USMA Paracute Team

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Aay Three

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Messages
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Just wondering, how hard is it to get into the parachute team? And what kind of initiation training is it? And can you join in your plebe year? does it count as a sport?
 
I emailed the team awhile back I can forward it to you if you like. Apparently It is quite hard... Better be in tip top shape!!!
 
I spoke with several of the team members back in November. You join during the second semester of plebe year, do not get to jump that year, and must remain on the team for the remaining years at WP. It is a very consuming sport, and due to performances/training, etc, team members miss many of the breaks that their classmates get. As far as getting on the team, they said ~300 plebes show up for the informational meeting, and after hearing exactly how much free time/leave they'll forfeit about 60 show up for the actual tryouts. The tryouts are very tough, and include (I was told) testing, PT (they smoke you), and at least one interview. About a dozen of the applicants are selected to be on the team.

Again, this information is my recollection of a conversation I had with 3-4 team members back in November, so I may be mistaken on some parts. I hope this info is helpful to you!
 
I knew it would be hard, I had a brief conversation about this with my WP Interviewer, and in the fear of sounding a bit foolish, i see the phrase "smoke you" a lot, what does that mean?
 
Last edited:
Aay Three said:
I knew it would be hard, I had a brief conversation about this with my WP Interviewer, and in the fear of sounding a bit foolish, i see the phrase "smoke you" a lot, what does that mean?
Click to expand...

To smoke is someone, to put it simply, is basically to make them do a ton of PT.
 
Smoking is physical training with the intent to induce exhaustion, cause pain, and induce vomiting. The mainstay of basic training. The cadre leading a smoke session know you can't do every exercise, they are simply observing how you handle it and how hard you push yourself to not quit.
 
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