BSNC shareholder M. Hunter McAlister graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Ocean Engineering from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) on May 16, 2020 where he was virtually commissioned as a Naval Officer. The USNA is a military undergraduate university that prepares and develops young men and women to commission into the Navy and Marine Corps upon graduation.
While attending the USNA, McAlister was a member of the 11th Company and participated in the Varsity Offshore Sailing Team during his first two years. During his senior year, McAlister participated in the Training and Research in Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes in Tropical Cyclones internship with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron which conducted research on Hurricane Dorian. As part of the Hurricane Hunter crew, McAlister flew through the eye of the Category-5 storm multiple times during each 10-12 hour mission. The data they collected was not only as part of their research coursework in the Oceanography Department, but part of a larger joint-interagency effort combining the Naval Academy’s oceanographic data with the Air Force’s atmospheric data collection effort in order to improve the accuracy of hurricane forecasts.
McAlister will attend Flight School in Pensacola, Florida in August to become a Naval Aviator. His older sister Lieutenant Junior Grade Kya McAlister received her Naval Aviation Wings of Gold from the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas in 2018. McAlister is the son of Mark and Debra McAlister and grandson of Gary McAlister of Medford, Ore.; Linda and Ken Leak of Sparks, Nev.; and Clara and Morris Coffey (late) of Stebbins, Alaska. McAlister grew up throughout rural Alaska and loves subsistence hunting and fishing. He returns to Alaska as often as possible to stay connected to his family traditions.