Sports
The annual Army-Navy ‘prisoner exchange’ turns 50
Stars and Stripes
December 12, 2025
West Point cadets and Navy midshipmen greet each other at midfield before the start of the Army-Navy game, Dec. 14, 2024, in Landover, Md. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
The student exchange between U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy that precedes the archrivals’ annual football showdown is in its 50th iteration this year.
The “prisoner exchange,” as the Service Academy Exchange Program is more commonly known, sees a group of cadets and midshipmen spend the fall semester at their rival academy. On game day, a ceremony on the field sees the prisoners return to their respective academy’s side of the stadium, where they will cheer on their team.
“At the beginning of second semester sophomore (or youngster) year everyone with a cumulative GPA over 3.3 is invited to apply,” said West Point Cadet Noah Keith, according to a Naval Academy news release. Not all who apply are selected.
The tradition became formalized as a semester-long program in 1975, according to the release, but shorter and less formal exchanges had been taking place as early as 1945.