Questions Thread

[LSSmith]

1) I accepted a 4 year ROTC scholarship prior to receiving my appointment to USMA. It won't affect you negatively.

Thank you very much!

2010 - thank you too for your info and input.

 

[America's Finest]

1)

2) I currently use protein shakes and I found they help. It is all up to you but really isn't necessary. I rarely used them prior to Beast.

What kind do you use? I used GNC brand shakes for a long time, but they are hard on the digestive system.

I use Six Star Muscle brand muscle building milkshake. I never had trouble digesting anything though so I don't know which one is easier on the stomach.

 

[2010]

Probably the best thing out there to take if your gonna buy protein is Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey. It's one of the few brands out there that uses mainly whey isolate instead of whey concentrate. Still, you probably don't need it as much since the best thing to concentrate on is endurance. It probably is a good idea though to do some weight training so you'll have more strength and power when you do combatives or boxing.

Anyways I thought I had read somewhere on the academy's website that once you're at the campus during the regular school year that you are allowed to wear contacts. I'm figuring that it would probably be a good idea to wear contacts instead of glasses when you're taking the boxing course plebe year, even though contacts can still get knocked out if you get hit just right. Any advice on that?

 

[Chockstock]

1. Where can I learn more about host families? Are host families popular?

2. Why do West Point cadets hate ROTC guys?

3. Is the hazing at West Point bad?

 

[BLSnared]

1. Where can I learn more about host families? Are host families popular?

2. Why do West Point cadets hate ROTC guys?

3. Is the hazing at West Point bad?

to 2.

I don't go to West Point so I can't speak for that angle. However, I'm in ROTC. There is definitely a rivalry. Less people are commissioned through the academy and more from ROTC, yet I'd be willing to bet more "West Pointers" get high commands (Secretary of the Army, Commanders of combat theaters like Afghanistan or Iraq). I don't know this for a fact, but maybe ROTC people feel like West Pointers get ahead based on their commission source and thus feel cheated. I'm sure this has SOME validity to it, as just about everything you could ever think of has some evidence somewhere to support it. However, I'm sure it's the exception and not the rule. I tend to think that West Pointer supposedly "achieve higher ranks" because if you were to look at the numbers, I'd say more West Pointers make the Army a career than do ROTC folks. I'm just spitballing here but that is my take. Person for person I doubt there is any significance. An ROTC cadet is just as likely to become a great officer as a USMA cadet, and on the flip side, equally likely to not be a good officer.

As I stated before, I think it is more about how many people stay in the Army from West Point versus how many do from ROTC more than anything else.

 

[Chockstock]

Never heard anything about that before I know Colin Powell was a ROTC grad though


Is it possible to have fun at West Point? I know that someone before mentioned that upperclassmen are not essentially your "friends" due to the rank difference, and despite all the strictness and "toughguyness", I'd like to know what life is like when compared to just a regular college student

 

[America's Finest]

Never heard anything about that before I know Colin Powell was a ROTC grad though


Is it possible to have fun at West Point? I know that someone before mentioned that upperclassmen are not essentially your "friends" due to the rank difference, and despite all the strictness and "toughguyness", I'd like to know what life is like when compared to just a regular college student

Regular college student is NOTHING like USMA. My college friends get to go out every night, complain about having to wake up at 0900 for a class, have classes only a few times a week, take far less credit hours, don't have to clean their room, and don't have mandatory things to go to.

Upperclassmen can't be your friends, but you will have over 1,000 other Plebes to be friends with and have some free time on weekends.

to 2.

I don't go to West Point so I can't speak for that angle. However, I'm in ROTC. There is definitely a rivalry. Less people are commissioned through the academy and more from ROTC, yet I'd be willing to bet more "West Pointers" get high commands (Secretary of the Army, Commanders of combat theaters like Afghanistan or Iraq). I don't know this for a fact, but maybe ROTC people feel like West Pointers get ahead based on their commission source and thus feel cheated. I'm sure this has SOME validity to it, as just about everything you could ever think of has some evidence somewhere to support it. However, I'm sure it's the exception and not the rule. I tend to think that West Pointer supposedly "achieve higher ranks" because if you were to look at the numbers, I'd say more West Pointers make the Army a career than do ROTC folks. I'm just spitballing here but that is my take. Person for person I doubt there is any significance. An ROTC cadet is just as likely to become a great officer as a USMA cadet, and on the flip side, equally likely to not be a good officer.

As I stated before, I think it is more about how many people stay in the Army from West Point versus how many do from ROTC more than anything else.

Statistics alone aren't enough to show partiality since the training is different so it will produce different results.

 

[Chockstock]

Yeah, I guess thats what I would figure

I'm just trying to figure out if I would enjoy WP as much as I would probably enjoy regular college dorm life...



Are you allowed to call your family during CBT?

 

[America's Finest]

Yeah, I guess thats what I would figure

I'm just trying to figure out if I would enjoy WP as much as I would probably enjoy regular college dorm life...



Are you allowed to call your family during CBT?

You will only be able to send letters. You will be able to make 3 calls during Beast, 10 minutes long each. One of them near the middle will probably be longer since your sponsor will let you use their phone but the other 2 are regulated by the cadre.

 

[Chockstock]

You will only be able to send letters. You will be able to make 3 calls during Beast, 10 minutes long each. One of them near the middle will probably be longer since your sponsor will let you use their phone but the other 2 are regulated by the cadre.

Oh wow thats strict. No entertainment is allowed? You can't even bring books? I know they don't let you bring electronics but it'd be nice to read a book

 

[marciemi]

I know they don't let you bring electronics but it'd be nice to read a book

When??

You'll have plenty of books to read - Bugle Notes, Fourth Class Systems Manual, Barracks Arrangement Guide, AR600-1!

AF - help me out here - how many of these do you guys still have?

 

[America's Finest]

Oh wow thats strict. No entertainment is allowed? You can't even bring books? I know they don't let you bring electronics but it'd be nice to read a book

The free time you do have you should spend socializing with other New Cadets, writing a letter home, or getting your room ready. Not to mention the countless knowledge you will have to study! Some of it is pretty long.

When??

You'll have plenty of books to read - Bugle Notes, Fourth Class Systems Manual, Barracks Arrangement Guide, AR600-1!

AF - help me out here - how many of these do you guys still have?

Still have Bugle Notes, BAG, USCC Uniform Regulations, SOP, New Cadet Handbook.

All the field manuals we get saved on our computers for our military science classes.

 

[Chockstock]

Oh, well I meant like in your "alone times" since you wont have music or otherwise to entertain you




These are big questions that I've kept on forgetting to ask


1. How does the meal schedule work?

2. Other than West Point food, is there a way you can buy food from different sources?

 

[mom3boys]

Chockstock: I think you are confused about free time. You will not have any. Not really at all during CBT. It's a very structured, rigorous program. Listen to AF...he just went through it...there is NO time to leisurely enjoy a novel! You can do that Labor Day weekend or Thanksgiving!

 

[Just_A_Mom]

Oh wow thats strict. No entertainment is allowed? You can't even bring books? I know they don't let you bring electronics but it'd be nice to read a book

I highly suggest you make a candidate overnight visit to West Point. You really need to go there and spend the night to see for yourself how it is.

CBT is not any worse than the Basic Training that all enlisted soldiers endure. Lots of kids enlist after they graduate and they undergo 10 weeks of basic training. Most get through it. Most New Cadets get through it. It's a challenge both physically and mentally. If you honestly don't think you are up to it then explore another path.

 

[Chockstock]

I highly suggest you make a candidate overnight visit to West Point. You really need to go there and spend the night to see for yourself how it is.

CBT is not any worse than the Basic Training that all enlisted soldiers endure. Lots of kids enlist after they graduate and they undergo 10 weeks of basic training. Most get through it. Most New Cadets get through it. It's a challenge both physically and mentally. If you honestly don't think you are up to it then explore another path.

Yeah, sorry, I'm sounding like a ******* I should be smart enough to realize that its basic training for a military academy I know there won't be cutting corners while Im there

Anyway, I'm wondering what the food schedule is like at WP? Are there other places where you can buy/order food? Is eating at the mess hall required?

 

[sprtzm]

double check before getting lasik........................i think it may be a disqualifier.

 

[LSSmith]

Yeah, sorry, I'm sounding like a ******* I should be smart enough to realize that its basic training for a military academy I know there won't be cutting corners while Im there

Anyway, I'm wondering what the food schedule is like at WP? Are there other places where you can buy/order food? Is eating at the mess hall required?

There is a McD's not very far away ... and they deliver to WP!! I've only toured, so I'm not sure about what else is available to cadets, but I'm sure there are other eating establishments there ... the question is, when are you permitted to go to them.

Attending any SA is a very structured environment. Have you taken the virual tour of any of the SA's? They're all very structured and intensely demanding.

 

[America's Finest]

Yeah, sorry, I'm sounding like a ******* I should be smart enough to realize that its basic training for a military academy I know there won't be cutting corners while Im there

Anyway, I'm wondering what the food schedule is like at WP? Are there other places where you can buy/order food? Is eating at the mess hall required?

During the academic year breakfast and lunch are mandatory at the Mess Hall on weekdays. Dinner is also mandatory for Plebes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at the Mess Hall. On weekends all meals are optional.

You can order out (Pizza, Chinese, McDonalds), you can go to Subway, Grant Hall, or the Coffee Shop in Jefferson Hall. There are more places you could eat at but I don't eat out often so I only know of the most popular ones.

During Beast its all mandatory. Usually at the Mess Hall but sometimes on the field they will bring food or give you MREs.

 

[Chockstock]

During the academic year breakfast and lunch are mandatory at the Mess Hall on weekdays. Dinner is also mandatory for Plebes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at the Mess Hall. On weekends all meals are optional.

You can order out (Pizza, Chinese, McDonalds), you can go to Subway, Grant Hall, or the Coffee Shop in Jefferson Hall. There are more places you could eat at but I don't eat out often so I only know of the most popular ones.

During Beast its all mandatory. Usually at the Mess Hall but sometimes on the field they will bring food or give you MREs.

That doesn't sound too bad Where is Jefferson Hall? I remember at SLS there was this place that kind of looked like a bar and there was a bunch of cadets eating and relaxing in there but I dont remember the name of it

lol MREs...I had trouble opening those