Social Life of Cadets - Admissions Blog

5/19/2009

The last blog of AY 2009

Hello everyone!

I am sitting here at my barren desk listening to my company pace around in their most formal drill uniform getting ready for the first of many parades this week. Fortunately, I lucked out and my company is not requiring me to drill since I am leaving tomorrow for Airborne School. I hear my classmates calling minutes one of the last times ever to make sure our company is on time. After this year, I have begun to realize how the Corps is run. It has taken a long time, but I understand now why the fourth class cleans and the first class leads, and I understand now the honor process after sitting in on a hearing, and I understand why our teachers take such pride in teaching us - molding us into the next generation of officers.

The month of May has been filled with many "good West Point" days as I call them. See, back at home a "good day" is completely different than a "good West Point day", and although I have enjoyed my experience between these gray walls, I am looking foward to just having normal days for a few weeks this summer. Regardless, these past days have been relatively stress free, allowing me to reflect upon my life here this past year.

Last night my beast platoon got together with our second detail Cadre and I was talking to my old Platoon Leader about how scared I was after march-back before we met our new companies. I was literally crying I was so scared. I was scared that they would haze me and not accept me into their company, and all during Beast we were told how "re-orgy" week would be the worst week of our cadet careers. But little did we realize that of the four classes of cadets, two were on our side. Our classmates, and our team leaders, the Cadet Corporals. They made corrections on us, but they did it quietly and away from the attention of the upper two classes. They became our big brothers and sisters this year, and would whisper instructions to us at our tables in the mess hall when we couldn't manage to do anything right. My class rejoiced when we heard the news that we weren't going to scramble into a new company after plebe year like the yearlings had.

So, New Cadets, once you come into your new companies, you will realize quickly you'll have a steady shoulder to lean on, a person whose sole responsibility is making sure you are doing ok.

The other day I was going on a run and ventured across diagonal walk to head towards a Lee Gate loop, and I was simply flattered by the beauty of the campus here. The stark gray compared to the clear blue skies and bright green trees, its truly a thematic campus. It is beautiful! During the winter, when the air is so cold you don't look up in order not to expose your neck to the elements and at the beginning of the year when I would be yelled at when I would look around, I never really realized the true beauty of the Hudson valley.

I realize that I am singing praises of USMA right now and that it is apparently "uncharacteristic of a cadet" to be this friendly towards West Point, but I have been without an assignment for two weeks and I am leaving tomorrow, so I am a little more optimistic than regular.

Speaking of optimism, the second year at West Point, our "Yearling" year, associates negativity and unhappiness with cadets. Yearlings are characteristically angry people, and were termed the nickname a "Yuk." The other day it was taco day at lunch, and I was using the taco shells already provided on the table to make my taco shells. But when the meat arrived, it also arrived with warm tortillas. Now, I much prefer tortillas to taco shells, and I was frustrated at their late arrival. I said to the table, "Sergeants. I really DO NOT understand why they don't deliver the shells and the tortillas at the same time, because now I already have my taco shells ready when I could have used a tortilla." One of my cows turned to me and said, "Cale, you are ready to be a yuk." And we all laughed. (Keep in mind, a conversation of this casualness between a plebe and the upper classes doesn't happen until around second semester)

So that being said, I am ready for yearling year. I am ready to be responsible for a plebe, and use all the things I have learned this year from being a follower and apply them in a leadership position. I am ready to declare my major. I am ready to be an upperclassman and wear Cadet Casual and already know my whole company.

But first, I am focusing on enjoying the summer

A few thumbs up:

R-Day! (I have never been more scared in my life)

2012 Crest Unveiling Ceremony!
(Being goofy with some of my teammates)

Dad Vail Regatta in Philly!
(Me enjoying leaving every weekend with the crew team)

Happy summer!
And if you are reporting on R-Day,
don't hesitate to look me up when you get here.

Posted at 9:33 PM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Social Life of Cadets | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/1/2009

Final Days, 1st Year

With the school year more than 3/4 the way done, the Corps is itching to escape our rockbound highland home again, having just returned from a week of spring leave. Though still two months away, summer is fast approaching, and with it the myriad military, academic and physical training opportunities available to cadets. I myself will get a few days of leave right after graduation week, followed by Air Assault school (10 days) at Camp Smith, NY, then back to West Point for Cadet Field Training (4 weeks) and finishing with three or four weeks of leave before the fall semester begins.

However, in the meantime we face fitness tests, Saturday morning inspections, field training, and of course term-end exams. The days will go by slowly enough I'm sure, but overall the semester seems to be going by very quickly.

The latest highlight of the year was Plebe-Parent Weekend (PPW), which for the past few years has been held in the fall but has been moved back to the weekend before spring leave. For this event, a chain of command consisting entirely of plebes conducted preparations and led the entire weekend, entirely alone. These select plebes were completely responsible for ensuring that everyone in the class completed requisite tasks before parents arrived, including withdrawing rifles for parading from the arms room, signing up guests for the banquet, and filling guard positions that are usually run by upperclassmen (who for the most part left ASAP after classes on Friday!). The chain of command was also responsible for leading the class in a parade for the parents; they trained all week before PPW on drill and ceremony, since they are filling key positions that are held by experienced upperclassmen. The amount of work that was put into this weekend, by plebes and upperclassmen alike, was immense.

However, the parents deserve credit as well. Without them, this weekend would mean nothing; they were the guests of honor. They came from all over the United States, and some even from foreign countries around the world, to see their plebe(s) and for the first time to truly get an inside look at the microcosm of West Point. I can't even begin to fathom the amount of time and money that was poured into this weekend just by the families of plebes, considering the just the necessities of clothes, transportation, and lodging.

The atmosphere of the weekend was very exciting, almost like being at a fair. There was no lack of things to do for parents and plebes alike; the Dean hosted the parents in every academic department with open houses, while the Commandant did the same in Arvin Gym for the military and physical departments. The boxing and gymnastics demonstrations in particular were very popular; I was a demonstrator for gymnastics in Hayes Gym, the older part of Arvin Gym, and every round we held was packed with parents on both the ground floor and the balcony above. Other demonstrations were held for various indoor sports as well. A set-up in the lobby of Arvin gave parents the opportunity to see the summer training schedules and to talk with officers and NCOs about what their cadet would be doing soon, getting a glimpse into the military aspect of our lives here.

There were other things for the parents to do as well, including several different tours such as the uniform factory (a not-so cherished memory from Beast that was a source of much entertainment for the cadre!). The formal banquet and the receiving lines/hop afterward were a hit too, for the plebes because they were mandatory for us, and for the parents because for many of them it was the first time that they have been in attendance at a formal military event. All in all, the weekend was definitely a success!

Of course, spring leave was much more important to cadets than PPW was. Leaving the cold behind (for some anyway) to seek shelter in warmer climates, far away from the concerns of academia, the Corps returned to find that the weather here is quickly warming up. There is minimal snow/ice left in some of the more sun-deprived corners of the cadet area, but even this is melting away rapidly. Though I like the winter here, with the sunshine and warmer weather comes the sight of the end of the school year and the hope that I won't always be a plebe!

Posted at 10:11 PM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Social Life of Cadets | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

April Showers

As the title of this post would suggest, it's starting to rain more. It's another indication that spring is well upon us, though the trees are still convinced it's winter and the thermometer is too. I'm pretty confident that it will warm up soon enough, just in time for summer training to start up.

Showers of activity are also starting, as the change of season brings cadets out of their rooms and exposes them to the elements once again. Many sports are playing their final games this month, with two highlights being the Army vs. Navy games for men's rugby in Annapolis and men's lacrosse in Baltimore. The Sandhurst competition is being held later this month, with basically the entire Corps turning out to support each company's teams through the grueling 14-mile course, which includes events such as the Ranger wall, Leader's Reaction Course, first aid, combat swimming, and an as-yet unknown Commandant's Challenge. Outside teams from the other service academies, 8 ROTC schools, the USMA Prep School (USMAPS), Britain's Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst), Canada's Royal Military College, Afghanistan's National Military Academy, and the Chilean Military School; will also be competing this year. Visit this link for more information on Sandhurst.

At Eisenhower Hall, on the Saturday evening of the Sandhurst competition, the USMA Band will be performing a concert with various top ten finalists from seasons 1-6 of American Idol. It is the capstone performance on a season filled with shows featuring Third Day, the Irish Tenors, Les Miserables, Monty Python's Spamalot, Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Then Ike Hall will give way to the USMA Band for the summer, with their many concert performances on Trophy Point.

The Corps is having a community service day in three weeks, which all cadets are required to participate in. There are several different planned events and trips through not only the Corps, but also various clubs as well. In addition to this, the Dean has scheduled many different projects, tests and papers for this month, ensuring that the end of the semester is very well rounded no matter what we participate in!

The Class of 2012 will be unveiling their class crest on Thursday 08 April, with a formal dinner held in appreciation of individual cadets' sponsors. Each cadet has the opportunity to sign up for a sponsor, who fills the role of home-away-from-home. Most sponsors are officers or enlisted faculty, with some civilian faculty and staff as well. A sponsor may also host multiple cadets, such as mine who hosts several cadets ranging from plebes to firsties. Sponsors really do a lot to give plebes especially a chance to get away from West Point for a little while, even if they live on post, and they truly have earned at the very least a banquet in their honor. Congrats 2012, we're almost done with year one!

Wall Street at NYSE, on a history trip to the city.

Posing for the millionth picture at the Plebe-Parent Weekend banquet. Never thought I'd get tired of smiling!

Meeting Mac Powell of Third Day after a concert at Ike Hall.

Posted at 10:09 PM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Social Life of Cadets | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/23/2009

Things to do for fun around West Point

There is a general feeling about West Point that as Cadets, especially plebes, you will have no time to do anything with all the homework. To be honest there will be times when you will be very busy, where almost all of your classes will have assignments that fall on the same week or even day. However, something I learned very quickly about being a cadet is that there will also be times when you have very little to do. Since it is very important to sometimes take a break form the school work and since plebes only have one base pass a semester, it is nice to know that there are some fun things to do around West Point.

West Point has a variety of restaurants that will deliver and Highland Falls right outside the gate which plebes can walk into. There is also a movie theatre that plays movies each weekend and verious shows come and preform at Ike Hall, recently Spamalot preformed. There are many more activites to do as well, recently some plebes form my company and I went to the West Point Ski Slope and rented snowboarding for a couple of hours. There may be a lot of things on your plate as a cadet, but its nice to know that when you want to take a break there are things to do around you.

Posted at 9:54 PM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Social Life of Cadets | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)