Plebe Summer- Females

blueplate99

USNA 21
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
88
I had a few questions about being a female and Plebe Summer, and I'm sure others do as well. Mine specifically had to do with birth control to regulate/skip your period during PS. If I'm already on a certain type, do I just bring it with me to PS? Or does USNA prescribe me a new brand?

Other than that, if anyone has any advice on how to make the best of PS and deal with period/cramps/whatever, it's greatly appreciated.
 
Don't worry, these questions get asked every year! In the Permit to Report package they will give specific guidance on bringing medication. It usually states to bring enough for x days and then military medicine will take it from there (as in you can start to get this from the pharmacy at USNA). Sure you can skip it during the PS with the use of pills. No issue there. To be 100% honest majority of women's cycles get totally jacked Plebe Summer because of the stress, rigor, etc. Many lose it during that time anyways. If you have cramps take some Tylenol. For the most part you are so dang busy you won't even think about it. Detailers will never deny you access to the restroom or feminine hygiene needs. White works have a pocket on the inside that all your gear will fit in and you can carry products around as needed without issue discretely. Remember it's their job to take care you. Everyone is an adult and can handle this stuff. More than likely you will have at least 1 female detailer around if you are totally opposed to talking to your male detailer.

I know it's your first entry to the military but get used to being in odd places and dealing with life issues. I have gone 6 weeks without shower and spent 9 months as the lone female on a FOB. I have spent 15 straight days in tactical situations where you are alert 100% of the time. You all get close and don't even blink an eye at the stuff you see at that point. You all smell, are miserable and have to deal with the human body. You will get used to all this stuff.
 
Another question- what's the deal with sports bras (regular bras?) and underwear? Not just during PS but the ac year as well. As I've heard, I can show up to I-Day with nothing... are we issued sports bras and underwear? Am I allowed to bring my own? If not, can my family mail me some during PS or during the ac year? I'm not super picky about this stuff but was just wondering
 
Blue plate, I don't know for sure because I've never been there but my D/d learned from the Mids during her CVW that during PS you wear their regulation bra and panties but after you survive that you wear whatever appropriate underwear you want. By appropriate I mean you can't have a zebra print bra showing through your white shirts! She also says you can wear your own shoes for PEP and she thinks spandex too under the shorts they give you. I hope that helps... NavyHoops seems to have the best answers though.
 
They issue sports bras and underwear. Your permit to report will detail what extras to bring. Plebe Summer you will spend 99.5% of your time in a sports bra. They will detail a specific few times to change out as you are going for uniform fittings. Back in the day we couldn't wear compression shorts, but most wear them now. The permit to report will detail specifics on what to bring, details on colors, etc. Most women bring extra sports bras, underwear and socks. Once you hit Parents Weekend you can bring some of the non-issued stuff in. Trust me, Plebe Summer is not a fashion statement.
 
you can wear your own shoes for PEP
The shoes!!! Not sure if any DS or dad are reading this thread, but you are allowed (RECOMMENDED) to bring your broken in running shoes that you know fit your feet best. When everyone either has no hair or has a bob cut, and everyone is wearing the same blue rim shirt, USNA shorts, and white crew socks, how else do you increase your chance to find your Waldo in the massive pictures put out by USNA, Alumni Association, and just kind sponsor parents who post them online? If there are color varieties (neons!) to his/her favorite shoes, bring that to Plebe summer, and bring a spare pair just as outrageous IMHO.

*this is about USNA Plebe Summer, I do not know the rules for other academies
 
They issue sports bras and underwear. However, they have also come to recognize that bra fit is very individual and what they hand out during PS may not fit you as well as something you've tried before and know fits you well. Thus, you are permitted to bring sports bras to PS and I always recommend you bring a few. After that, you can see how the issued stuff works and have your family send more or just make it through until PPW. Keep in mind that the "sent out" laundry at USNA is industrial and during PS at least, you won't have time to do your own. So go with "tough" stuff that will hold up.
 
On the note of shoes, it's been awhile since I went through PS myself, but I thought I remembered there being something about color of shoes. I might be wrong, but regardless you're going to be making a statement that first morning you get woken up by your detailers for PEP and you have bright green/pink/whatever shoes on...in my opinion at least.

Note for uniform issue on I-Day, make sure your stuff fits! If it doesn't, ask for a different size when it's being issued. Once you walk out of alumni with it, a lot of that stuff cannot be exchanged, and now you're stuck with ill-fitting clothes for at least the next 6 weeks, and some of the stuff for your next 4 years. The cotton blue rims will shrink a good amount. USNAs a little bit but not so much. The nylon blue rims definitely will not. Keep that in mind when you're trying everything on.
 
I have worked the 'try on' station for Plebe Summer. Plebes are so freaked out at that point you could give a lineman recruit a size small and they will tell you it fits. pleber16 is spot on, speak up if it doesn't. You will wear this stuff alot. You are paying for it. Tiny blue rims... just look at 1/C in a blue rim and you will wonder why they are wearing a shirt that is so short it doesn't even tuck. Well it did 4 years ago! White works will be to long. Don't worry they soften up when washed and you will go to the tailor to have them shortened. You definitely don't want to walk around in shoes that don't fit! I am sure you have seen the I Day pictures of Plebes leaving Alumni Hall with the large white laundry bag full of clothes. When you get to your room there will be even more stuff. And you will be issued more stuff all summer long. Make sure it fits, take advantage of the tailors (you already pay for them in your paychecks, so use them), get your shoes repaired (once again you pay for it already).
 
I thought I remembered there being something about color of shoes.

That has all changed. They have allowed bringing your own running shoes to minimize shin splints, and at the same time manufacturers all went crazy with materials and colors. Black is alright as well. Besides, how many more push-ups you think they can ask you to do after they close the Bancroft doors? :director:

Tiny blue rims... just look at 1/C in a blue rim and you will wonder why they are wearing a shirt that is so short it doesn't even tuck.

Hoops, are you sure that is not because the skinny Plebe got on a workout plan and bulked up? :D
 
Hahaha. It's doesn't matter how much they lift or not... no blue rims fit when one leaves! It's actually a joke among us old grads and Mids. Like all bulk laundry, that stuff is washed at some insane temperature and shrinks like no tomorrow. But yes many guys do bulk up at USNA... many don't too.
 
Hahaha. It's doesn't matter how much they lift or not... no blue rims fit when one leaves! It's actually a joke among us old grads and Mids. Like all bulk laundry, that stuff is washed at some insane temperature and shrinks like no tomorrow. But yes many guys do bulk up at USNA... many don't too.

I have visions of boiling cauldrons of blue rims and skivvies at the Navy laundry. Our sponsor firsties donate blue rims, shorts and sweats to the Loaner Locker at the house when they graduate, so when plebes come over, they just use that. The cotton blue rims, after 4 hard years, are short, with puckered neck and sleeve hems, and the sleeves themselves are well up the arm.
 
Has the hair regulation for females changed for PS? I have long hair and don't really want to cut it but if I still have to I will get it cut before I go.
 
No rumors yet on the hair. There were some rumors in years past that they wouldn't make females cut it, but so far they have remained rumors. Keep an eye out for info in your permit to report packet.
 
@17neparks Same here lol my hair is easier to deal with when it's long

When does USNA usually send out permit to report packets?
 
Has the hair regulation for females changed for PS? I have long hair and don't really want to cut it but if I still have to I will get it cut before I go.

Many donate to Locks of Love.
It grows.

Here's the leadership theory behind it.

Men in our culture generally wear shorter hair styles. Plebe men get buzzed to the scalp, as a way of bringing them all to one state. The buzz can be seen as a not uncommon male hairstyle. Women in our culture, especially young ones, tend to have longer hair. The EQUAL treatment might be to buzz them to the scalp as well, but that takes them further from the cultural norm than the men, as the full buzz is not a common female hairstyle. The EQUIVALENT treatment is to take the women's hair to a short bob-chop. This brings them all to one state, gives them a hairstyle not uncommon to women (though not on the glam spectrum), and they travel essentially the same distance on the cultural norm scale. The entire plebe class shares the hair cut experience. Cuts down on the "girls got treated special, typical vanity thing, stressing over a silly thing like hair" factor. It also is a point of bonding among the women, because everyone is trying to deal with it, and down the road, techniques for growing it out and putting it up per regs can be shared.

I know other SAs have different approaches.

During Plebe Summer, personal grooming for women is often reduced to clean face, clean teeth, lip balm, deodorant, good to go.

IF they ever skip the hair cuts for women, they should do so for men. Provide the grooming standards and tell everyone to report in within standards. JMPO.
 
Blue Plate, you specifically asked about menstrual suppression. We all read and wrote about nipple piercing earlier so let's jump right in. My honest assessment is that you won't require it. You will continue to have access to toilets and showers. Your packing list will tell you what supplies you can bring and more can be mailed to you if you do not wish to show up with two cycles worth of pads/tampons. You could power through with continual pills to avoid having your period completely (talk to your doctor) but it is not necessary. Also, you may be so nervous, so over exercised, so losing weight quickly, and so stressed that you simply skip it. If you were deploying to a FOB I might suggest otherwise because of the lack of access to supplies and to hygiene but you will always have a toilet, clean water , sink, and a shower--even if it is a two or three minute event.

The Navy is the last service that requires women to cut their hair for entry level training. I suspect we will see an end to this tradition soon. The drawback is--if you do not learn to manage long hair while in training--you will not know how to do it when you get to the Fleet. (Spend time noticing the difference between Marines and Naval officers and enlisted. Also, look at the Navy hair regulation example pictures and the Marine Corps female hair regulation pictures.)
 
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