Gap Week, Penn State

U

username22

Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Messages
10
I heard the orientation for the NROTC program at Penn state was called "gap week". Can someone elaborate on what you do there?
Also I heard that NROTC had changed and apparently now they don't even yell at you. Is that true? It seems to passive for a military program.
 
username22 said:
Also I heard that NROTC had changed and apparently now they don't even yell at you. Is that true? It seems to passive for a military program.
Click to expand...

Too many feelings were getting hurt. It's not just ROTC. It's an all around softer military. Get used to it. You can just assume it's only going to get worse with time.
 
username22 said:
Also I heard that NROTC had changed and apparently now they don't even yell at you. Is that true?
Click to expand...
Are you coming to PSU this fall?

Unless it changed, I think they still do yell at you (granted keep in mind, I'm not in Navy but this is from just what I've seen and talked about with midshipmen in the program) ... Gunny does at the very least.

From what I've seen in the past - it's a lot of standing around and getting yelled at by the 4th (and 3rd?) Class midshipmen. In the past I remember the incoming freshman were given a small little booklet (I'm guessing customs, courtesies, traditions, etc) to memorize. Then the upperclassmen would go around quizzing them. I know they've also done team building exercises/hikes to Mt. Nittany.

... always fun to see the dismal look of the new midshipmen as they walk by our BBQ for our freshmen ..
 
Current midn at Penn State... It's just a bunch of stuff being thrown at you for 4 days. You do get a knowledge packet to memorize and basically any free time, you'll be memorizing the stuff in the book. Mids will come up to you and ask you random things. There's death by powerpoint (long, long days of powerpoints on military customs, courtesies, uniforms, etc.), PT, there is a hike to Mt. Nittany which is pretty cool (last year, it got cancelled though because of bad weather). There is a lot of walking so make sure you break in whatever shoes your fire team leader (they'll probably contact you later in the summer) tells you to wear. There's drill with Gunnery Sergeant pretty much every day of orientation where you learn basic facing movements, marching, etc. I know I make it sound pretty boring but you get to meet your fellow freshmen and bond with them through this experience and learn how to iron khakis and shine shoes together, talk to your upperclassmen, and in the end it feels soooo good to be able to eat a whole pizza and sleep through the weekend before classes. You get pretty close real quick to the people in your class throughout freshman O because you're thrown in this situation together so it's a good way to bond. Let me know if you have anymore questions!
 
nge2457 said:
Current midn at Penn State... It's just a bunch of stuff being thrown at you for 4 days. You do get a knowledge packet to memorize and basically any free time, you'll be memorizing the stuff in the book. Mids will come up to you and ask you random things. There's death by powerpoint (long, long days of powerpoints on military customs, courtesies, uniforms, etc.), PT, there is a hike to Mt. Nittany which is pretty cool (last year, it got cancelled though because of bad weather). There is a lot of walking so make sure you break in whatever shoes your fire team leader (they'll probably contact you later in the summer) tells you to wear. There's drill with Gunnery Sergeant pretty much every day of orientation where you learn basic facing movements, marching, etc. I know I make it sound pretty boring but you get to meet your fellow freshmen and bond with them through this experience and learn how to iron khakis and shine shoes together, talk to your upperclassmen, and in the end it feels soooo good to be able to eat a whole pizza and sleep through the weekend before classes. You get pretty close real quick to the people in your class throughout freshman O because you're thrown in this situation together so it's a good way to bond. Let me know if you have anymore questions!
Click to expand...
So I ended up deciding to transfer to another school but I'm still interested in ROTC. Quick question about swim qualifications though. Do they have you do swim qualifications during orientation? What if you do not qualify? Is that a common occurrence for freshman to not qualify during orientation cause I'm sort of worried about the shirt and trouser inflation part
 
@username22 We didn't do ours during orientation but a few weeks into the semester. As long as you can do some sort of swimming and tread water for a few minutes you'll be fine. I was a swimmer in high school but a lot of my friends passed 3/c swim quals with no problem. As for the inflation part, I had never done that before. It took me a few tries, but I managed to get it in the end! They will teach you how to do it and everything so no need to worry about it. I'm not sure if this is the same for every school though, some may do swim quals during orientation. For the prone float, just remember to breathe and don't panic. But don't worry too much, and if you want you can practice treading water or swimming a few laps using a basic stroke like freestyle or sidestroke.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top