. Rep. Mac Collins. Some of the highlights of his four-year college football career included playing against Georgia Tech in Atlanta when the Yellow Jackets featured Heisman Trophy candidate Joe Hamilton, and the opportunity to face Notre Dame every year. Jones will continue his football career in a way, as his next assignment includes a stint as an assistant coach at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I. After six months doing that, he'll spend six months in surface warfare school at Newport before going to Japan to serve on the USS Germantown, an amphibious assault ship. His degree is in political science, but Jones pointed out that every student at Annapolis minors in engineering. His education included the customary summer cruises every midshipman must take, an aspect of Navy life he enjoyed and feels he has a knack for. "I want to see the world," he said. "There's no better way to do it [than in the Navy]." As long as it remains enjoyable and there are opportunities for advancement, he'll stay there, he added. Referring to his stint in Annapolis as "a long, tough four years," Jones says the academic preparation he got at Westminster served him well, but there will still be plenty of adjustments to make to military life and the time constraints involved. But academy life seems to be serving the entire Jones family pretty well. Younger brother Brandon is getting ready to go to the Air Force Academy in Colorado this fall, where he will play basketball.
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