The award-winning “Listen In With KNN” podcast and radio show special audio episode 250 gave a salute to service as host and executive producer Kelsey Nicole Nelson spoke down with Navy Outreach Director Captain Gervy Alota and Navy Talent Acquisition Executive Officer, Commander Tyree Barnes.
For the next 35 minutes, the trio discuss the evolving success of Midshipmen football and their experiences playing for the academy, while giving insight to what the Navy provides and highlighting military career paths.
The interview begins as host Nelson welcomes Commander Barnes and Captain Alota fresh off their Radio Row appearance during Super Bowl LIX media weekend. A trip to New Orleans that both Barnes and Alota had a lot of enjoyment for.
The topic would shift as the trio looked back on the Navy football storybook 10-3 season that included a 31-13 win against Army and finished with a 21-20 Armed Forces Bowl victory against University of Oklahoma.
A season that would snap a four-year streak of finishing under .500. Alota and Barnes took a lot of pride in the success of this Midshipmen season, watching Navy overcome many challenges to reach this point.
“Man it means everything to me personally, I mean, just to see them struggle like post-COVID, having issues with recruitment, NIL, transfer portal, you name it…And then just to close out the season against Oklahoma and the SEC team in Texas, and just coming back and watching that game. I mean, it really talks about the team, the chemistry, the grit, the resiliency, just the fight that they had and they displayed all year long. It was amazing” Alota said.
Victory isn’t a rare occurrence for Navy football as both Commander Barnes and Captain Alota have experienced numerous triumphs during their times in Annapolis.
Captain Alota, currently a Joint War Planning Officer for the Third Fleet, was a standout player for Navy football. Being a rare four-year letterwinner at the Academy at defensive back for the Midshipmen. Becoming a team captain his senior year, holding that title with pride as he led the team in tackles with 105 that season. He would play alongside Special Warfare Officer and Naval Academy graduate, Clint Bruce.
Alota and Bruce were able to reach success during their tenure at Navy. Leading the team to a 9-3 record and winning the Aloha bowl against University of California-Berkeley in 1996. The Midshipmen first bowl victory since the 80’s.
“So we turned that program around. We went from, I think my freshman year, we won like four games. [Bruce] still bitter by the fact that he never beat Army, but he’s the sole reason why Navy football turned around,” Alota said.
Alota was able to make history his senior year, leading the Midshipmen to their first winning record since the early 80’s. He became a sailor primarily because of football since Navy gave him the opportunity to continue playing the sport he loves.
“I found it because of football. So the Navy gave me an opportunity to play the great game of football. And that’s why I give everything that I owe to football.”
Alota was inducted into the Naval Academy Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.
During Commander Tyree Barnes’ time at the academy in the mid 2000s, Navy Football was solidifying themselves as the cream of the crop when it comes to military football. Winning games against Air Force and Army, also four bowl appearances.
Barnes made himself a viable passing target in a Navy triple option system. Making 42 receptions for 827 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns during his career with the Midshipmen, earning himself three varsity letters in the process. Barnes took his talents to the NFL as he was able to make it on the New England Patriots training camp roster as an undrafted free agent in 2011.
“We were right on the turn. We just had good athletes. We had people who came there who just wanted to show up and do a good job.” Barnes said.
Playing for the academy is an honor to many as other hardworking servicemen have the outlet to cheer for their branch on Saturdays.
“People are pulling on you to win every day. And when you win it, they get a little bit of those smiles come a little more often,” Commander Barnes said.
Host Nelson asked the two Navy officials if the success of Navy’s athletics programs raises the bar to gain interest from recruits. Sports are a viable avenue for military academies as they prepare recruits to serve the country off the field. With the lessons taught in team sports being translatable to military life and duty. As Captain Alota describes, it’s having a “winners mindset.”
“If you can establish yourself as a winner, surround yourself with a team full of winners, then that’s going to just be infectious and it’s going to carry with you for the rest of your life. I think that’s what they’re trying to breed at the Naval Academy,” Alota said.
For Commander Barnes, the biggest takeaway from playing at the Naval academy was the importance of being a team. A lesson taught to him by head coaches Paul Johnson and Ken Niumatalolo during Barnes four year career.
“Everybody wants to be a winner. But the team aspect of that as well. That stuck with me from the moment I showed up there as a plebe, and I understood that, hey, my squad leader is in it for me, right? These peers that I have beside me, these other 17 and 18-year-old scared, crazy people, you know, we’re all going through this together. But at the end of the day, we’re a team.”
Alota and Barnes have been able to pass their experiences down to the next generation of their families.
As Captain Alota saw his daughter graduate from the Academy in 2022 and is on deployment as a surface warfare officer.
Commander Barnes has a young daughter who’s a competitive dancer and loves bonding with her father by practicing with him. No matter how many tries it takes for Barnes to nail one of her many moves.
The discussion segues as Nelson asks Barnes to give the audience some understanding on the recruiting methods of the Navy, as they’ve renamed this aspect of the branch to talent acquisition.
The Navy has gone away from the recruiting moniker because even though they’re tasked with recruiting, the end goal is to attain the best talent and develop that even further.
“We’re not just recruiting, it’s not just a number that’s there. We want to make sure that we’re finding the war fighters that are regularly ready to get to these ships, these submarines, these aircraft carriers and win. That’s our ultimate goal,” Barnes said.
Barnes recognizes that there’s fewer military vets in many family trees so in order to reach the youth and teach them that life in the Navy can lead to a life of success. establishing connections in these young adults’ lives such as high school career counselors, principals, and parents is important.
“They’re in all the places where we need to show them, ‘Hey, the Navy does amazing things and you can take your life as far as you want to go.’ Just give us a chance, just log on and figure out exactly what we’re doing, and we’ll do the rest, whether it’s four years or 20 years.”
The Navy has seen immediate success from these recruitment methods since they have been able to contract 40,978 new recruits by the end of 2024. Their highest mark in the last 20 years. The Navy has kept that momentum flowing by signing another 14,000 recruits and shipped over 12,000 sailors within the first four months of 2025
Alota includes how the vast amount of occupations in the Navy played a pivotal role towards recruiting milestones.
“When you think how exciting it is to join something bigger than yourself, why not do it through the Navy? I mean, we offer so many different opportunities, whether you want to be a nuclear engineer or aviation mechanic, or even something like as a chaplain, you name it. We probably offer it,” said Alota describing the multiple pathways to establishing a future career in the Navy.
Captain Alota was able to grow his brand on social media from varying appearances on shows like Wheel of Fortune and Fear Factor. He was given a golden opportunity of creating new and fun outlets to spread the Navy’s message.
A plan that would originate during Covid as a young sailor would introduce him to the idea of starting an Instagram account. A perfect place for Alota to showcase his energetic personality.
This would lead to Alota posting content that would celebrate sailors and promote the activities happening on his ship. That promotion would evolve into putting the spotlight on the great things being done throughout the entire branch.
“I really have fun with it. And, you know, it’s gotten to the point where I try to take myself out of it and just showcase the sailors and all the amazing things that they’re doing.” Alota said.
Captain Alota and Commander Barnes detail the importance of how connecting with the youth has to be done through getting into their spaces and social media has been a great pipeline to do so.
To finish up this interview, Commander Barnes and Captain Alota give Nelson their final thoughts on why you should consider the Navy as a career route.
For Alota it’s because the Navy can support you every step of the way if you already know your life goals while being there as a valuable resource to those who don’t exactly know what the future holds.
To Barnes it’s because in the current political climate the military leaves the spectrum at the door and is solely focused on the main mission of keeping the United States of America safe. They are looking to add more members to this nationwide family of servicemen and survive, whether active duty or reserves.
“There’s so many things that you can positively do to be a part of something bigger than yourself, to support our country, defend our freedom in the Navy, and have fun doing it. Just say go Navy, with a smile on your face, and we can do the rest.”
If you’re interested in further information about the Navy, go to www.navy.com
To listen to the full show, check it out below.
To listen to the full show on Spotify.
