Plebes Dropping Already

Perhaps the dog could write him some letters. Our dogs always wrote me and DH when were were on deployment.
I (I mean "it") will certainly do so before PS ends.

When D(a)B was in bootcamp in 80s, I sent him letters with pics of our dog replacing him. One driving his car, one sleeping in his bed. One at table for dinner. one hugging his gf...
 
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IF, and that is a big IF, Mids are locked down for the fall semester USNA will figure things out to give them a break. Food nights, movies, televising football games (if they play), live sports (if they have them and they can be separated enough). USNA and leadership will have to figure it out. This is part of morale that senior enlisted and officers have to figure out in the fleet. A 6 month tour got extended 3 months and they haven’t seen land for 7 months... guess what, ops continue and morale can suck. The 1/C have a challenge ahead to figure out how to work with leadership and a budget to keep morale up and figure out ideas. Maybe it’s extended club hours for 1/C and 2/C on the weekend. A new movie premiere brigade wide at Alumni. Expansion of gym and pool times. All things the 1/C will have to focus on and lead. It’s a new challenge and I am sure they are up for it. Golf course is across the river too. Maybe Plebes get expanded access to Netflix and allows gaming systems on Saturday and Sunday. Plenty of options out there, just have to be creative.

As mentioned before, Mids are dang creative. The things they come up with to have fun is amazing. Some will make sense to no one, but Mids and grads and trust me, the OGs laugh at it all.

They will be the COVID class and it will unite them. The no PPW, they will eventually embrace that and wear it as a badge of honor. The new 3/C will be the class that had the longest Plebe Year ever as they still haven’t climbed Herndon.
 
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IF, and that is a big IF, Mids are locked down for the fall semester USNA will figure things out to give them a break. Food nights, movies, televising football games (if they play), love sports (if they have them and they can be separated enough). USNA and leadership will have to figure it out. This is part of morale that senior enlisted and officers have to figure out in the fleet. A 6 month tour got extended 3 months and they haven’t seen land for 7 months... guess what, ops continue and morale can suck. The 1/C have a challenge ahead to figure out how to work with leadership and a budget to keep morale up and figure out ideas. Maybe it’s extended club hours for 1/C and 2/C on the weekend. A new movie premiere brigade wide at Alumni. Expansion of gym and pool times. All things the 1/C will have to focus on and lead. It’s a new challenge and I am sure they are up for it. Golf course is across the river too. Maybe Plebes get expanded access to Netflix and allows gaming systems on Saturday and Sunday. Plenty of options out there, just have to be creative.

As mentioned before, Mids are dang creative. The things they come up with to have fun is amazing. Some will make sense to no one, but Mids and grads and trust me, the OGs laugh at it all.

They can get some ideas from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS San Jacinto - LINK TO STORY ON PILOT ONLINE - "Embrace it with style" - but they might have to forego the "ugliest mustache contest". 😅
 
Do you suppose the Brigade will ever need to wear summer whites or SDBs? If you can’t leave the Yard?
 
Do you suppose the Brigade will ever need to wear summer whites or SDBs? If you can’t leave the Yard?
Yes. Both can and have been specified for evening meals and other events around the yard over the years.
 
Do you suppose the Brigade will ever need to wear summer whites or SDBs? If you can’t leave the Yard?

They’ll need them but probably won’t wear them as often. The unfortunate folks who get placed on restriction will still need their inspection-ready Whites every day. Although there won’t be Forrestal lectures, football march-ons, or other Brigade-wide special events for the foreseeable future, Whites are normally the UOD on Sundays for Church or sitting down in King Hall for meals. Could also be incidental events where Whites or SDBs are prescribed. Certain watches like CDO and Main-O are still stood in Whites. Bottom line is mids are generally always expected to have a decent set of Working Blues, NWU Type III, and Whites (or SDBs November-April) in their closet at all times.
 
For those bored out of their minds, it all ends very soon. PS will be compressed this year, so I think they will all be very, very busy. As crazy as it seems now, this will create an incredible bond within their class. Each class has events that bring them together as a class -- this will be one to talk about for the ages. (Just as 2020 has the unusual graduation.)

I'm sure that USNA would have much preferred not to have plebes and detailers sitting around for 2 weeks (had an email from a detailer who is also bored out of his mind). But they are trying to do the most up front so that that the rest of the summer is as normal as it can be given the circumstances. There weren't a lot of alternatives.
 
DD the Detailer says the plebes are having it very easy (boredom aside) and that some are pushing the bounds of what’s acceptable. Standards are fairly loose.

So word among the detailers is that when PS starts, the plebes are going to feel like they got hit by a truck. Not maliciously — just a clear signal that ROM is over and they’re now in the Navy. Should be interesting.
 
To get into a SA they should have spent time away from home. Scouts? Sea Cadets? NASS? SLCDA? Sports camps? ect..
I guess the problem is most don't have a roommate. It can be pretty hard with no one to talk to. At Scouts, Sea Cadets, etc. they have people surrounding them to help them and build those relationships. Here, it's just them for the first two weeks. It's not exactly the same. But, it will all be worth it in the end. They just need to continue on persevering.
 
Good riddance. Taxpayers pay good money to support USNA. It's healthy to separate the chaff from the wheat, and having that happen earlier rather than later saves taxpayer money and headache for those mids who will turn into dedicated officers.
 
Can I send my DS a deck of cards? Is that allowed for plebes? I thought I might send him blank index cards and he could make his own deck!
 
DD the Detailer says the plebes are having it very easy (boredom aside) and that some are pushing the bounds of what’s acceptable. Standards are fairly loose.

So word among the detailers is that when PS starts, the plebes are going to feel like they got hit by a truck. Not maliciously — just a clear signal that ROM is over and they’re now in the Navy. Should be interesting.

Hmmm. What would I do if I were a detailer today? Where is the teachable moment for these plebes? Ahh, yes….. I’d introduce them to two former plebes that experienced isolation, uncertainty, and ROM. Severe ROM. Not two weeks but years under the most arduous of conditions.

The bronze statues of VADM James B. Stockdale and VADM William P. Lawrence stand between Luce Hall and the Wesley Brown Field House. I was privileged to meet both leaders. VADM Stockdale was then the President of the Naval War College and VADM Lawrence was the Superintendent at USNA. They both credited their plebe year as helping them endure the torture and time spent in solitary confinement as POWs in Vietnam. As the senior ranking officer (SRO) in the Hanoi Hilton, VADM Stockdale organized the POW resistance. For his actions, he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor. VADM Lawrence (six years as a POW) wrote a poem about his native Tennessee while incarcerated. It would later be adopted by the Tennessee State Legislature as the official state poem. As Superintendent, he ushered in the first classes of women to enter the Naval Academy. Both men were imbued with inordinate courage, resilience and faith while in prison.

After introducing the plebes to these heroes, and when the time comes, I’d hit the Class of 2024 with a fleet of Mack trucks in the spirit that honors Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale and Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence. To be honest, I think the plebes wouldn’t want it any other way. They came to Canoe U, in part, to see how they “stack up”. There are “Stockdales” and the “Lawrences” in the Class of 2024 and they are ready to meet the challenge. This I am sure. As always, good luck to the plebes and detailers.
 
Along with Stockdale and Lawrence, they should add Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton who was also a POW in Vietnam for 8 years. There's a movie about his time there called When Hell was in Session. He's the one who blinked torture in morse code with his eyes confirming for the US it was occurring.
 
Does anyone know if waitlisters could get the pleebs who dropped out spots?!

No.
Attrition is built into the calculations when they build an incoming classes size. There will be more separations in this class throughout the 47 month journey for various reasons. Some examples are medical, academic, disciplinary, and those who simply do not want to commit on Affirmation day.
 
DD the Detailer says the plebes are having it very easy (boredom aside) and that some are pushing the bounds of what’s acceptable

This is actually pretty common..both during Plebe Summer and Ac Year. There are some who will instantly conform and play the game according to the rules to avoid trouble, and there are those that will resist and push the envelope every chance they get -- and will often pay the consequences. It would be interesting to do a study to evaluate which turn out to be the better officers in the long term -- while there are plenty of FOGO's among the former group, history is full of stories of the less than stellar Midshipman who went on to great things in Fleet.
 
Your mention of FOGO made me want Brazillian steak. :biggrin:

I've only gone once..but ate so much that I thought I would die if saw another steak. (I've gotten over it !). The only saving grace was the end, when a waitress with a bandolier of liquer and shotglasses came by with a little something to settle the stomach. (Brilliant marketing by the way !)
 
This is actually pretty common..both during Plebe Summer and Ac Year. There are some who will instantly conform and play the game according to the rules to avoid trouble, and there are those that will resist and push the envelope every chance they get -- and will often pay the consequences. It would be interesting to do a study to evaluate which turn out to be the better officers in the long term -- while there are plenty of FOGO's among the former group, history is full of stories of the less than stellar Midshipman who went on to great things in Fleet.

If one believes his description of his tenure at USNA, John McCain might be the subject of at least one case study. One could conclude that his challenging of authority and loyalty to his friends while a mid, was an indicator of his tenure as a POW.
 
Your mention of FOGO made me want Brazillian steak.

I’m a big fan of Fogo in the U.S. I love churrasco! So I was very excited for a business trip to São Paulo, with the prospect of eating at an authentic churrascaria. So where does my Brazilian team take me for my first dinner? Fogo! Whaaaat? The same stuff I could get back home? I was mildly offended, thinking they were playing to my inner gringo.

Turns out, we were going to the real thing. This was one of the chain’s very first locations, before migrating to the U.S. And the locals know it for having the highest-quality meat, if also the highest prices. It’s the equivalent of American business dinners at high-end steakhouses. So all good! Or tudo bom, I should say.
 
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