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10/28/2009

BEAST Class of 2013

I am starting my blog! Last year, I sat behind my lap top screen and pored over endless blogs and websites in an effort to better understand what I was getting into, namely West Point.

I would like to share with you my experiences and answer any of your questions you may have so you can become comfortably prepared for all USMA has to offer you.

Here is a little bit about Beast. I will go into more depth about what you can do for Beast and what to bring to help you out later on. As for now enjoy the stories!

R-Day quickly came and went to my surprise and dismay. I had spent so many months anticipating this single day when supposedly my life would drastically change, and change it did. R-Day was the beginning of the next stage in my life. Unlike my peers in civilian colleges I was embarking on, for lack of a better word, an adventure.

I had heard a lot about West Point from having a father who attended the academy and now teaches here. However, no matter how many stories you hear or how many times you visit nothing can prepare you for what you experience during BEAST. You lose a lot of personal freedom, such as going to bed and waking up when you want to or eating when you want to, but what you gain cannot be accomplished any other way but through BEAST. Beast took from me a lot of time, patience and , energy but it gave me amazing friendships, more confidence, a deeper sense of self-esteem and overall happiness. Yes, Beast, the pain everyone remebers gave me happiness. Just the other day, my Beast squad and I were reminiscing about those fateful and long summer days that have passed and we all agreed that we sometimes wish, on those lonely Thayer weeks, that we were back in Beast. We were simpler then. We awoke, did PT (physical training), ate, were briefed, took academic tests, trained, played sports and went to bed.

Beast did indeed break us down, just like they promised, but what we didn't know was that it wouldn't break us it merely broke us down into simpler parts. We were burdened physically and mentally through all the activities Beast demands but we learned to compartmentalize our situtations so that we truly lived in the moments we were given.

For those of you who are curious as to how such friendships can be formed when talking is rarely allowed amongst New Cadets here is an inside tip: the cadre wants you to bond by working together to accomplish their hard tasks they give to you, such as the infamous laundry duties. They force you to come up with creative ways of helping each other out. They put you in situations to force members of the squad to learn to put aside differences to get things done.

We also found time to hang out with each other at night. We would find treasured free time and usually go into someone's room that had been designated as the "chill out room" and there we would share stories of our experiences with cadre members. We would talk about senior year, the summer vacations we had before Beast, our friends, boy/girlfriends or lack there of, and other loved ones. These were the times we laughed the hardest. People don't realize how much phones, texting, e-mailing, and IMing have impacted our relationships. Sometimes using these different forms of communication we are able to create a comfortable distance between one and another through interpersonal conversations via text or email. However, due to our severe lack of communication with the outside world, aside from hand written letters, we were able to work on communicating with each other in such a raw and basic way, where hiding your emotions or being fake were not viable options.

Aside from friendships we became physically and mentally stronger. Beast requires you to constantly be moving or working out so your mile time will drop a lot and muscular endurance will sky rocket. The APFT(army physical fitness test) at the beginning of Beast will more than likely not be your best score here at the academy but it is ok because its purpose is merely to constrast your physical growth from the beginning to the end of the summer. My score, to give you an idea, jumped 85 points by early August when we took our second APFT. I recommend going all out on the workouts in the mornings, especially MSE mornings (muscular strength and endurance) because it will only benefit you in the end.

Also, you will become much stronger mentally. You will learn to memorize your knowledge quickly and efficiently. You will become much better at decision making in regards to yourself and your squad mates. You will learn to ease the pain of leaving your friends and family by making friends in your Beast company.

To wrap this up for now, I will say Beast, despite my reservations, was the best expereince for me at the time and I have never regretted it once.

More to come on Plebe academic year!

Posted at 10:00 PM by Sweeney, K. x33193 H2 | Category: Beast | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/8/2009

Back in Action!

Well here I am again! I have come back to the surface and out of hiding to grant all of you yet another cadet perspective. The piles of books have been pushed aside, the windows have been opened, and I’m ready to write to you. For those of you who have been waiting on me, I apologize, and to those of you who are new to this website, welcome! I’m Anastasia Cale, I’m a “yearling” at the United States Military Academy (yearling meaning sophomore at any other school). I am on the Army Crew Team and am a proud Crusader (my company mascot) in company C-1. My family just moved this summer from The Netherlands and my father is an Army officer. So needless to say I’ve either been busy keeping up with my school work load or dead tired from rowing two a days with my team or happily enjoying an extra pass and the ability to leave on the weekends. But I am here. First off all I’d like to give a shout out to the current plebe class – Class of 2013. It’s been marvelous walking down the hallway in Thayer, or at a football game and have a Fourth Class cadet come up to me and tell me they read my blogs before they were part of Cadet-land. And also to Cadets Ryan, Occhiuto, and Lee who all sit at my lunch table now and are Crusader-lings… it’s a small world. Academically things have been rough lately; my class has been pushing through a few consecutive Thayer weeks. But today was a breath of fresh air. I was flustered this morning coming from Persian (yes, I chose to take it as my language) because I had done unnecessary work on Rosetta Stone (as you can guess, time is a luxury here) the whole day before. My day turned for the better following my long walk to Lincoln Hall to turn in my Economics problem set which I had been working on for a week or so in the crisp fall air and deep blue sky. The leaves are changing colors, and frankly it just makes the already stunning Hudson valley even more beautiful. I thank God every morning while I sit in a boat and watch the sun rise and paint the river shades of orange and pink – it’s the perfect way to start a long day. Regardless, I turned in my paper and decided to make a pit stop at the book store. By this time, the hallways had cleared since class was about to begin. But I hear an instructor yell out of his room, “COME ON! YOU CAN MAKE IT! YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS!” and I hear the distinctive low-quarter sound pounding off of the marble floors. A plebe comes sprinting down the hallway while his teacher has his hand out of the door counting down on his fingers and yelling “THREE, TWO, ONE.” The cadet makes it through the doorway, high-fives his teacher, and his class bursts into applause. I smiled and laughed to no one specific. I have really begun to realize that life is all about the little things, and I am ok with that. The less miserable you are, the less miserable people around you are and it’s just a good thing. I am excited to help everyone interested in West Point out there on the internet, parents, grandparents, any one! My email is Anastasia.cale@usma.edu , so please do not hesitate to drop a line. My next blog will be about Camp Buckner and Airborne school, my two adventures this summer, so be looking forward to that.

Posted at 6:54 PM by Cale, A. x26747 C1 | Category: Life at West Point - General Information | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Yuk Year, Finally!

And we all thought it would never come! Class of 2012 is officially upperclass now, with new privileges and new responsibilities to go with the rank. It's been quite the experience thus far, with tougher classes, more work and expectations given to us, and the same amount of time as we had before to get it all done. In addition to schoolwork we now have placed on us the responsibility of seeing to our plebes' military development, and it's mostly up to us how we accomplish this, what we teach them, and how often we interact with them to do so. Higher ranks means higher expectations; we set the example for the plebes, as they look to us first since we are the "intermediary" between them and the upper two classes. We're the first friendly face they meet in the Corps after they pass through the doors at Ike Hall to meet the Beast cadre for the first time. Our example shapes their first impressions of the standards expected of them during the school year, perhaps more so than even the rigors the Cows and Firsties put them through during Reorganization Week after Beast Marchback. The biggest problem that our class faces throughout the year, when it comes to dealing with plebes, is how tough to be. Do we set the standard and then enforce it uniformly, cracking down on every mistake we see; or do we let things slide by undealt with, expecting that someday down the road they'll straighten out, because we don't want to be the bad guy? The second year here at West Point holds probably the steepest learning curve for cadets, as they transition from being a follower to a leader for the first time. Much responsibility is heaped on us at once, and we must learn to juggle this with our new academic expectations. It is a fast-paced way to start our first role in leadership, but somehow we all manage to make it!

Posted at 6:48 PM by White, C. x25354 G1 | Category: Life at West Point - General Information | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/25/2009

West Points 2nd Summer

Now that I am in the middle of my yuk 1^st semester, it makes me try to remember everything I was able to do this summer and not let it just disappear as my head becomes filled with Arabic, Calculus and Philosophy.

I had amazing opportunity this summer to attend Air Assault School after Bukner, while it did give me a couple extra days of leave, which was nice; it was such a great opportunity for me to have. It was truly remarkable how much I learned in the 11 day school, in addition to how many over-head arm claps I did (I think during one morning PT we went to over 1000 of the 4-count exercise). The school culminated with 75ft Rappel out of a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter and a 12 Mile Ruk March. And that is really one of the best things about West Point, its ability to send you to such a variety of different summer programs, schools, and places.

At Bukner or Cadet Field Training I was able to drive in and fire an A1 Abrams Tank, fire and load a Howitzer Cannon. And a use slew of other great weapons like; 25mm, Mk19, M2 .50 cal, and a lot of range time with my M4, with a M68 Red Dot Scope. I learned about the Field Artillery Branch, the infantry, Armor, Engineers and a ton of very useful military knowledge.

Whether it’s a AIAD or a MDS, West Points networks and connections set up cadets up to have fantastic summers. Just as a couple examples of Military Schools some other cadets in my company were able to attend; Sapper Leader Course, Expert Marksmen, Combat Leader School, Stryker and Mechanized Leader Courses, and some of my company mates also attended SERE-Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape School. As I continue to with my west point career I hope to take full advantage of this great aspect of West Point.

This is my bukner Squad leader, some of my squad, and I in front of an Abrams Tank after our mock tank battle in Ft. Knox.

-CDT Gregory Elgort

Co. D3 USCC 2012

Posted at 5:16 PM by Elgort, G. x26933 D3 | Category: Summer Training (Military) | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Back into the Swing of Things

Well Future Pointers and Pointers Alike,

Its me, Casey "The CASEMAN" Roberts again, except rather than reporting to you as a 1st Semester Plebe, I now am a 1st Semester Yearling, and let me tell you, the difference is like night and day.

So yeah, Plebe year is a little tough mentally, mom and dad are gone, Monday Night Football with the dudes is over and done with, but, you can survive, Yearling year however is much more intensive and you sometimes wish for that Plebe year to be back.

School's tough, but manageable, you lead a Plebe and you have to go to more meetings, but just as before, you'll make it.

Its about time for Breakfast now, I'll stop back by and let ya'll know how its going, but as for me now, I'm just getting back into the swing of things.

-CDT Casey "The CASEMAN" Roberts

Class of 2012 Company D-1

Posted at 6:36 AM by Roberts, C. x26673 D1 | Category: Life at West Point - General Information | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

6/30/2009

My Background

My name is Nina Cuevas, Class of 2005, from Yonkers, New York. I am the Far West Outreach Officer and absolutely LOVE this job. During my high school years I was the swim team captain and class president. I attended USMAPS and was the yearbook editor (I was the layout editor in HS). At West Point I was the class historian and I'm currently the Reunion Chairwoman for my 5 year class reunion. While a cadet I was on my company Sandhurst Team (GO DRAGONS! And DUKES!) and was on the USMA SCUBA team. I was stationed to Fort Campbell, KY and deployed to Iraq twice with them as an Army Engineer. Prior to my decision to attend West Point I was involved in a competitive program to attend art school, wore platform shoes and polished my nails green, blue, yellow and every other color under the sun. While a junior I learned about West Point and I was hooked. 9 years later, I wouldn't change my decision for the world.

Posted at 9:51 AM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Why I Came to West Point | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (7)

6/11/2009

Sit-ups and Push-ups - BEAST

During the first week of BEAST and again at the conclusion of summer training, you will be required to complete the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). You will take a "diagnostic" APFT during the first week of BEAST and a final test again at the end of July. I'm sure most of you are well aware of what this test entails, but if not, allow me to elaborate… This test consists of two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups followed by a two-mile run. Much of our focus has been on the running portion of this assessment but let's spend some time reviewing – proper push-up and sit-up form and how one might build-up their endurance in preparation for these challenges!

Push-up: The push-up exercise is intended to strengthen the muscles of the chest, shoulders, arms and trunk. As with any exercise, proper form (precision) is more important than the execution of more reps during training. Furthermore, during the test repetitions that are not performed with proper form will not be counted toward the overall score. For a tutorial on proper form and movement through the push-up—go to the Personal Fitness Tracker website—click on the RESOURCES button and view the Training Video- from the Army Physical Fitness Training School- Conditioning Drill 2- The Push Up.

Sit-up: The sit-up exercise strengthens the abdominal and hip flexor muscles. Again, the aim of this test is to do as many sit-ups as you can in 2 minutes. Your knees should be bent at 90-degree angle, feet 12" apart with fingers interlocked behind your head. A second person holds your ankles. Similar to the push up, proper form is important during training and testing as sit-ups not performed to standard will not be counted during the APFT. For more detailed description of proper form and movement, go to the Personal Fitness Tracker Website—click on the RESOURCES button and view the Training Videos from the Army Physical Fitness Training School- Conditioning Drill 2—The Sit-up.

Training recommendations for both the push up and sit up exercises are also available on the Personal Fitness Tracker website, click on the "Resources" button which will list the information and videos available to you.

Good luck! And don't forget all of this Pre-BCT preparation will keep you One Step Ahead of the BEAST!!

Posted at 10:04 AM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/26/2009

Hill Training

Hello future New Cadets. My name is Nicholas Vogt and I am a Life Science major in the class of 2010. I normally edit the footage that my fellow cadets provide to me into the final videos that you see on the Physical Preparation website, but today I wanted to reply to a question that came up in several of your emails.

The question is, "How do I best prepare for the steep, hill-ridden terrain of West Point?" This is an excellent (and important) question. I am from a region in Ohio that is about as flat as they come, and I didn't realize until reporting for Beast in the summer of '06 just how different hill running can be. Developing the specific associated muscle groups and the right mentality is crucial for attacking hills. Failing to prepare adequately doesn't mean immediate failure, but it will leave you scrambling to catch up with classmates.

Endurance: The best practice for hills is (you guessed it) to actually run on them. If you live close to some steep terrain but it isn't right outside your drive-way, take the time at least once or twice a week to drive out there and get a good long run in. Build your way up in terms of intensity. You should never be in a comfort zone, but also never to the point where you won't make it ten more steps. Other methods (if running on actual hills is not an option) include treadmills with incline features and "stair stepper" machines. Work out for about the same duration as a normal run would be, and vary the intensity levels on the machines until you feel it is equivalent to how you feel while running. Again, increase intensity over the days/weeks.

Speed: Hill sprints are a great hill workout. I know, I'm not a big fan of them either, but they will do wonders for your run times. As an added bonus, they will decrease your recovery times after moments of intense energy use, something that is critical in the ability group runs you will face. Running up large sets of stairs may work as a substitute, but the longer the stairwell the better. The key for any type of workout like this is multiple, rapid, and intense bouts of exercise that concentrate on the calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, etc that are most critical to hill climbing.

I hope this helps with you preparation for this summer. Two final notes: 1)Break those boots and shoes in as Bryan mentioned earlier; your feet are your "individual personnel carriers" for the summer and you won't be going very far unless you've taken care of them. 2) Hill running is a unique blend of power and endurance. Incorporating both types of workouts is critical to success.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Posted at 10:05 AM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Category: Beast | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/22/2009

Last Night As A Plebe

Tonight is my last night as a member of the Fourth Class, I was recognized today (which means the upperclassmen introduce themselves by first name and things become friendly) and tomorrow morning at breakfast (day of Graduation just FYI) I will become a member of the 3rd Class or Yearling Class as we call them here at the Academy. Life is good, I must say. This Summer, as many of you devoted fans out there know, I will be going to Poland and the Czech Republic to do some training, then I'm back up here at West Point for Cadet Field Training (Buckner) then I am fortunate enough to attend the Military Intelligence Combat Trackers Course at Fort Huachuca, AZ after Buckner. All in all, I do have a busy Summer, but I'm excited to get started on it and I'm excited to see all of you incoming Plebes next Fall. Have a great Summer Guys and Gals. See you all soon.

–Casey R.

Posted at 10:00 AM by McNett, M. LTC DAD | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/21/2009

Change

Clinton One thing that I have learned about myself throughout my life: I'm a sucker for quotes. Therefore, I'm going to start this post with one. The following quotation comes from Henry David Thoreau's Walden: "Things do not change; we change."

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can move on to the point of this post. I've let my responsibilities for posting here slide this semester, because I spent the semester in Voronezh, Russia, and finding accessible internet proved more difficult than I had anticipated. However, now I'm back at West Point for summer school and will make up with several posts over the next couple weeks.

For this post I'll summarize my semester overall, focusing on the theme of change and how my experiences in Russia have changed me and my views towards West Point and the military in general.

My semester abroad was to Voronezh State University, a large public university 600 kilometers south of Moscow. I did not have much military instruction while there, excluding a class I attended once a week with a Russian Lieutenant Colonel and several Russian cadets (approximately their version of ROTC) about Russia's military and their military history. However, I learned a great deal about their military system and philosophy from talking with different Russians I met, including my landlady's husband. He spent two years as an officer in the Russian army in charge of a military construction unit (in fact, he was partly responsible for the construction of the current Ministry of Defense building in Moscow).

In Russia, military service is required for every male, before or after they complete university, with some exceptions. Military service generally is dreaded because of poor living conditions, constant abuse by superiors, and the threat of deployment to Chechnya and other places, where violence continues even to this day. This reality shocked me in contrast to the system that I had witnessed up to this point in America and our armed forces. When Russians learned that I was a volunteer, and that every American soldier is a volunteer, they were extremely surprised.

In general, I was not ready to return to America at the end of my time in Russia. I had made a lot of unforgettable friends, enjoyed a freedom that I will not have until I leave the army, and lived in a completely new and perhaps, for me, un-understandable culture. However, upon arrival in America, I realized that I viewed my homeland in a different light. No longer did I have to struggle to order food in a restaurant or focus extremely hard simply to understand what people were saying. I didn't have to pay to use public restrooms, as is the norm in Russia. I was viewing America in a different light, though it was the same as before I had left. Therefore, the trip to Russia was certainly worth it in my eyes, if for no other reason than the appreciation of my homeland. And I never would have had the chance if I had not gone to West Point.