Class '2026 Plebe Parents Weekend

Be aware that if you do not have a DIBS card yet, you may not be allowed onto the Yard to watch PEP until the general public is allowed
 
I don’t have a DBIDs card and have had no issues entering with my driver license via Gate 1 or 8.
Granted that is on foot. No entry via car without active DBIDs or a passenger with a current CAC.

Very excited for our 2026 moms and dads.
 
When are the paper temporary passes mailed/handed out? I vividly remember driving on the Yard the Monday morning after PPW, but I do not recall when we received that paper pass.
 
I don’t have a DBIDs card and have had no issues entering with my driver license via Gate 1 or 8.
Granted that is on foot. No entry via car without active DBIDs or a passenger with a current CAC.

Very excited for our 2026 moms and dads.
I think the discussion centered around PEP, which would be early. Gate 1, the general visitation gate, is not a 24-hour gate:
Gate 1 is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday for pedestrian traffic.

The Yard is closed to visitors without military or DBIDS during certain hours. People with those IDs can use Gate 8, the 24-hour gate.
 
I think the discussion centered around PEP, which would be early. Gate 1, the general visitation gate, is not a 24-hour gate:
Gate 1 is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday for pedestrian traffic.

The Yard is closed to visitors without military or DBIDS during certain hours. People with those IDs can use Gate 8, the 24-hour gate.
Good catch. I missed that detail.
 
I think the discussion centered around PEP, which would be early. Gate 1, the general visitation gate, is not a 24-hour gate:
Gate 1 is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday for pedestrian traffic.

The Yard is closed to visitors without military or DBIDS during certain hours. People with those IDs can use Gate 8, the 24-hour gate.
Pedestrian traffic opens at 5am and as I understand there is no parking fee at City dock until 8 am.
 
Word of advice…if you wait until 0600 (per posted hours), there will be a long line of parents at the gate. To enter. And pep won’t wait for the gate traffic to clear. Many parents missed it!

We were there between 0530 and 0545 and walked right in. Us and and others. I *believe* they may staff the gates early bc of the special weekend. If not, you will be towards the front of the line, and get right in. Also, parking (city dock) was free and ample at that hour 😬😬

Don’t take anything, other than ID and camera phone. Skip right through the detectors. QUICK and easy. You won’t be there long enough to need a purse even.

Friday Pep practice seems to be one of those unsaid events. They don’t encourage it, may even forbid it, but they also expect it. During ‘24’s event, the closed the stadium off, but people still watched along the sides. And weren’t ‘kicked out’.

It’s a very happy and celebratory time. Highly recommend you go if you can.
 
Pedestrian traffic opens at 5am and as I understand there is no parking fee at City dock until 8 am.
I copied the times in my post from the USNA Security page - but I know early morning runners and walkers can use the Gate 1 walk gates.

Gate times often vary due to special events. I usually use Gate 8 all the time with retired ID, so am a little vague on Gate 1 these days.

I recommend calling Security and getting the accurate info.
 
It ain't practice. . . its the real thing.
Observing PEP during PPW wasn't a thing back in the day, at least as far a I can remember,
I'm sure that if it were, Heinz Lenz would have turned the heat up a little...another opportunity to excel !
 
It ain't practice. . . its the real thing.
Absolutely didn’t mean to discredit. That’s a misspeak. Anyway, it was one of the highlights for us. There, watching the sunrise over the bay in the background…slight fog in the air. The smells of grass and sweat. Big vibrations from the beat of the base turned up loud. Crowd engagement from the director (don’t remember who it was but he is fantastic…I almost felt like I could do those burpees 😂😂). And COFFEE.

It was a highlight.

And our son want even there, it turned out.
 
I wonder if the good MJR Antonelli kicks it up a couple notches on the rigor scale, knowing that there’s an eager audience and perhaps some unfocused plebes scanning the stands for friendly faces. That, against the backdrop of a glorious Chesapeake sunrise, can make for quite a “show” — at least for the spectators.
 
I wonder if the good MJR Antonelli kicks it up a couple notches on the rigor scale, knowing that there’s an eager audience and perhaps some unfocused plebes scanning the stands for friendly faces. That, against the backdrop of a glorious Chesapeake sunrise, can make for quite a “show” — at least for the spectators.
My MID reports in a letter that the day after the Baysox outing, the beating was the worst they have ever had. It was intended to "remind everybody where they are and lock every back in". I can only imagine the Monday after PPW.
 
In 2019, they did not start to process people through Gate 1 until exactly 6:00 am (and there was a loooooong line of parents waiting to get in so it took some time.) Parents with military ID or DBIDs went in before, whereas the rest of us unwashed caught the last 20 minutes or so of PEP. Frankly, seeing PEP was really neat (and then becomes a “been there, saw that”). But it was also a chance to meet some parents in the bleachers.
 
In 2019, they did not start to process people through Gate 1 until exactly 6:00 am (and there was a loooooong line of parents waiting to get in so it took some time.) Parents with military ID or DBIDs went in before, whereas the rest of us unwashed caught the last 20 minutes or so of PEP. Frankly, seeing PEP was really neat (and then becomes a “been there, saw that”). But it was also a chance to meet some parents in the bleachers.
I wonder how long the line is on Thursday? I'm arriving Wednesday night and planned to watch PEP Thursday morning, and then pick up DBIDS later that day. I guess if I miss it Thurs, I can just catch it Friday because I'll have my card by then.
 
Observing PEP during PPW wasn't a thing back in the day, at least as far a I can remember,
I'm sure that if it were, Heinz Lenz would have turned the heat up a little...another opportunity to excel !
I wonder if the good MJR Antonelli kicks it up a couple notches on the rigor scale, knowing that there’s an eager audience and perhaps some unfocused plebes scanning the stands for friendly faces. That, against the backdrop of a glorious Chesapeake sunrise, can make for quite a “show” — at least for the spectators.
On our last day of PEP, Heinz Lentz rattled off a bunch of Plebe PEP accomplishments – x number of miles run, x amount of this and that. At the end of the discourse Prof Lentz encouraged us plebes to “thank” all the detailers. Detailers back then were all 1/C. Our mentors hadn’t noticed that the PE staff had closed all the access gates. The “tormentors” were now trapped. They ran for their lives. Some got dog piled and others thrown into the Reflection Pool or Santee Basin where the sailboats were moored. I imagine there were repercussions after PPW. Fast forward. I was a second set, red name tag, mid. On the last day of PEP, Heinz Lentz again rattled off the accomplishments of the plebes and encouraged them to “thank” detailers in our class. It had been a long, hot, summer. I knew what was coming and had slinked back to the end of the company column. I was out the rear gate before it was shut. In the melee that ensued, I got chased back to Bancroft. The plebes (not in my company) didn’t know any shortcuts in the maze that is Bancroft, so I was able to ditch them. I heard that some of my classmates weren’t so lucky. After breakfast I found a dead mouse in the window sill of my room.

IT was a good thing not having observers back then. There would be different "show" today with the antics of yesteryear. I'm glad to see that the plebes will soon be reunited with family and loved ones.
 
I wonder how long the line is on Thursday? I'm arriving Wednesday night and planned to watch PEP Thursday morning, and then pick up DBIDS later that day. I guess if I miss it Thurs, I can just catch it Friday because I'll have my card by then.
You do not have to have a DBIDS to go onto the Yard. You can go Friday without it. Presently, it’s open to the public. It was restricted during Covid. But presently, is open to the public.
 
You do not have to have a DBIDS to go onto the Yard. You can go Friday without it. Presently, it’s open to the public. It was restricted during Covid. But presently, is open to the public.
Yeah I was noting that if I miss Thursday PEP due to a long line, I will have a card on Friday and get in earlier / easier and then make PEP.
 
Yeah I was noting that if I miss Thursday PEP due to a long line, I will have a card on Friday and get in earlier / easier and then make PEP.
Perhaps a silly question, but wanted to confirm that PEP is on Dewey Field...thanks!
 
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