Questions from Mom of new Plebe

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2009

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Jan 25, 2009
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Hi, Our son reported on June 30. We have received two letters stating that his bag was lost. He has a new pair of broken-in boots, leatherman, shaving kit and extra socks and underwear in it. Will they locate it for him? Should we call? Also, do families generally attend the Marchback on August 10, or A-day on August 15? Or is the Marchback the same thing as the parade on the 15? I'm so confused.
 
He should talk to his coc (chain of command) about the lost bag. It should show up eventually.

Marchback and A-day are two different events. Bookmark this link and refer to it often!
http://www.westpoint.edu/Dcomm/wppc.asp

sign up for plebe-net if you haven't already. pm me if you need the directions.

A-Day is a formal parade and a fantastic weekend to spend with your Cadet. If at all possible GO! The parade will be on a Sat am - the 15th of August and you will have lots of free time to picnic and spend time with your Cadet that weekend.

The Marchback - this is a 12 mile ruck march when the New Cadets march back to post from Camp Buckner. They join the Corps and their new companies in reorganization. Mostly only parents who live nearby attend. You won't be able to converse with your New Cadet - only see them march.
For parents who can get the day off and live relatively nearby - it's a lot of fun.
 
His bag was lost? Do you mean his personal bag he brought on R-Day? He must not have had enough time to make the R-Day transfer of his personal stuff. Do not worry...that bag of his will be found when he returns from the second half of Beast. It is probably on the bottom of a big pile sitting in the basement of a barracks.

I suspect he is fine if he is strong enough to write TWO letters. West Point supplies NCs with everything they need. The luxuries, like a leatherman, can be borrowed. The NCs do help each other. I do not think you need to call about the lost bag. Just my opinion.

March Back is a ruck march (a ruck is a very nice Army frame backpack with a waist-belt support system) from camp back to West Point. It happens on August 10 this year. Parents can watch along the way but most watch and cheer along the road near the end point at Washington Hall.

A-Day is the parade on Saturday, August 15, and is a more formal occasion. It is well worth a trip to West Point to experience it. If I had to choose between A-Day and March Back I would choose A-Day. After two years of going to West Point events this is by far my favorite. (I have not seen graduation yet...)

If you can take the week off, it is wonderful to be able to spend a week at West Point and see both March Back and A-Day. Fort Putnam is usually open that week and the nice volunteers can be contacted for a trip to Constitution Island...then there is the museum, and all the Revolutionary War sites to visit.

Reorgy Week starts after the New Cadets "march back" to West Point. They get to finally meet their full company. I hear the NCs are met with warmth and love by the Corps. ;-) The Corps spends the next few days meeting with their advisors, getting their schedules, buying books and supplies, and generally getting ready for the academic year.

I hope this helps!

Ant
2011 parent
 
Thanks for all of your replies. I just got my phone call and I'm on cloud nine. DS said that his superior officer is "the Man" and everything is fine. He was in excellent shape, so the only complaint is 5 a.m. and getting yelled at, which he tunes out. He took his boots when they checked in, and is not worried about the other things. A 2009 grad gave him the leatherman as a going away present, so that was the only really personal item that he would like back. He likes his roomate, and there is an exchange student from Latvia in his company. He is looking for mail, which seems to be delayed about a week. His brother created a group on facebook entitled "DS's address, please write him at beast." It currently has about 250 members, and he just started getting letters from it. We live in NJ, so we are getting a group together for both Marchback and A-day. I don't want to miss anything!!! I am new at this, so all of your suggestions are soooo helpful. Why is it a big deal that he wrote two letters?? Would that be difficult? I have no clue.
 
Just A Mom:

I just signed up for plebe-net. I am not sure how to pm.
 
2009, you asked:
Why is it a big deal that he wrote two letters?? Would that be difficult?
Click to expand...
Instead of sleeping he is choosing to write you letters. :smile: Perhaps he is setting a pattern or perhaps those two letters should be framed....:biggrin:

To send a pm click on "User CP" at the very top of the page; then click on "send a new message". Or click on a user's name and select send a private message.
 
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Could be that he saved up to send two letters at once. I can tell you, at CGA, we patrolled the P-ways all night, if anyone was up writing letters, we would have found them...and that isn't good.
 
Aw, LITS, he probably had permission to write those two letters. NCs have to write one letter the first day or so....some get out of that requirement, though. :wink: So the fact that 2009's son wrote TWO is amazing!
 
They were postmarked the 2nd and 3rd of July. I did not realize there was no time for writing at beast. Funny, they are addressed to Mom and Dad with our home address, no last names, but they get here.
 
2009, I hope the rest of the New Cadets are doing as well as your son. And you've already gotten a phone call! :thumb:

Enjoy your trip for March Back and A-Day! :smile:
 
A new and invaluable resource is the West Point Parents Facebook page. This was created and is managed by Deb Dalton who works in the USMA Public Affairs Office as the West Point Parents Club Coordinator. Deb has been updating the page daily (lots of times more than once a day) with pictures and information on what the NC's are doing. You can find it at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/WestPointParents?ref=nf

or by putting "West Point Parents" in the search box (just those words -- there are many other pages). Deb is getting ready to start posting inofrmation about A-Day. Accurate, up-to-date info straight from the source!!
 
2009 said:
Hi, Our son reported on June 30. We have received two letters stating that his bag was lost. He has a new pair of broken-in boots, leatherman, shaving kit and extra socks and underwear in it. Will they locate it for him? Should we call? Also, do families generally attend the Marchback on August 10, or A-day on August 15? Or is the Marchback the same thing as the parade on the 15? I'm so confused.
Click to expand...

I thought "R" Day this year was June 29th?
 
MAXIMUS, you are correct, R-Day was Monday, June 29. My mistake.
 
Very impressive to have two letters after one week. My DS wrote six letters during the first half of beast and none second half. The first half had many briefings and "boring sitting in a room" opportunities to write. The second half was much more fun. I knew from the phone calls he was fine and was having a decent time of it. Treat the letters you receive as the gifts they are...each cadet is different, so don't compare yourselves to friends and other parents on plebe net who might have hit the letter jackpot.
 
Mom3boys is right -- no one can predict which new cadets will write, and whether or not they do/don't is not a predictor of how they are doing. My oldest sent exactly 1 piece of mail during beast -- an envelope containing an index card with his marksmanship badge on it. My youngest, who isn't usually a big communicator, wrote several newsy letters.

I LOVE that your letters were addressed to "Mom and Dad" -- you will laugh about that for many years to come!!
 
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Ok, we received a THIRD letter!!! I would not have known it was something special if I had not read it here. It was dated July 6, so I assume we are a week behind. He told me what was in the letter when we spoke The only new information was that they had to sleep with a weapon, and he found that a little "strange". I am wondering if he will be another plebe who will write 6 letters the first three weeks and that's it. I am checking my mail as frequently as when we awaited college decisions.
 
Reading your posts brings back memories of our mail carrier laughing as I met him by the mailbox almost daily three summers ago! He was as excited as me when a letter would come! I am experiencing echos of that now with my oldest son in Ranger school -- we have received 2 short, very muddy notes from him.

Sounds as though he is doing great -- enjoy your second phone call tomorrow!!
 
I did indeed enjoy that phone call. In addition to me, DS was able to call Dad 's cell, brother AND girlfriend. I don't know if things have changed, or he has a really nice sponsor family, but we did not expect that many calls!!! He sounds great. He has only made friends with his roomate, because there is no time to get to know anyone. He said there is a lot of "hurry up and wait", which my father tells me sounds "just like the army". He was also able to write a few letters to his girlfriend and one to the grandparents. He said his cadre is changing because of a promotion, which disappointed him and made him feel they would all be broken in again with new cadre. I was wondering: How many cadets are sponsored by each family? And how much time do they spend with them? It's great to hear other people felt the same way through all of this.
 
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