ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Late Friday afternoon at the United States Naval Academy, under impossibly blue skies, alumni, tourists, parents, townsfolk and military brass gathered around Worden Field to inspect the Brigade of Midshipmen.

This is where, in 1893, Army and Navy staged the fourth of their 124 football clashes. This is where the Academy honors Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commanding officer of the ironclad USS Monitor during the Civil War’s Battle of Hampton Roads.

And this is where, on the day before a home football game, the USNA stages a dress parade. And with the Navy’s 250th anniversary later this month, and the respect the undefeated Midshipmen have for Saturday’s opponent, service academy rival Air Force, the parade resonated even more.

The crowd watched reverently as the hour-l

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