Beast Question

brovol

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We dropped my son on R-Day, and have been watching the pictures and videos that are being published daily of the New Cadets during Beast on the various Facebook and other media outlets. We were able to spot our son in a couple, to our great delight.

My question is whether there is any significance to where a kid is in line when marching around campus. Does it mean anything if they are in the front, back, or middle?

Also, how do they determine which Beast company a kid will be in, and they how do they make that same determination for company assignment after beast is over and they resign everyone to new companies? Are they looking for a certain mix? Is there a formula?
 
Wish I could answer! I know for USNA it's usually height for the squads, unless you are the squad leader then you are in front. But in the USMC you stand with your fire team within your squad. So not sure how West Point does it.

At USNA platoon assignments are done by algorithm to ensure there is a balance of priors, NAPS and others. Within the platoon the squads at USNA were determined by last name except the females were evenly broken up in each squad. Platoons are still done this way, not sure how they break up the women now as there are 2.5 times more than when I was there. Not sure how West Point does their assignments, but guessing it's something similiar.
 
Thanks Hoops. I thought you might come through, and hope others chime in too.

In a video someone posted this morning, we spotted my son in the last row while marching. Then wondered if there might be significance to that. Also noticed that there was no leadership behind him. He is over six feet tall, and had shorter people around him, so it didn't look like it was by size. I was wondering if they just fall in line how they want, or if assigned spots.
 
It can vary. Since West Point is more aligned with things like an infrantry squad they may use fire teams. Also some organizations go smallest to tallest. It is normal to have no leadership at the rear of a formation. There is probably no significance. Tomorrow he might be in another spot. Be curious to hear from a West Point person how they are configured. At USNA we did tallest to shortest except for squad leader was at front. But we got fired every 2-3 days so that rotated a lot.
 
We dropped my son on R-Day, and have been watching the pictures and videos that are being published daily of the New Cadets during Beast on the various Facebook and other media outlets. We were able to spot our son in a couple, to our great delight.

My question is whether there is any significance to where a kid is in line when marching around campus. Does it mean anything if they are in the front, back, or middle?

Also, how do they determine which Beast company a kid will be in, and they how do they make that same determination for company assignment after beast is over and they resign everyone to new companies? Are they looking for a certain mix? Is there a formula?


Can you please tell me which Facebook and other web sites you are viewing? Thanks
 
We dropped my son on R-Day, and have been watching the pictures and videos that are being published daily of the New Cadets during Beast on the various Facebook and other media outlets. We were able to spot our son in a couple, to our great delight.

My question is whether there is any significance to where a kid is in line when marching around campus. Does it mean anything if they are in the front, back, or middle?

Also, how do they determine which Beast company a kid will be in, and they how do they make that same determination for company assignment after beast is over and they resign everyone to new companies? Are they looking for a certain mix? Is there a formula?

If your son is tall and he's in the back during point A-B transitions during Beast, there's likely no rhyme or reason. During parades and formations though, the tallest are usually in the front (my DS is tall) (you'll see a lot of female cadets in the last few rows).

I never heard how the Beast companies were determined, although it seemed that one company had a lot of football players. As for how NCs are reassigned to AY (academic year) companies after Beast, I have no idea. Changing from one AY company to a different one is called scrambling, and usually happens after Plebe year. So your DS may be in Company A for Beast, B-3 for Plebe year, and H-1 for Yuk-Firstie years. It seems like every class year has a different scrambling schedule. What it really means is that cadets change roommates, barracks and meet/get to know more cadets from their class, plus all of the upperclass cadets in those companies. I think it's a good thing, rather than letting cadets get too comfortable with the same people -- they are forced to interact with the rest of the cadets from their class (rather than hanging out solely with roommates or team/club mates or squad). They'll have different cadet leaders, see different styles of leadership, and hopefully learn what works/motivates and what doesn't.
 
brovol, you're over thinking it. Relax, you have no influence over it.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
What are the best Facebook or other sites to see Beast photos and videos...thanks
 
@Upland - there is a FB page for the class of 2020. If you are not in it, I highly recommend it to you as a source for accurate information. There are also FB pages for WP moms and WP dads. All of these pages require permission to join so should you ask to join, I'd encourage you to mention who your cadet is. They do vet every person who asks to join as they are only open to WP cadet parents.

Also, you can look here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/west_point/albums/with/72157667625560724
https://www.flickr.com/photos/usma2020/albums

These pages will be updated.
 
Some of the cbt companies are largely comprised of certain team members. For example, A company usually has all the football players. I do not think that location in a line has any significance.

VMI arranges them according to height but WP does not. If you ever go to see a VMI parade, you'll notice right away that they arrange the cadets according to height in each company - except for the women. Yes, the entrance of women really messed up this system. So you'll see a company (or whatever term they use) and everyone in it is about the same height so it looks so neat and orderly and then you'll notice a few cadets who don't look right - and it's the females who are generally shorter than their male counterparts. But I digress...
 
The best sites are the WP parents FB page, the WP moms fb page, and the WP dad's fb page, but they are all closed groups. The WP library page has some daily pics too.
 
WP is a 47 month journey. We are proud of your son and beast will be over soon.Do not worry any your son is good hands. I hope you are able to go to A day
 
Some of the cbt companies are largely comprised of certain team members. For example, A company usually has all the football players. I do not think that location in a line has any significance.

Buff, is this true at West Point? They don't stack athletes in a certain company. I am sure it's like USNA and USAFA, totally random. Unless that was meant for VMI?
 
WP is a 47 month journey. We are proud of your son and beast will be over soon.Do not worry any your son is good hands. I hope you are able to go to A day
We wouldn't miss A-day for anything.
 
Buff, is this true at West Point? They don't stack athletes in a certain company. I am sure it's like USNA and USAFA, totally random. Unless that was meant for VMI?

During beast, it makes sense for some companies to have specific teams. That way, when they go to team athletics, every company isn't affected, just a few. When my DS1 was at beast in 2008, the swim/dive team was split into two companies. I imagine it's still done now.
 
Got yeah. Do New Cadets get sent to another company after Beast for the AC year?
 
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