A Parent's Guide to Year One at USAFA

Osprey123 said:
Hi everyone, new to the forum. We have a dilemma. I don't think we can make it to A day and I don't know what to do. Also A-day is DS's birthday so I feel worse. We are flying out for I-day and Parents weekend. It's just a lot of travel to get there. Any ideas of what we could do to support and make the day special?
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You can send treats! There are a couple of different businesses that will deliver themed a cake/cupcakes/cookies to the Academy. The parent's facebook page should have details. You can also send a gift. I recommend utilizing your sponsor family for gift delivery, if you can, as the mailroom gets REALLY backed up about that time.
 
I can't express enough how important it is to find your parent tribe at USAFA. Most of you thought that just explaining the whole appointment process to your family and friends was difficult. Just wait until you are talking the military and USAFA language to them. One of the best decisions we made was connecting with the other parents in our DS's BCT squadron. We became an instant family even though we were spread across the US. When the great Covid exodus of March 2020 happened, we coordinated stopovers for our group of cadets as they were driving back home (several had 2-3 days of travel). Even now that our "kids" have graduated and embarked on their career paths, we still keep up with each other. So buckle up and get ready for the roller coaster that is USAFA - it's one heck of a ride! And remember, there are always others here to help you.
 
When do they get their sponsor families?

Also one of my main concerns for BCT is skin protection. Do they have enough sun screen and chances to reapply?
 
Osprey123 said:
When do they get their sponsor families?

Also one of my main concerns for BCT is skin protection. Do they have enough sun screen and chances to reapply?
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I believe that Doolie Day out is being moved back to before they leave for Jack's this year, so they will probably get their assignments closer to I-Day or potentially while they're in basic. If they like their DDO Families, they can become their sponsors. If not, there will be another chance for them to get a randomly assigned one at the beginning of the Ac Year. And yes, there will plenty of chances for basics to apply sunscreen! I would recommend bringing some, but they also are provided some in their I-Day bags.
 
Sam2018 said:
A few comments. This is three years old so take that in account. Can't believe its almost ring dance time. It really does go by VERY quickly :)

-Definitely Southwest whenever possible.
-Join webguy and be prepared to be up half the night looking for a picture. I got to where I could find DDs ear :) This year will be harder, all the boys look the same with shaved heads :)
-Girls do not need white underwear! It was very important for DD to have her girly underwear :)
-Some will not want emailed letters. DD was certain she did not so they were all hand written. I mailed at least one very long (6-8 page) letter everyday. Her brothers wrote a couple times a week. Hand drawn pictures from her little brother were fine. Jokes were great. Youngest brother also included mad libs :)
-Join FB group and when they know their squadron join that one too. It was great to connect on a smaller group and share news and pictures. And you can coordinate for A-day. We met for dinner the night before. That was great :)
-I was lucky DD wrote a LOT. She went through several books of stamps and for doolie day out I sent more stationary. If you know their sponsor family you can send a box for doolie day out :)
-They can bring an address book and a bible. Notes can be written in the bible :) Passages highlighted.
-Church is a great weekly break. They can be at ease, cry, laugh, talk to the chaplains.
-At the end of parent's weekend they will play "I'll be home for Christmas" through the dorms. Be prepared. :)
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Can they buy stamps/envelopes somewhere or how do they get stationery? Thank you for all the tips for a new parent!
jag3 said:
I'm sure some will find me harsh or crash but I tend to have a bad habit of being matter of fact

As a parent, you need to follow the rules! I see so many parents whining on FB about things from letters with photos imbedded at BCT being confiscated to the food at Mitchells or about their prefious cadet being punished aka trained to harshly.

If you are a helicopter parent I will suggest you find a way to cease being one immediately.

Do not call the academy, webguy, or about them having to do too many pushups, etc during BCT or after about your cadet especially if you dont find them in photos. You will make things much worse!

Follow the rules. Do not read things into them or do as you please. Aka imbedding photos. Use plain envelopes and white sheets of paper. It's really not that hard to adhere to this and be safe. Your cadet will survive without photos, etc.

At your grad party put envelopes and sheets of paper and pens out and make a station for attendees to write a letter while there. We did this and mailed a couple a week.

If your cadet loses his or her bus pass etc let them figure it out. I am literally the last person our son would call if he lost his pass or didnt like the lack of ice on the tables because frankly I dont care. Not my problem. He is an adult and it's time to adult and to assist him or try to from 1200 miles away would not be doing him a favor.

Our son literally flies back to Denver with absolutely no plan in place on how to get back to USAFA yet finds his way. I suspect that may be a bit more of a challenge now since they can all wear street clothes but I did find this comical that he does this


Make your lodging reservations EARLY. Watch the car rental joints and USAFA FB pages as members will post hot deals.

Join write2them, AOG(Webguy), and you can start a secret FB page for friends family etc to post about your cadet and their journey. I have done this since our return from i day. It works fantastic.

I Day....if you can go, go, that is if your cadet wants you to go. Make sure to stay for the swearing in the next morning and get there EARLY and take binoculars!

Packing for I day..... Adhere to the list. Last year you were able to sub compression shorts for underwear so we hit the under armour outlet and bought a bunch. Labelling all of that crap is a pain. We used a black sharpie and he had no issues. For stationary what we did was took 20 envelopes and put stamps on each of them and folded a sheet or two of white typing paper and placed them in each. That worked nicely for him. I would like to know who got about 10 of those. Lol

PW is a MUST. A Day not so much if you arent close or money is an issue.

While there make sure you go to Pikes Peak and have a donut at the peak and Garden of the Gods offhand. Our cadet loves Pikes Peak. Driving up is much better than the Cog IMO.

Once school starts be supportive because your and my former honor students will find academics to be in a different league. I try not to text our cadet too much but will occasionally with some banter etc. Dont be mad or upset if once your cadet can use their phone that you really dont hear a lot from them or a week or two goes by. Normal! They are swamped, busy, and figuring out the academics.

Join Carol the Cake Lady's facebook page and take advantage of her cupcake specials! We also had her do a birthday cake which she delivers. Our son said "she hugged me like she was my grandma that hadnt seen me in ten years" LOL!!! She will also email you photos from the delivery. Sweet lady.

Good gifts for your cadets for graduation, etc would be Amazon GCs, Subway GCs, and Southwest GCs.

I'm heading to bed or Id probably come up with more things. For those parents that are all new to this, dont worry! Our son is the first military in our families in probably 70 years or more so this was all Greek. You'll figure it out and if you can't someone on the parent FB page or the specific class page or your parents club page will be able to answer or direct you to someone that can!
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Love your writing style! Thank you for sharing the new parent essentials -saving your post.
 
They get the opportunity to buy some stamps from the cadet store but it’s much easier if they take a few pre addressed and already stamped envelopes to send home.
 
Hi. Would you be able to share a link to Carol the Cake Lady's facebook page?

Thank you.
 
firstflight04 said:
Can they buy stamps/envelopes somewhere or how do they get stationery? Thank you for all the tips for a new parent!

Love your writing style! Thank you for sharing the new parent essentials -saving your post.
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We made a private fb to commemorate our DDs journey. I don’t feel bad over posting there because friends have chosen to join and works as a great scrapbook of her journey.

Don’t get pulled into the USAFA parent page drama. I can’t reiterate enough that the kids can figure it out on their own. My DD also likes to show up at the airport without a plan and has made it home each time.

We find the family text group chat is the best way to keep my college kids in the loop. They can hop in and out of the conversation without any pressure that they haven’t responded in a week.

If you have an iPhone, give your DD a special ringtone and set their contact to emergency bypass so you don’t miss their phone calls, especially during BCT.
 
firstflight04 said:
Can they buy stamps/envelopes somewhere or how do they get stationery? Thank you for all the tips for a new parent!

Love your writing style! Thank you for sharing the new parent essentials -saving your post.
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They are provided very cool USAFA stationery. They should bring stamps. Although they do sell them at the C-store, they run out very quickly. My son ran out while at BCT and asked, in a letter, if I would send more. He got those successfully. Send plenty of stamps!!
 
@CrabbittMom posted a great one #89!

You'd think I am very active on the parent page, but actually a lurker there. Don't be That Guy, USAFA Karen, USAFA Mr. Karen, etc.
Don't overshare. Don't overrespond.
The mailroom is probably dusting off their roulette wheel, specially configured with 40 slots for 40 squadrons, taking bets on which parent from which squadron this cycle will be setting USAFA straight on mailroom delays.

The admins are 11/10, they are that awesome and diplomatic.
 
HCopter said:
The mailroom is probably dusting off their roulette wheel, specially configured with 40 slots for 40 squadrons, taking bets on which parent from which squadron this cycle will be setting USAFA straight on mailroom delays
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Not much makes me chuckle out loud anymore, but this one did.

Stealth_81
 
Daretodream said:
Tex - it depends on your Cadet. Some were very good at writing and expressing thoughts. Others like mine usually require cross-examination to get bits of information from him. The fill in the blank was easy for him and didn't require thought about what to write. It was pretty funny to get some of the responses.

We sent daily letters to him (usually we took turns with one writing one day and the other writing the next). His brothers wrote a few letters and he got some from other family and friends. He told me he liked getting jokes in the letters and his group shared the better jokes from home.

My DS started getting nose bleeds daily and spent some time going to specialist during BCT. His worst day was when his squad was getting beat (worked out hard) for a mistake he made and he was sitting in a doctor's office for a nose bleed and being told it might keep him from being flight eligible. That was the day he thought about leaving. It was the only negative comment to come from him since I Day. He loves the Academy, but he will tell you that it is hard. As the year has progressed the amount of contact has diminished from him. I expected it. He calls when there is exciting news to him (snow in late April was exciting to him), but otherwise calls seem to be initiated by us.
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My son used to get nose bleeds really bad when he was little. It still happens now but a lot less often. Did your son's nose bleeds start when get got to CO? How is he doing now? Did it effect his flight eligibility? Very concerned about this. My son is joining class'26.
Thank you for sharing!
 
CrabbittMom said:
Don’t get pulled into the USAFA parent page drama. I can’t reiterate enough that the kids can figure it out on their own. My DD also likes to show up at the airport without a plan and has made it home each time.
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Haha, yep.
1. Plan a flight that doesn't get back at the last minute.
2. Find cadet in the terminal (it's easy).
3. "Hey, did you drive?"
4. "Can I ride back with you? I'll throw in $20 for gas."
Problem solved.
 
Osprey123 said:
When do they get their sponsor families?

Also one of my main concerns for BCT is skin protection. Do they have enough sun screen and chances to reapply?
Click to expand...
Sponsor family assignments usually are made right before Parents Weekend. If a Basic Cadet connects with his/her host family during Doolie Day Out & the family is willing/able to sponsor additional cadets, the BC can request to have this family be assigned as his/her sponsor family for the next 4 years.
Basic Cadets should pack a small amount of sunscreen in their I-Day bag. They can purchase extra sunscreen at the Cadet Store. They'll have chances to reapply (highly recommended since the sun is so much more intense here & sunburns are more likely!)
 
firstflight04 said:
My son used to get nose bleeds really bad when he was little. It still happens now but a lot less often. Did your son's nose bleeds start when get got to CO? How is he doing now? Did it effect his flight eligibility? Very concerned about this. My son is joining class'26.
Thank you for sharing!
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Nose bleeds are not uncommon as cadets are adjusting to both the altitude and dry air in Colorado. They will acclimate.
VERY rare for nose bleeds to affect flight eligibility.
 
CrabbittMom said:
If you join their summer squad Facebook page, the parents will more than likely coordinate meals to make sure all kids are taken care of on ADay if their parents can’t make it.
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how do you find their summer squad FB page? Just do a search and see if someone created it or is it more official, like class'26 parents page? Thanks!
 
mommahedg said:
I can't express enough how important it is to find your parent tribe at USAFA. Most of you thought that just explaining the whole appointment process to your family and friends was difficult. Just wait until you are talking the military and USAFA language to them. One of the best decisions we made was connecting with the other parents in our DS's BCT squadron. We became an instant family even though we were spread across the US. When the great Covid exodus of March 2020 happened, we coordinated stopovers for our group of cadets as they were driving back home (several had 2-3 days of travel). Even now that our "kids" have graduated and embarked on their career paths, we still keep up with each other. So buckle up and get ready for the roller coaster that is USAFA - it's one heck of a ride! And remember, there are always others here to help you.
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Great advice! What is the best way to connect with other parents in my son's summer squadron? Create a FB page? Thanks!
 
Once squadron assignments are posted links will be posted on the main fb pages. I can’t remember if it was the class page or main parent page but as long as you’re members of those you should be good.
 
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