Gifts

Okay - my boss wants to give my son a watch as a gift for his appointment to USNA - what do current mids recommend?? Someone from Airforce said Casio G-shock....are there restrictions, etc.??
 
Only restriction is do not take to Plebe Summer. Bring with you at PPW. Many of the companies will take the watch away for at least a portion of Plebe Summer. Have him take a cheap watch to IDay so if they get them back he will have a watch. Items taken away on IDay sometimes go missing over Plebe Summer so it is best to not take anything to IDAY that you would be upset about losing.
 
Ditto on advice for watch during USNA Plebe Summer. Rubber wristbands are also good because metal ones will chafe with sweat, salt and humidity, possibly leave dark marks on the wrist which will transfer to uniforms. Relatively inexpensive sport watches by Casio, Timex, Swiss Army with see-in-dark dial dots and some degree of water resistance are all good. Present the "nice watch," but hang on to it until he starts the academic year.
 
gift idea

I am happy to get some ideas going for graduation. Thanks. I have an idea too. I read in Brief Points that the midshipmen are allowed to have a couple of books. So I am planning to get my son a Kindle-It is an electronic book. You can download most any book. Since space is limited they can have all the reading material they want in a small book-sized device.
 
I am happy to get some ideas going for graduation. Thanks. I have an idea too. I read in Brief Points that the midshipmen are allowed to have a couple of books. So I am planning to get my son a Kindle-It is an electronic book. You can download most any book. Since space is limited they can have all the reading material they want in a small book-sized device.

I would be careful with that, all and I mean all electronic devices will be taken away from them for the period from I Day till PPW or beyond in some cases (each compnay has a different policy), so they may take the electronic book away and he will not have any means to download to it anyway.

In addition there will be very little time for reading anything except Reef Points!
 
Thanks Jerry76 for the info. The Kindle downloads all by itself so that isn't a problem. A friend of mine has one and it is pretty slick. He'd get it for a grad present and then I'd bring it to him to have when we go to PPW. They can have electronic stuff after Plebe summer right?
 
Sounds like a great gift. But... PPW is not the end of Plebe Summer, usually about a week or so left, with all restrictions in place in terms of what they can have and what they can stow. Then, the rest of the Brigade returns at Reform, and there's the general bedlam of moving to regular company areas. One more electronic thing with value will complicate his life.

I suggest holding off until your plebe settles a bit into the academic year and understands how strictly his company interprets and enforces Midshipman Regulations. It would make a great CARE package surprise or a nice thing to give him when you see him, if you are close enough to come visit.
 
Hi Funtime,

Our daughter has a LoA for 2013, her nom and all, the only thing we are waiting for is the medical waiver for her eyesight.

We are moving forward with our going away party planning, in hopes that she'll get the waiver. If we wait too long before planning we won't be able to do as nice of a job with it.

She wanted something Naval Themed. So since we are in Northern California, we are holding it onboard the USS Hornet. We rented the Fan Tail and Hanger Bay 3. We are setting the tables up like you mentioned, with blue and gold table cloths. The cake I hadn't thought of, but I like that idea of the USNA seal on it. I've been looking for a high quality image of it, but haven't found one yet. For food, we are going with a caterer, just to make it easier on the parents. For entertainment we are hiring the "Singing Blue Stars" which is a group of blue star moms that sing 1940's error music, and their fees go to veterans charities. Then for the kids, we'll finish the night with a DJ and dancing.

I know it seems like a lot, but it's her going away to USNA, High School Grad, plus she'll turn 18 during plebe summer, so we are celebrating that early. She'll be the first officer in a very long line of military service, and only the second woman to serve from the family, after her mother.

We also set the date for June 6th, which is the D-Day anniversary, so we'll do something onboard to honor that day and our veterans as well.

I like the idea of the photos/post cards that people can mail out during Plebe Summer, my wife and I were thinking about that and what can be done.

My daughter wanted to know if it was okay to reach out to other 2013ers from NorCal and invite them to her party. We told her we should wait until she get's her waiver before we start inviting people.... it's good to plan ahead, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. But of course, we are going to let her invite her fellow classmates from the area. I think it'll be great, plus those folks will be able to get a good send off as well, and can be sent photos and letters from the party during plebe summer also.

We're still planning and are looking for ideas, but i think we are off to a good start.
 
I would hold off on that Kindle. Even after Plebe Summer, plebes don't have privileges at all.

Plebes don't rate "media" all year long. They obviously have their computers--but no speakers. They do have their cell phones, and many have digital cameras. NO NO NO ipods. No music, no video, whatsoever.

I don't know of any specific allowances for or against Kindles, but I sure wouldn't want to invest in a shiny new toy that couldn't be touched til Youngster Year.

They can, of course, keep electronic devices at a sponsor's home, but it's hard to know IF your plebe will get a sponsor family, and what kind of space he will have there.

Might be a better gift for CHRISTMAS of plebe year, once your plebe knows the company rules?
 
jBrown,

Hey that sounds great. I'm from NorCal too, how was the process for your daughter? I'm going to start very soon and I was just wondering what to expect. Any tips or advice? Who did your daughter get her nomination from? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just curious(and a little nervous).
 
We are on the SF Peninsula, so her nomination came from District 14, Anna Eshoo.

The process was pretty straight forward, the USNA folks have been great. They came out and visited at the house and she got her LoA early, I think it was Oct 3rd.

Though when I wrote to DodMerb to check the status of the waiver for her glasses/eyesight, I accidentally got my dates mixed up and told them she had the LoA since August. Mr. Mullen, who is fantastic, started jumping through hoops with a bad date that I gave him.... please don't do that... it's bad enough that I did. He was great though and took the opportunity to tease me about it.

The nom was good. I helped her by putting together a mock board for her to rehearse. I'm the CEO of a security company and because of that I have lots of law enforcement, military and veteran contacts. On the mock board were a mix of those types. We video taped it and critiqued it so that she can keep practicing with how she would word her repsonses.

She said that she felt that helped her alot. The actual questions during the nom process were not quite the same, though some were. But she said that when she went in for the nom interview, she had been through it a few times with the mock interviewers, so the nervous butterflies were gone.

After the nom interview, Mr. Teshara who was one of the interviewers came out and met her mother and I, and made it a point to tell us that he was impressed with her and that she did well.

The CFA, she took it with her coach at School.

The main thing we've learned from the process is that it's slow, but very well organized. They've been at it for a long time and have the process down to a science. They are also all great folks and are there to help make the process as smooth as possible.

Where in Nor Cal are you at? Are you going for class of 2013? I can put you in touch with my daughter if you like.
 
Sacramento. So I'll probably getting my nom from Doris Matsui.

I'm going for class of 2014. I just applied to summer seminar and I am waiting to hear back from them. It's still fairly early to start the whole process, but I am getting a little nervous. Everyone else seems so qualified, and even though I know I stand a reasonable chance, I'm still apprehensive.

Congrats to your daughter! That's amazing that she got her LOA so early. Also, the whole mock interview idea is great, I'm sure that helped her out a lot.

It'd be great to get in touch with your daughter to ask her some questions. But please don't go out of your(or her) way. I'm sure she's celebrating her appointment and trying to enjoy her last few months of high school. And with Plebe summer approaching, I'm sure she'll have no time to talk whatsoever.

Thanks so much for the insight. And congrats again! The party sounds great!
 
Summer Seminar is great. She attended that last year, and that's when she fell in love with the USNA.

I'm former Marine and my wife was Navy. So our daughter grew up hearing all about it, and of course raised with the structure and discipline that one would expect from such a family.

Before Summer Seminar, her first choice was Georgetown. But once she attended Summer Seminar, she fell in love with it.

I would recommend going if you can. And focus on grades, physical and extra curricular/sports. Our experience tells us that they are looking for the well rounded package in their candidates. Grades are great, but what about leadership such as volunteer work, student body, etc.

Send me your contact info and I'll get it to my daughter so she can share her experiences with you. She's out of school this week due to a break in their schedule, so she has plenty of time to help, and she has the personality type that is always willing to help others.

She's spending her days now at school and the gym. This week, no school, so plenty of gym time, but of course she has time to help others that are following the same path that she is taking.
 
To Jbrown:

I'm applying for the class of '14 and I wear glasses. How bad does my eyesight have to be to NOT qualify for a waiver?

Congratulations to you daughter :)
 
I'm not the right person to be asking that question to. I'm simply a father of someone heading to the USNA and a former Marine.

For questions like that, I suggest you post to the DodMerb forum and ask Mr. Mullen. He's great and is the best person to direct that question to.
 
Okay - my boss wants to give my son a watch as a gift for his appointment to USNA - what do current mids recommend?? Someone from Airforce said Casio G-shock....are there restrictions, etc.??

I received a Casio G-Shock for my birthday and absolutely love it.
And, it looks like they are creating a military-based line:
http://www.casio.com/news/content/E95D2549-CB7A-4A27-99C4-6D39A73E4AFB/


I got mine before I knew about the military ones:
http://www.amazon.com/Casio-G-Shock...bbs_9?ie=UTF8&s=watches&qid=1234912992&sr=8-9


Anyway, I love mine. Solar is useful, and it cannot be damaged (from what I've seen)
 
jBrown, I sent you a personal message with the info. Thanks again.

I gave it to her. She'll contact you on Weds and share her experiences so far with you. Her name is Rosalina (Rosie).
 
Back
Top