WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appointed six new members to the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy, including Kentuckian and former Senate candidate Lt. Col. Amy McGrath. 

The board looks into the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, physical equipment, fiscal affairs and other matters relating to the academy. McGrath called this appointment “an incredible honor.” 

McGrath joined by President Biden when she was running for U.S. Senate (Amy McGrath)

“The first step is to get there and take an assessment of how things are going,” McGrath said. “What are issues are going on? How can we help?”

McGrath has an extensive background at the Naval Academy. She graduated with a B.S. in political science in 1997 and was a member of the varsity women’s soccer team while at school. 

McGrath was a Marine F/A-18 pilot and weapons systems officer with three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. After her operational flying tours, she served as a Congressional Fellow and in the Pentagon as Marine Corps’ liaison to the State Department. McGrath also taught political science at the U.S. Naval Academy. 

McGrath was a Marine F/A-18 pilot and weapons systems officer with three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Amy McGrath)

“One of the things that I love about the mission of the U.S. Naval Academy is that it trains and educates men and women not only to be officers in the Navy Marine Corps but to be leaders of our military and also leaders of our nation,” McGrath said. 

McGrath will bring a perspective of what it means to have a career as a woman in the military to the board. 

“We still don’t have a whole lot of women rising to the highest levels of general officership and admiral in the Navy Marine Corps,” McGrath said. “It’s always good to have women who have had families and been in the military and know what that’s like, and the reality of the decisions you have to make.” 

McGrath, who grew up in Kentucky, is a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) in 2018 and lost to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) two years later. She now runs a nonprofit organization called Honor Bound, that encourages women who have served the country to run for political office. 

All six of Biden’s appointees are Naval Academy graduates. The Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the heads of the house and senate armed services committees appoint the boards other members. The board is scheduled to meet three times this year.