Cadets

I thought it was funny. I work as a Lifeguard at my local U.S. Coast Guard Base and experience many cadets utilizing the pool, especially since the heat index here has been around 105 lately. Every Monday, the new group of Cadets that just flew in have a swim test with them wearing a flight suit and steel-toed boots. The Cadets usually say things such as "these things are really heavier than they feel on and" and "water really does wiegh stuff down". At one point the AST supervising the cadets looked at me and said" well... they all said they were strong swimmers" and just laughed. Another incident involved two Cadets kissing in a pool( Our pool has a no PDA rule, especially since there are young children always at the pool) when a lady told then to "get a room" the male Cadet's roommate loudly disapproved of the lady's suggestion. The last and most frustrating incident was when a Cadet attempted to bring an 18-pack of beer into the pool. When another lifeguard and I asked him to please take the alcohol out of the pool area, he disagreed and proceeded to stick his arms through the fence, take a drink and asked " if that was considered out of the pool area". The OOD had a nice talk with him. Another Cadet thought it would be apropriate to eat a sandwich while treading water in the pool... he was politely yelled at. Alot of incidents like these happended but weren't as funny. Also, It's pretty funny that the actions of some of the Cadets have earned the Cadets the nickname of "Cadidiots".

USCGA cadets are not "flown in every Monday" to take a swimming test.

Your post lacks credibility.

Unless the poster is at ATC Mobile where cadets experience CATP......is that where you are? Yes, some cadets have been known as "cadidiots" and some enlisted are known as "Teds".

Full gear and boots are far heavier in water (and ASTs wear wetsuits/dry suits and fins)

Some cadets will do things they're not supposed to do, have an attitude, etc. That's true for many late teenagers and early 20 year olds. It's true of college students. Heck, sometimes its even true of life guards.

Some in the fleet, believe it's their chance to take a shot a cadet during their summer training. Why not, they won't be able to do it 2 years later. My 3/c summer I was on a 210' that had a deck force that loved to take their turns with the cadets. Two years later I was on a different 210' that did a great job with the cadets. ATC Mobile's CATP is a great time for cadets to try aviation. I think 99% of us left thinking "man, I want to be a pilot." Doesn't always stick, but it has its appeal.

As a 2/c, a number of my classmates had an issue with a specific 4/c problem child. That 4/c problem child decided he wanted to use profanity on an Amtrak train while in uniform. He was corrected by my classmate, got an attitude, sent some nasty instant messages on a fake AIM account and quickly found his way out of the Coast Guard Academy. Cadets who get an attitude should be correct, and there are appropriate ways to do that.

Thanks Luigi & LITS . When I first read this post I was somewhat taken aback. It surely did not portray the cadets as I have come to view them . It seems like the poster has an axe to grind. As LITS said there will always be a trouble maker or two in any group, but the poster made these cadets sound like they were straight out of Animal House. I had trouble swallowing the whole thing.

I can believe these stories. The swim tests occur at an open pool at ATC Mobile so that part of the story could be true. Cadets are real people and just like every group of real people there are some idiots that make everyone look bad. You get a lot of freedom dumped on you 2/c summer and some cadets don't handle it well. My class a had a lot of issues over the same period.

LineInTheSand said:

Unless the poster is at ATC Mobile where cadets experience CATP......is that where you are? Yes, some cadets have been known as "cadidiots" and some enlisted are known as "Teds".

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BR2011 said:

I can believe these stories. The swim tests occur at an open pool at ATC Mobile so that part of the story could be true. Cadets are real people and just like every group of real people there are some idiots that make everyone look bad. You get a lot of freedom dumped on you 2/c summer and some cadets don't handle it well. My class a had a lot of issues over the same period.

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Yes, I forgot about CATP occurring right about this time, my apologies to the OP.

Perhaps 2013 is trying to outdo 2012 on the "What can I do to be stupid during the summer" meter?

Odd years generally do Luigi...

sorry if it seemed like I meant to attack the Cadets, I didn't. Overall, the Cadets were some of the nicest, most fun-loving people I've met. I guess I should of highlighted the good times with the Cadets. But anyways, didn't mean to attack the Cadets in any way, posted this because I thought it was kind of funny, but I guess itm might of been one of those "you would of had to been there moments". Another fact is all of these incidents were 2 "bad" Cadets out of about 40 Cadets.

Many of the people posting on this thread have "been there"....some of them may have interacted with you, or will interact with you.

What threw people off, likely, was a lifeguard's first thread was attacking cadets. I saw nothing redeeming in the post at all.

LineInTheSand said:

Many of the people posting on this thread have "been there"....some of them may have interacted with you, or will interact with you.

What threw people off, likely, was a lifeguard's first thread was attacking cadets. I saw nothing redeeming in the post at all.

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I do realize that it is possible that I interact with people that also use this fourm and that they might have been there. And again as for the "attacking the cadets" thing. I never intended to or sound like I was attacking the Cadets. I mean, even though my father never served in the military, I still know to respect them. THis is also why I don't like forums because this was meant to be a light-hearted, funny post. It's the same concept as reading a book and watching a movie based on that book later. Most of the time, the person is going to enjoy the book. Know why? because when you read that book, your mind interprets the occurances in that book in what you think is best, and the movie is formed by what the director and Hollywood think best. SO basically what I'm trying to say is that in plain text communication, people percive it in their own way. I visioned it as a funny post beacuase thats how I pictured it in my mind, you thought of it as a negative roast of the cadets. As I said in my previous post, the cadets were awesome(except for maybe one, I'll let you guess which one that was) and I have no ill-minded feelings towards them.

So much is lost in written exchanges. Maybe if the post had been paired with something that was less "negative". I didn't think it was funny, not because you said it, but because the actions of some hurt the image of many.

My 2/C summer was a disaster. Not for my group of classmates who went to CATP, but the group before mine (who I incidentally picked up with the duty van from the airport, only to hear of all the nastiness). A number of those classmates had found (I guess purchased, just not sure how/where, and had some alcohol to drink (underage). One of those classmates, who did not graduate, had far far too much to drink, passed out and would not wake up (don't worry, he wasn't dead). Because they had to call an ambulance, and have that large cadet's stomach pumped, the other cadets who were involved also received alcohol offenses and class I offenses.

CATP is the cadets first real taste of freedom while being "on the clock". Sure, they go how during leave in the summer, but that 2/C summer is the first taste of freedom that is accompanied by responsibility.

Cadets or midshipman of every academy have to compete with the mistakes of those who came before them.

A few weeks ago I went to the 40th birthday party of my co-worker. He was a chief to chief warrant officer to lieutenant. Good guy. Also at the party were a number of neighbors and Coast Guard friends, as well as one PO1 from the Navy. As we visited one bar in Annapolis two midshipmen walked by. She was not a fan. Then she realized I was also a "ring knocker". Only after a Coast Guard chief who was married to a Coast Guard master chief told her I was ok would she stop with the "ring knocker" stuff. Takes one bad midshipman...

some of it is earned, some of it isn't. It's up to the rest of us to make our alma maters proud.