Company assignments

Dad2020

5-Year Member
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Aug 5, 2015
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I know everyone is worried about getting in right now, so I apologize for this question. Rumor has it that the commandant will (doesn't this come up every year?) shotgun the plebes into ac year companies after plebe summer. My son has been told that there are companies he wants to avoid. I don't know them, but I think he said that he was told to hope he doesn't get "training 10th" or "25th bear sharks". Is there some reason that they told him these things? I have zero knowledge of how the companies work or their reputations and traditions. Any insight would be great. Thanks.
 
You have zero control of what company you are assigned to and if a plebe class is shot gunned. They have not been shot gunned or scrambled in a long time. I was back in the day and was thankful for it. Normally if they are shot gunned or scrambled it's after Plebe Year, not Plebe Summer. These rumors float around every year. And company's gain these reputations as fast and classes change. Company personalities change with each class in charge and officer and SEL staff. It's nothing to worry about. In reality most companies are more similar than different and it's just 'legend'.
 
Again, thank you for your quick answer. Appreciate it. He turns to me for advice and I have no answers and while he is fine, I tend to worry that I've let him down by not knowing. So appreciate the responses.
 
Don't feel that way. It's not the job of any parent to know these things! He is going to learn a lot of things but most of all what he and cannot control. So much is out of your control at a SA so you just have to learn to let those things go. In all honesty he should be asking these kinds of questions, this is his future life. It's great you want to get him answers, but Message to Garcia is about to be his future and its his responsibility to solve the mystery if he wants an answer.
 
Ok. Sounds like solid advice. Usually my answers are "I don't know, look it up"
 
Mid here, there is currently a proposal on the Dant's desk to reinstate the "shotgun". It is VERY unpopular among the Brigade and scuttlebutt is that he wasn't a fan when it happened to him so...one can infer that this likely won't happen.

As far as companies and their reputations, they change year by year. Don't worry about it.
 
Shotgunning comes in and out of favor, pro's and cons both sides. It hasn't been done in many years. There is version A, all plebes from company X swap as a group with company Y plebes. Then there is the complete scatter of all plebes independently, at the end of plebe year. I think the Dant and sorting hat will not rock the boat.
 
I was scattered at Capt MJ stated. It sort of came out of no where. I can see the pros and cons to it. As any upperclass knows... How you perform as a Plebe doesn't necessarily equate to how you perform the rest of the time. I spent Plebe Year in a company that had a reputation as very anti athlete. I got sent to a new company and luck would have it so did my best friend. It does let you have a totally fresh start. It does suck from the perspective of you spent Plebe Year building great bonds and go elsewhere. In the end it wasn't that big of deal and we all adjusted just fine!
 
Can you explain the methods used to assign to companies - shotgunning, scattering and the like?
 
No, the plebe has no control. That's the very essence of plebeness.

As far as initial assignment to company, the goal is a balanced distribution within each company by some broad categories: prior enlisted, gender, varsity athletes, NAPSters, etc. If USNA ever returned to shot gunning after plebe year, an algorithm would be developed (or broken out of a dusty file) to achieve the same rough balance.
 
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Here's the breakdown of company assignments. When you receive your BFE, soon after you should receive information about your son's plebe summer company, which will be designated with a letter A-P (skips over J). Each lettered company will have two platoons, which are assigned numbers. Once plebe summer is over and the academic year starts, the numbered platoons are actually individual companies. For example, during my plebe summer, I was assigned to Delta Company, 7th platoon. Delta was made up of platoons 7 and 8. Once the Academic year started, we were our own companies, 7th Co. and 8th Co. If your son's worried about "Training Tenth," watch out for Echo company on his letter and if he's worries about "25th," he should watch out for November company. Even then, should he get Echo, he'll be in either 9th or 10th and in November, he'll be in 25th or 26th. Honestly, each company has their pros and cons, but I'm still amazed as to how 25 is still notorious for being the worst/most brutal. All in all, regardless of company, your son will have a blast, even during Plebe year.
 
The company assignments letter normally follows the permit to report package. This is yet another BFE, but not the one that comes with the appointment notification/certificate....in case anyone was wondering why they haven't received theirs yet! Permit to report packages come around mid-spring time or slightly thereafter.
 
Great question. I was "scrambled" after Plebe year and it ended up being a great thing. There are some companies that get reputations for being harder than others, but there's nothing you can do about it. I went to 33rd Company (when it existed and now I'm dating myself) on the top of 8-4. The farthest you could be from anything academic. It was very hard (I think because none of the Officers of the Day wanted to venture up there) and by today's standards there was a lot of hazing going on, i.e. locking us in small rooms with the lights out and opening the door for some poor plebe to be taken to "the executioner" where they were bent over a chair and slapped on the back of the neck with the flat side of a saber. Yep, don't think that would go over well today:). Fortunately, being recruited to play football, I was never chosen. Then I ventured down to "Club 34" and the 2/C were hanging out with my classmates, having a grand old time (this just after plebe summer). My roommate and I were scrambled after plebe year together to 22nd company on 2-0. Loved my last 3 years there. I think the idea behind it back in the 80's was that if you had a really bad plebe year, either developing an undeserved reputation due to a hard upper class or whatever, you got a new chance to start over somewhere else under the 2/C and 1/C who wouldn't know you. In my opinion it also forced you to get to know more of your classmates, so I saw it as a positive. To this day I still have great memories and friends from Plebe Year, 3/c - 1/c year and of course Napsters.

BOTTOM LINE: If you get in, celebrate, and go with the flow.
 
33rd Herd! They became 27 when they went back to 30 companies.

Don't worry about what company you end up in. Reputations of companies change as leadership changes. You can't control it, so it's one of those things you learn to just go with the flow as 88 said.
 
Please back up and go s-l-o-w for this Old Salt. What is shot gunning, BFE, etc?
 
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