President Biden intends to appoint the son of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to serve on the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy, the White House announced Monday.
Jack McCain, born John S. McCain IV, is among the six members appointed to the board by the president. The panel is tasked with inquiring into “the state of morale and discipline, the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the academy,” according to the Naval Academy.
McCain said in a twitter post that he was “incredibly honored” and “deeply humbled” to be asked to serve in the appointment.
“I am incredibly honored and, suffice to say, deeply humbled, to have been asked to serve on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors,” he wrote. “I am grateful beyond measure for the opportunity, and look forward to working to continue the proud tradition of developing Midshipmen.”
McCain is a reserve naval aviator for Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85 and is a graduate of the Naval Academy, as was his father.
Biden also intends to appoint retired Gen. John R. Allen, Paul J. Angelo, retired Navy Officer Robert E. Clark, retired Adm. Michelle Janine Howard and retired Lt. Col. Amy McGrath.
Other appointees to the board are made by the vice president, the Speaker of the House, and the House and Senate Armed Services committees.
McCain flew back from serving in Afghanistan for five days to observe his father’s funeral in August 2018 then returned to Afghanistan for eight more months, according to The Washington Post.
“I can tell in the pictures — especially in the pictures at first in Arizona — that I was shell-shocked,” he said. “Obviously, I was tired, but it wasn’t just tired. It was getting snatched out of a war zone and getting thrown back into this media and family bubble. It was an intense experience,” he told The Post one year after his father’s death.