A few questions

USNA2011Dad

USNA2011Dad

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My daughter is now a candidate for the USAFA. I have looked these up but still have not found a clear cut explanation for the following terms. I am only familiar with the Naval Academy.

1. What is the AFA's I Day called?
2. What is the AFA's plebe summer called?
3. What is a Dooley?
4. What is Dooley Day?

My son, a youngster at USNA, stated that learning how to play golf is a big part of the USAFA's plebe summer training....:shake:
 
I day is Inprocessing day
a doolie= from the greek word duolos which means subject, 4th class cadets are doolies
doolie day out isbetween first and second BCT, a day out for the cadets.
i have no idea what the air force equivilant of plebe summer is
 
The only other name I know for "AFA's plebe summer" is Beast, which I think became "Beast" when BCT was pronounced.
 
BEAST it is.

1st BCT takes place on the hill and your basic will sleep in the dorms, eat at attention, learn to drill, etc. About halfway through the 38 days of BCT will be Doolie Day Out, where you basic cadet will visit his/her sponsor family and wear the nice dress uniform with gloves and the saucer hat.

2nd BCT is all outdoors and includes Obstacle Course, Warrior Course, etc. They sleep in tents and get very dirty. I think most of them are having a great time; a lot more fun for some than 1st BCT.

March Out and back to the Hill for the beginning of the Academic Year follows. There is a short Transition Period where the cadets get ready for academics and there are some parades, etc.
 
Both AFA and USMA call basic training BEAST. At least for USMA they do not call it Plebe summer as they are not yet Plebes. They don't get to be Plebes until they are accepted into the Corps of Cadets at the completion of Basic Cadet Training.

At AFA, I think those in their first year are 4 digs - ?- do they call them "plebes" as well? I know during BCT at AFA they are called "Basic ________", and not "Cadet_____". At USMA they are called "New Cadet_____" but I think at USNA they start out as Midshipmen - is that correct?

Is BCT at AFA only 38 days? Seems short. I think USNA's is only 6 weeks as well. Maybe 5 weeks now.

USNA2011Dad - good luck to your daughter and her quest to Colorado Springs. It should be fun having two at two different academies - not unheard of though.
 
Officially BCT is 38 days. There are another 4 days from the official end of BCT until the Acceptance Day Parade, where the Basic Cadets get their shoulder boards and are accepted into the Cadet Wing. Cadets in BCT are addressed as "Basic Cadet_______". As freshman they are known as "4-digs", "4-degrees" or "Doolies", but the son tells me that no one really uses the Doolie tag anymore.

Stealth_81
 
So that makes it about 6 weeks - I don't know exactly how long plebe summer is at Navy but at West Point they are in it 7 weeks from R-day to the Marchback and then Acceptance day is another 5 days away - I hear next year they are moving to a full 8 week Beast. (Lots of training changes - due to the war etc).

Yeah I was a little off - 'Basic Cadet' - gotcha. Knew it was similar but different than 'New Cadet' - my d's best friend is a Basic Cadet.

Thanks for the info and correction- Stealth
 
You're welcome, JAM. Your D's best friend is a Basic Cadet now? Let me know which squadron that they end up in. Nice to see you posting again.....we missed you.


Stealth_81
 
Thanks for all the info. Plebe Summer at USNA is 5 weeks. This weekend is their PPW (plebes parents weekend). I am retired Navy so learning all this different terminology is like a whole new way of thinkin'. :thumb:
 
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