Food like at BCT

Does anybody know what's the food like during cadet basic training? Specifically the calorie count.
Currently on a calorie surplus plan to gain muscle and have some extra weight on me for cbt. I'm unsure if I should continue this calorie surplus in anticipation of a extended calorie deficit during cbt, or have a balanced calorie count to lose extra weight and improve my running time. Any advise or insight would be greatly appreciated.

You can largely eat as much as you want at meals. You will not likely have a huge caloric deficit unless you are eating 3,500 calories a day. Some gain weight during CBT and some shed it (I was in the latter category). I dropped about 10lbs during CBT, both fat and muscle. During training at Buckner was probably the only time I was still hungry after meals, but that should not be problematic for you as your class is not staying out at Buckner except for an FTX.

In general, the answer would be HIGH calorie count. This goes year round - but call the staff dietitian to get the exact details for your specific situation:

prospective2019 said:

You can largely eat as much as you want at meals. You will not likely have a huge caloric deficit unless you are eating 3,500 calories a day. Some gain weight during CBT and some shed it (I was in the latter category). I dropped about 10lbs during CBT, both fat and muscle. During training at Buckner was probably the only time I was still hungry after meals, but that should not be problematic for you as your class is not staying out at Buckner except for an FTX.

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So glad to hear they actually let New Cadets eat like human beings during CBT. I (and pretty much everyone else in my class) lost a ton of weight during Beast back in 1984 when they had the "Fourth Class System" in place (so glad the Academy moved on from this nonsensical way of training plebes). Denying food to New Cadets during all three meals was the order of the day. I guess back then they thought they could "build character" through the denial of food. Thank God it only lasted 6 weeks !

prospective2019 said:

You can largely eat as much as you want at meals. You will not likely have a huge caloric deficit unless you are eating 3,500 calories a day. Some gain weight during CBT and some shed it (I was in the latter category). I dropped about 10lbs during CBT, both fat and muscle. During training at Buckner was probably the only time I was still hungry after meals, but that should not be problematic for you as your class is not staying out at Buckner except for an FTX.

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Do you know if we're still doing the 12-mile march back from Camp Buckner? I tried searching for it, but I couldn't find it.

BeastBarracks2024USMA said:

Do you know if we're still doing the 12-mile march back from Camp Buckner? I tried searching for it, but I couldn't find it.

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The training schedule has not been released to the public but the marchback is a right of passage as well as a graduation requirement. Something tells me the New Cadets will still do the march back but the old grads will not be there and there will not be the normal crowd on Washington Road.

BeastBarracks2024USMA said:

Do you know if we're still doing the 12-mile march back from Camp Buckner? I tried searching for it, but I couldn't find it.

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Yes, you are. Trainees from the second detail of CFT will also be doing a concurrent ruck-back.

prospective2019 said:

You can largely eat as much as you want at meals. You will not likely have a huge caloric deficit unless you are eating 3,500 calories a day. Some gain weight during CBT and some shed it (I was in the latter category). I dropped about 10lbs during CBT, both fat and muscle. During training at Buckner was probably the only time I was still hungry after meals, but that should not be problematic for you as your class is not staying out at Buckner except for an FTX.

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Thank you! Being of slim composure I was worried they were going to do a "character build" like USMAgrad1988 mentioned but it seems like I will be fine

When my son was in beast 4 years ago, there was a protocol for cadets who needed more calories. There was extra food available to them - things like peanut butter and granola bars. They do not want you to loose too much weight - so that you go below your ideal weight range. The cadre will be keeping an eye out for this as they want the cadets to be a healthy weight.

bookreader said:

When my son was in beast 4 years ago, there was a protocol for cadets who needed more calories. There was extra food available to them - things like peanut butter and granola bars. They do not want you to loose too much weight - so that you go below your ideal weight range. The cadre will be keeping an eye out for this as they want the cadets to be a healthy weight.

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Thank you. This is reassuring, I'm skinny but seem to need lots of calories to keep my daily routine up. While a drop in calories doesn't kill me, I do notice a drop in my physical abilities, and I want to give it my all every day at beast.

'23 here. The trend I saw last summer concerning food was that the women gained weight and the men lost weight. Obviously this doesn't apply to every single member of 2023, but just from talking to different people, this was the generalization I made. I am not sure how everything is going to work this upcoming semester with the mess hall, but in the past year, we ate family style during both cadet summer training and the academic year. Many times, the amount that you can eat depends on who is sitting at your table. Sometimes the mess hall workers even give tables extra helpings of food.

There were certain individuals and recruited athletes that got put on a specific nutrition plan where they ate at the "heavy table". The heavy table had double or even triple the amount of food typical tables did. The majority of these people were football players, however I knew of a female whose coach wanted her to eat a heavy table for pre-season preparation, but she refused.

Aside from the mess hall in beast, we also were given supplements in-between meals and after the final meal of the day. This could've been clif bars, snack mix, gatorade, etc. And we got them ALOT. In the field, you can expect hot meals 1-2x a day (we call them mermites I believe) and an MRE (meal ready to eat). The MRE is meant to sustain one individual for an entire day, so you can imagine what would happen if you ate an entire MRE for one meal each time you had one.

Truthfully, I think you will be just fine in terms of caloric intake. You'll find that when/if you get hungry, your fellow classmates are quick to share and even your cadre( SL, PL, PSG, etc.) will be quick to try to get you something if you really need it. I can't tell you how many times I gave away random stuff from my MRE or offered up a banana or uncrustable that I had been saving.

Just a guess here, but I conjecture that the reason people end up losing weight is because of the stress of being on your feet ALL THE TIME. It's a complete change of pace that your body needs adjusting to. I remember one week, my platoon walked over 60+ miles in 4-5 days just going back and forth from Washington Hall, Mac short, the uniform factory etc. And that was not including PT. The hills are crazy too. I don't know where you're from, but I've never seen mountains like West Point in Georgia. I was sucking wind for the early part of beast.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me! Or if you want me to clarify something, I'm good with that as well. We are both enjoying our last few weeks at home before the grind ramps up again .