How many still wear their SA ring?

yeah, I can see you are envious of our level of pride and esprit.

I have a huge amount of pride and esprit about USNA. I volunteer my time as a BGO so I have the fortune to sit on Congressional Panels, attend career fairs, brief at schools, attend Congressional Days and a variety of other things. It's one of the volunteer activities I really enjoy working with young men and women exploring or pursuing this path. I wear USNA gear with pride all the time. I love my USNA ring. I worked my tail off for that thing. USNA was not a cakewalk for me in any way. It's just not something I want to wear daily. I spend hours and hours on my computer daily, at the gym and working in the yard. I take off nearly all my jewelry when I do those things. I am not a material possession person. If my house was burning down and I got three items to take, my USNA ring would be the only possession I would go after. The rest of it is protected or I don't care. Not wearing my ring daily has zero to do with my pride or esprit.
 
yeah, I can see you are envious of our level of pride and esprit.
No offense, but don’t think anyone here is envious of your level of pride or esprit, whether it’s for the cadet or non-cadet citadel rings (which are now silver).
All SA grads (and military school grads) are proud of their rings and the pride and esprit they represent. Question was, which SA grads still wear theirs...
 
Oooooh banned? What did we miss?
giphy.gif
 
Ok, after much thoughtful research, I can report my DH treasures his USNA ring. He wears it on all “dress” occasions, at all USNA or alumni events, and quite a bit of time in “everyday mode.” He never wears it when riding his horses or working with his hands, and never wore it while flying or deployed. Too easy to lose in those situations.
 
Ok, after much thoughtful research, I can report my DH treasures his USNA ring. He wears it on all “dress” occasions, at all USNA or alumni events, and quite a bit of time in “everyday mode.” He never wears it when riding his horses or working with his hands, and never wore it while flying or deployed. Too easy to lose in those situations.
I assume he didn’t wear it while flying since he still has it?
 
Our son has a battle ring and a dress ring. The battle ring is made from USMA granite which I think all cadets receive (?), and the dress ring is jewelry they design and pay for if they want one. I don’t know if/when he wears either, but the idea is that the battle ring is for everyday combat and is easily replaceable while the other is for dressier, less explosive occasions.
 
Every well-equipped warrior always needs a ring for “everyday combat,” @VelveteenR
That just tickled my funny bone, not making comments for or against the battle ring itself.
 
Every well-equipped warrior always needs a ring for “everyday combat,” @VelveteenR
That just tickled my funny bone, not making comments for or against the battle ring itself.
Don't know about other recent classes but many USNA "11" folks got 2 rings as well - one for everyday and one for special "dressup" occasions.
 
Don't know about other recent classes but many USNA "11" folks got 2 rings as well - one for everyday and one for special "dressup" occasions.
The combat ring concept has been around since at least the 90’s. I often saw the stainless steel version with simple USNA crest ordered by the mids. I know it wasn’t a thing in DH’s day. I always wondered if it was a genius marketing ploy by Jostens or others in the school ring business.
 
I can only remember one classmate getting a "combat ring". Certain traditions have changed over the years. Many bought miniature rings as engagement rings for fiances back in the 50s and 60s (it was probably before those classes too and might have continued into the 70s???). I have seen many spouses with them. It's also one of the reasons (at least when I was at USNA and the classes around when I graduated) female Mids would never buy the smaller rings. The unspoken tradition may have changed as there have been plenty more female grads since I went through who have no issue ordering the miniature rings.
 
I can only remember one classmate getting a "combat ring". Certain traditions have changed over the years. Many bought miniature rings as engagement rings for fiances back in the 50s and 60s (it was probably before those classes too and might have continued into the 70s???). I have seen many spouses with them. It's also one of the reasons (at least when I was at USNA and the classes around when I graduated) female Mids would never buy the smaller rings. The unspoken tradition may have changed as there have been plenty more female grads since I went through who have no issue ordering the miniature rings.
At least there is a regular size for women now, definitely not the miniature.
 
The notion of a everyday ring and a special occasion ring reminded me of a story my brother told me. He is a surgeon and cant wear his wedding ring under his gloves. Typically he'd tie it into his scrubs. This led to 2 times when after a long surgery he forgot about the ring, tossed his scrubs and lost the wedding ring. Tired of the time he had to sleep on the couch as a result of this forgetfulness he came up with a solution.

He has 5 rings, all inscribed the same way, that he rotates periodically so they are equally scuffed. If he loses one, he has backups and now sleeps less frequently on the couch
 
The "combat ring" was so cheap, that in the heat of the moment, buying the ring, didn't seem to wasteful. I rarely wore my combat ring. Eventually I donated it. I wore my relatively fancier ring. It's nice to to wear it down a bit. To me, the nice ring was the only one that mattered. There was also the sweetheart ring from 3/c year (or was it 2/c) and my mom still has that.
 
I can only remember one classmate getting a "combat ring". Certain traditions have changed over the years. Many bought miniature rings as engagement rings for fiances back in the 50s and 60s (it was probably before those classes too and might have continued into the 70s???). I have seen many spouses with them. It's also one of the reasons (at least when I was at USNA and the classes around when I graduated) female Mids would never buy the smaller rings. The unspoken tradition may have changed as there have been plenty more female grads since I went through who have no issue ordering the miniature rings.
My parents were married in 1970 and my mom's wedding ring matched my dad's '68 ring, but a women's more petite size. It's really quite pretty. They divorced years ago, and I've been meaning to ask where the rings are. They were really very unique and I never saw anyone else with them (or something similar).
 
My parents were married in 1970 and my mom's wedding ring matched my dad's '68 ring, but a women's more petite size. It's really quite pretty. They divorced years ago, and I've been meaning to ask where the rings are. They were really very unique and I never saw anyone else with them (or something similar).

Maybe the sweetheart ring? Not sure when that started. Maybe when Jostens wanted a bit more $$.
 
Back
Top