Free Time & Going Home/Breaks

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fromupnorth

USAFA '28 Appointee
Joined
Jan 30, 2024
Messages
58
Hi all,

'28 Appointee. I was NOT expecting to get in, considering I am a below average applicant. Now that I've been accepted, I'm getting hit with a lot of second guessing. However, my thoughts mostly have to do with free time as a cadet, and the opportunity to go home. Will I have the opportunity to fly home on long weekends? How do passes work? How does winter/spring/summer break work?

Just trying to get an idea of what I am getting myself in to.
 
How far away do you live?

we are a day and half drive. Our son flew home thanksgiving (maybe Tuesday-Sunday?), several weeks at Christmas, a week at spring break. He will have three weeks off this summer. You can see the schedule for next year online.

There have been other 3-day weekends that some cadets went home. Mine was able to get passes and go to sponsors’ home or stay with other family that lives closer to the academy.
 
Congrats and don't sell yourself short. Clearly USAFA, your Evaluator ALO and whoever needed to saw something in you and your application that got you the appointment so be proud of the achievement. Many young people get these feelings the first time they get the news and for some it's just too much and they decide against it. At the end of the day, don't let the free time discourage you from your goal if service and going to USAFA to be a future leader is what you want to do. You will have time, about 4-5 days at Thanksgiving to go home (many stay local with sponsors because of the nightmare travel can be at that time), Christmas is a couple of weeks, Spring break in March is 10 days and you will get 3 weeks over Summer. Just because everyone else has a long weekend doesn't automatically mean you will get it and the logistics of going home for short breaks may not be in your favor. You may well find that you want to stay local with your new AF family as you grow closer to them during BCT and the months that follow. Many cadets choose to go somewhere with their new friends over breaks, it's all part of growing up and becoming independent and wanting to see more of the world. Congrats again and good luck with your decision. IMHO it's better to go and have no regrets than to spend the rest of your life wondering what if. You clearly wanted this badly enough to chase it so now you have it don't let the opportunity get away.
 
fromupnorth said:
Hi all,

'28 Appointee. I was NOT expecting to get in, considering I am a below average applicant. Now that I've been accepted, I'm getting hit with a lot of second guessing. However, my thoughts mostly have to do with free time as a cadet, and the opportunity to go home. Will I have the opportunity to fly home on long weekends? How do passes work? How does winter/spring/summer break work?

Just trying to get an idea of what I am getting myself in to.
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Congrats. You deserve it! 2027 parent here. We live in Maryland. I thought my DS wouldn’t be able to come home at all except for Thanksgiving, Winter break, Spring break, and the three weeks in Summer.

He was able to come home two additional weekends between Summer and Thanksgiving. He could have come home several additional more times between Winter and Spring break, but has enjoyed at least five snowboarding weekends and many more weekends with fellow cadets at various sponsor families. I couldn’t detail the number of passes available per month, as he manages that. They work hard and play hard.
 
fromupnorth said:
Just trying to get an idea of what I am getting myself in to.
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If you attend USAFA, you're getting yourself into a military life that means you'll have limited opportunities to "visit home." To be sure, officers get a good amount of leave -- more than the average amount of vacation for a civilian. But you'll be subject to the needs of the military, and you may be deployed when big things come up such as weddings, birthdays and funerals. It won't be as easy to take off at the drop of the hat. It's a lifestyle to consider should you accept the invitation that you earned to attend USAFA.
 
Yes you can, I know people who go home every three day weekend pretty much. I also skied 18 days this year at various local resorts. There’s plenty of free time.
 
There is plenty of opportunity to go home with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring break, and summer break. Parent's weekend is a long weekend for your family to come to you, plus multiple three-day weekends to ski, camp, sponsor family, friends, etc. You will quickly learn that, although the weekend may be free from duty, it will not be free from school work. You will develop new friends, etc, and will not want to go home every chance. You will out grow your high school friends and move into the next phase

Congratulations! You have an appointment, you deserve to be there.
 
dahacker said:
Congrats. You deserve it! 2027 parent here. We live in Maryland. I thought my DS wouldn’t be able to come home at all except for Thanksgiving, Winter break, Spring break, and the three weeks in Summer.

He was able to come home two additional weekends between Summer and Thanksgiving. He could have come home several additional more times between Winter and Spring break, but has enjoyed at least five snowboarding weekends and many more weekends with fellow cadets at various sponsor families. I couldn’t detail the number of passes available per month, as he manages that. They work hard and play hard.
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2026 parent...100% agree with this post! I was pleasantly surprised how much I was able to see my son during his Doolie year. We live in Kansas so it is not a bad drive to go visit but there were many weekends he was able to get away, even for a day, with his squadron-mates to go ski, hike, etc. Also agree with the "work hard, play hard" comment...he worked hard during the week to make extra time on the weekends to get away.

Passes were somewhat dependent on squadron performance, personal grade status, etc, as best as I could tell.

He was able to get approval to leave on a number of occasions for various family events, trips, etc. Again, he had more leave than either of us expected!
 
Passes have recently changed with new commandant. Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, and 3 weeks during summer should be the same.

Freshmen receive 4 day Passes per month. If you leave after class Friday and return Sunday, that's 3 Passes. Extra Passes do carryover month to month but start over at 4 after each semester break. My understanding is a Sunday only pass for religious services does not count against your 4, but if it's attached with an overnight it will count as a pass.

3 degrees receive 8 per semester, 2 degrees 12, and 4 degrees 16. Supposedly extra passes can be earned (or taken away) based on performance and behavior, but I don't really know how often that happens.

Keep in mind you can't have a car until junior year, so unless you borrow a car or have a sponsor family that will pick you up regularly, it's not always easy to leave.
 
All great info and also remember that this is the military so the key is flexibility and adaptability. Just because it happened before doesn't mean it will happen the same way again and things can change without notice. Book travel with flexibility in mind so you can either adjust dates or refund the ticket. Also consider the chance that a weekend on the slopes in Breck or Vail with their new Epic Pass and new friends may have more appeal than going home at every opportunity as they get used to being away.
 
Theredbaron said:
Passes have recently changed with new commandant. Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, and 3 weeks during summer should be the same.

Freshmen receive 4 day Passes per month. If you leave after class Friday and return Sunday, that's 3 Passes. Extra Passes do carryover month to month but start over at 4 after each semester break. My understanding is a Sunday only pass for religious services does not count against your 4, but if it's attached with an overnight it will count as a pass.

3 degrees receive 8 per semester, 2 degrees 12, and 4 degrees 16. Supposedly extra passes can be earned (or taken away) based on performance and behavior, but I don't really know how often that happens.

Keep in mind you can't have a car until junior year, so unless you borrow a car or have a sponsor family that will pick you up regularly, it's not always easy to leave.
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Do you mean freshman receive 4 day/ passes per semester?
 
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