It should be noted that Navy doesn't issue a sense of humor, either. You either develop one yourself (very quickly, and usually a bit of a twisted* one) or you don't make it.
My answer was both twisted and accurate. They need to show up with their brains firing on all cylinders and with their balls armor-plated and ready to deal with what's coming. As I suggested and usna1985 confirmed, everything else they NEED is issued to them. As parents, you need to stop worrying about looking after your baby and let them start figuring things out on their own.
Now, when your Plebe calls you and says, "Hey, mom, could you send me a few cans of Dow Scrubbing Bubbles** for my shower?" then you will have a better answer to your question than anything you'll read here, especially so far ahead of the curve, and the information will be coming directly from the guy who NEEDS the stuff, not from a bunch of candidates and their parents, who don't have a clue yet, either.
Sheesh. I remember when Americans were a little thicker-skinned and actually listened to people who had BTDT.
* How twisted, you may ask? Back in Youngster Year, the "battle cry" (if you could call it that) espoused by the Commandant was "4500 - THE TEAM!" Sadly, late in the first semester, one Mid committed suicide by jumping out of his window. The running joke afterward was "4499 - THE TEAM!" It's simply how it is. The fact I remember it at all is testament to the effectiveness of it; we remember the poor nameless Mid through our efforts to deal with it.
** Best stuff there ever was for removing soap scum from the marble bulkheads of the showers. Spray, wait, scrub, rinse. Repeat. Dry with a clean towel. Toss towel into laundry basket and murder anyone who uses the shower before the inspection.
Certified to pass the black-sock test every time.
