Class of 2018 Female, happy to answer questions

Hello,

I am currently a freshman girl at the Academy, and I am happy to answer any questions you have. I know that I had concerns and questions before coming here, and people were forthright and happy to help. So here is me returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask.
I am a bf of a girl who is currently going through BCT at USAFA. From a girls perspective, what can I do to help her while she is away? She was my best friend for over a year before we started to date and I want to help her in anyway I can.

I agree, write letters. There really isn't a lot you can do, but receiving letters was the best! Be aware that she won't have a lot of time to write back so don't wait for a response. Daily letters from my family members were my favorite things. It made me feel connected and normal. Also find out when Doolie Day out is and prepare for a ice long phone call, or Skype. Then find out when Basic is over and make more time to talk. That's about all you can do.
 
Hello,

I am currently a freshman girl at the Academy, and I am happy to answer any questions you have. I know that I had concerns and questions before coming here, and people were forthright and happy to help. So here is me returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask.
I am a bf of a girl who is currently going through BCT at USAFA. From a girls perspective, what can I do to help her while she is away? She was my best friend for over a year before we started to date and I want to help her in anyway I can.
Right now, while she's going through BCT -- write letters. Lots and lots of letters. :)
What should I put in these letters? Or better yet, what should I not put?
 
Hello,

I am currently a freshman girl at the Academy, and I am happy to answer any questions you have. I know that I had concerns and questions before coming here, and people were forthright and happy to help. So here is me returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask.
I am a bf of a girl who is currently going through BCT at USAFA. From a girls perspective, what can I do to help her while she is away? She was my best friend for over a year before we started to date and I want to help her in anyway I can.
Right now, while she's going through BCT -- write letters. Lots and lots of letters. :)
What should I put in these letters? Or better yet, what should I not put?
Be encouraging. Talk about how proud of her you are. Tell her you know its tough, but you're confident she can do it.
Just be upbeat and encouraging. You can add jokes or any funny events going on. The letters don't have to be long. They are contact with the outside world and even a paragraph or two will be enough.

Do not talk about how you wish she were still at home, or anything like that. If you are in college, don't talk about parties, or fun things you are doing with your friends. No writing about pool parties or road trips! Do not write anything that will make her wish that she didn't choose USAFA (that will already be going through her head during BCT - she won't need that kind of encouragement!)
 
Humor is great!
My parents sent my favorite comic from the newspaper each week, and while I couldn't keep them (no pictures during BCT), they gave me a good laugh when I read them.
 
DS was in BCT during the Olympics. We sent him a constant stream of Olympic updates particularly for swimming which he enjoys. News for the outside world relevant to them is appreciated, like how out women beat Japan if they enjoy soccer.
 
DS was in BCT during the Olympics. We sent him a constant stream of Olympic updates particularly for swimming which he enjoys. News for the outside world relevant to them is appreciated, like how out women beat Japan if they enjoy soccer.
I heard that the basics got to watch that match.
 
Hello,

I am currently a freshman girl at the Academy, and I am happy to answer any questions you have. I know that I had concerns and questions before coming here, and people were forthright and happy to help. So here is me returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask.
I am a bf of a girl who is currently going through BCT at USAFA. From a girls perspective, what can I do to help her while she is away? She was my best friend for over a year before we started to date and I want to help her in anyway I can.
Right now, while she's going through BCT -- write letters. Lots and lots of letters. :)
What should I put in these letters? Or better yet, what should I not put?

There is also a service, write2them, that you can send email. They will combine all emails received, process them and get in your cadet's mailbox each day. It knocks a few days off of the delay time if you send regular mail and also gives you a better chance of a steady stream of correspondence. Note that the Basics are probably not getting to their mailboxes every day, and it may be more like every three days, so if there is a steady stream, they will have a few to read, or enough to hold them over until the next mail day. Here is the general email and website:
info@write2them.org; http://www.write2them.org.
 
Hello,

I am currently a freshman girl at the Academy, and I am happy to answer any questions you have. I know that I had concerns and questions before coming here, and people were forthright and happy to help. So here is me returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask.
I am a bf of a girl who is currently going through BCT at USAFA. From a girls perspective, what can I do to help her while she is away? She was my best friend for over a year before we started to date and I want to help her in anyway I can.
Right now, while she's going through BCT -- write letters. Lots and lots of letters. :)
What should I put in these letters? Or better yet, what should I not put?
Be encouraging. Talk about how proud of her you are. Tell her you know its tough, but you're confident she can do it.
Just be upbeat and encouraging. You can add jokes or any funny events going on. The letters don't have to be long. They are contact with the outside world and even a paragraph or two will be enough.

Do not talk about how you wish she were still at home, or anything like that. If you are in college, don't talk about parties, or fun things you are doing with your friends. No writing about pool parties or road trips! Do not write anything that will make her wish that she didn't choose USAFA (that will already be going through her head during BCT - she won't need that kind of encouragement!)
This is all wonderful. Now if I may change direction, what are some ways that she could change either during BCT or the rest of the school year?
 
Also, On the note of doing pull ups, I am working really hard everyday and intend to until I leave by just doing them. There is a machine at my gym that lessens the weight you're pulling up. What can one expect if they do go to Basic and are crap at pull ups?

I mean, you will be asked to do pull-ups. Just try your hardest and rely on your classmates. It's not the end of the world, most girls can't. The PFT you take won't be immediately. The AFT you take pretty early. The first times aren't the ones that will count. You''ll take them again and that's where the score will matter.

What happens if you can't do a pull up or a good standing long jump on the 2nd PFT in BCT? What is Recondo?
 
What happens if you can't do a pull up or a good standing long jump on the 2nd PFT in BCT? What is Recondo?

I'm sure Ramius will come on and add any extra information I missed on one of his threads but he's posted this in the past.

Unfortunately, I was not quite average. I failed my first Physical Fitness Test, and was put on athletic probation. Ath Pro involved two basic things. First, you are restricted to base. Those passes to leave on the weekend? Yep, they don't exist for you. Second, there are mandatory PT sessions 3 days a week. These are run by upperclass Recondo CICs and a few officers. Recondo meets at the gym or field house and runs approximately from 1630 until 1800 (sometimes more like 1820). While Recondo is a good general workout, it is not tailored to individuals. For me, it was a LOT of work, with only slow gains. Fridays are usually "instructor option days." This means the squadron's cadet in charge gets to decide the workout for the day. This is a double edged sword. The workouts are better tailored to the few cadets in that squadron's Recondo program, generally get out before 1800, but tend to be higher intensity than the Recondo program's regular workouts. The worst I did was 45 minutes of "suicides" on a basketball court, with 10-15 seconds between each set. Afterwords, I went back to my room and sprawled out on the floor for 10 minutes to recover before grabbing dinner.

Yes Ramius I have have that post bookmarked in my personal opinion it's one of the best if not the best post on this forum for AFA people.

USAFMOM'19 if you're curious to read the entire thing you can find it here:

http://www.serviceacademyforums.com...-blog-posts-from-elsewhere.35795/#post-348450

Granted it was a few years ago that Ramius went through this so I hope any current cadets will add if things have changed.
 
The AFT/PFT during Basic don't "count" as part of your Physical Education Average. However, if you score low enough on one or both of the tests, you can be placed into an academic year program run by the Recondo people (since you don't technically have a PEA, you can't technically be on athletic probation, but they will suck up plenty of your time just as if you were on it.) It's basically a preventative measure to make sure that you don't start with extremely low scores by the time you take your first semester AFT/PFT.

If you can't do a pullup, you won't automatically fail the PFT, I know plenty of people who have struggled with them and still have easily passed every PFT. Same with the jump, so the best advice I can give is to spend some time trying to max the other sections while you target whatever event(s) you struggle with. There's more than enough advice out there for improving PFT scores but if you'd like some more (particularly on going from sucking at pullups to maxing the section), PM me and I can help out.
 
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