Air Assault School graduation at West Point

SpchGrl

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My apologies in advance if this question does not belong here. My son is a rising senior at Virginia Tech (corps of cadets) and going to air assault school at the West Point location in a few days. I am trying to decide whether to make plans to attend the graduation, but having a hard time finding information about the actual ceremony. It is not clear to me whether graduations are something generally attended by parents and family. If anyone has information - general or specific - about graduation at the West Point location (from a parent perspective), I'd appreciate it.
 
The graduation is usually held around 10:00 or 11:00 AM on that day. Your plans should probably be dictated by can you get on post or not. If you do not have a military ID, you would have to get a visitors pass or take one of the tour buses I believe. Frankly, I am not even sure if you can get a visitors pass since your son is not a cadet at West Point. Parents and family who can get on post are certainly encouraged to attend the graduation ceremony. You might contact the visitors center to find out what you would need to do to get on post if you don't have an ID.

When does your son start Air Assault? My son will be in class 4, reporting on July 14.
 
My apologies in advance if this question does not belong here. My son is a rising senior at Virginia Tech (corps of cadets) and going to air assault school at the West Point location in a few days. I am trying to decide whether to make plans to attend the graduation, but having a hard time finding information about the actual ceremony. It is not clear to me whether graduations are something generally attended by parents and family. If anyone has information - general or specific - about graduation at the West Point location (from a parent perspective), I'd appreciate it.
Not related but my son will be happy to hear that he could do Advanced Camp and Air Assault the same summer!
 
Thanks, everyone! @USMAZoo98 , He just passed "day zero" today, and July 15 should be the end. @Bushrod it's definitely possible! :) He was in the first regiment for advanced camp, which ended last Wednesday. He went to 'holdover camp' at Ft. Knox until Saturday, when he flew to Newark. He's been waiting at West Point since then for air assault to start. Do you have a cadet doing something similar? If so, PM me if you want more info.
 
@SpchGrl. My DS is attending the last regiment at advanced camp.
Did you attend the graduation at Fort Knox? I am trying to decide if I should make the trip.
 
@Overwhelmed yes, I did go to Ft Knox for that graduation. I am very glad I did, but I was uncertain about that one beforehand as well. They have family day on the day before; they release the cadets to their families for about 8 hours. They can leave the base, go out to eat, etc. We took 2 additional cadets from my son's squad who didn't have family coming and spent the day eating, getting haircuts, walking along the river front in Brandenburg, chilling at the AirBnB, etc. One of the cadets wanted to visit the PX so we did that on the way back. The graduation ceremony was 8 am the next morning which felt early but it also was not hot at that hour. The ceremony itself was short and sweet and actually the guest speaker (army surgeon) gave one of the best speeches I've heard at any sort of graduation, ever. Despite it not being hot and the ceremony being short, several (5?) cadets still passed out during it, most notably the cadet with the guidon for one of the companies. That was pretty unsettling to watch because he struggled for a long time and since he was out front with the flag, he was in full view of everyone. No one did anything until he was on all 4s and then he kept trying to get back up. I think watching him trying to stand back up was worse than watching him fall. They had a medical truck immediately behind the last line of cadets so it wasn't far for him to go once he finally had some help, but I guess I've just never witnessed anything like that before. The others who fell, you'd just kinda see a little ripple in the formation and that was it. My son just shrugged and said "this happens every parade at VT" but he also said the guys with the flags were #1 in their companies, so it's not like he was some slacker. For whatever reason (according to my son, it was to "stand around") they made all the cadets get up at 3:30 the morning of the graduation. So I know they were all super tired. Anyway, LOL, yes I did go, and I'm glad I did.
 
We took 2 additional cadets from my son's squad who didn't have family coming and spent the day eating, getting haircuts, walking along the river front in Brandenburg, chilling at the AirBnB, etc.
This is one of the most impactful things a parent can do if they attend Advanced Camp graduation.

There are lots of cadets who have no one there and it really is appreciated when you can take a couple of battle buddies to dinner with your DS/DD.
 
Thanks, everyone! @USMAZoo98 , He just passed "day zero" today, and July 15 should be the end. @Bushrod it's definitely possible! :) He was in the first regiment for advanced camp, which ended last Wednesday. He went to 'holdover camp' at Ft. Knox until Saturday, when he flew to Newark. He's been waiting at West Point since then for air assault to start. Do you have a cadet doing something similar? If so, PM me if you want more info.
Glad he made it through Day Zero. That is an important milestone. Have seen a lot of chatter on the Facebook pages about "issues" regarding appropriate gloves for Air Assault. We are making sure my son has the correct gloves for when he reports as we speak.
 
My son did not have the right gloves. He's an incredibly meticulous person, so I'm guessing whatever packing list he had was in error. He was able to get the correct kind at the West Point PX no problem, before everything started. It sounds like before day zero, they had some assistance "correcting any deficiencies" (as he put it).
 
Air Assault is no joke. My son saw an individual fail the last day because they forgot an ear plug. He also saw many officers fail the first couple days.

He really appreciated how the army incorporates officers, enlisted personnel, WP cadets and AROTC cadets into the same class.

It was like a microcosm of the real army.
 
My son did not have the right gloves. He's an incredibly meticulous person, so I'm guessing whatever packing list he had was in error. He was able to get the correct kind at the West Point PX no problem, before everything started. It sounds like before day zero, they had some assistance "correcting any deficiencies" (as he put it).
It appears they are having the cadets report to West Point a couple days prior to Day Zero to give them time to get all of their stuff together and make sure everything is in order so that they can buy or secure any missing items before reporting. The goal is obviously to prevent the Air Assault students from getting kicked out of the school essentially before it really gets started for a "minor" mistake.
 
Thanks, everyone! @USMAZoo98 , He just passed "day zero" today, and July 15 should be the end. @Bushrod it's definitely possible! :) He was in the first regiment for advanced camp, which ended last Wednesday. He went to 'holdover camp' at Ft. Knox until Saturday, when he flew to Newark. He's been waiting at West Point since then for air assault to start. Do you have a cadet doing something similar? If so, PM me if you want more info.
I am going through the same thing with my Cadet. Currently trying to find more information about the graduation time, location, or if the event will have any special accommodations in relation to transportation/stay recommendations, etc. So far, it seems tricky to get to the base unless renting a car.
 
I am going through the same thing with my Cadet. Currently trying to find more information about the graduation time, location, or if the event will have any special accommodations in relation to transportation/stay recommendations, etc. So far, it seems tricky to get to the base unless renting a car.
Same situation - anyone heard about graduation time on Friday 7/15? Weather forecast is favorable for an outdoor ceremony.
 
I made travel arrangements to attend, but no, I can't find anything about graduation time for the ceremony or parking or basically anything else. I was able to find youtube videos for the first class this summer as well as another class last year. One was indoors, one was out. Probably weather dependent. I'm guessing they don't need to make the info readily available and parent-friendly because there is such a high fail rate (?). They did sling loads yesterday and my son said 71 were dropped from it. He feels like he passed by the skin of his teeth (failed 2 of the 4 loads his first go). He says they have dropped over half the people they started with, which may be a higher failure rate than usual. Anyway, my plan is to go to NY and attend the graduation ceremony and if my son's not in it, I'm just gonna pretend he is, LOL. If he gets dropped, he'll recycle and have a different graduation ceremony that I won't attend. I didn't expect to spend any real time with him anyway (like I did at advanced camp). That being said, if anyone manages to get any info about graduation on July 15, please share!
 
That is correct. Outside at Trophy Point in the past if weather permits, inside if weather is poor.
You will need to park down by Buffalo Soldier field and walk as parking is restricted to faculty and staff during the week.
 
I made travel arrangements to attend, but no, I can't find anything about graduation time for the ceremony or parking or basically anything else. I was able to find youtube videos for the first class this summer as well as another class last year. One was indoors, one was out. Probably weather dependent. I'm guessing they don't need to make the info readily available and parent-friendly because there is such a high fail rate (?). They did sling loads yesterday and my son said 71 were dropped from it. He feels like he passed by the skin of his teeth (failed 2 of the 4 loads his first go). He says they have dropped over half the people they started with, which may be a higher failure rate than usual. Anyway, my plan is to go to NY and attend the graduation ceremony and if my son's not in it, I'm just gonna pretend he is, LOL. If he gets dropped, he'll recycle and have a different graduation ceremony that I won't attend. I didn't expect to spend any real time with him anyway (like I did at advanced camp). That being said, if anyone manages to get any info about graduation on July 15, please share!
The best information I can find from the WP facebook for DS' class is that AASLT graduation is usually at 10 or 10:15am. You should be able to get more specific information from your attendee. (I hate to say that since it can seem like the cadets are not particularly forthcoming with information.) :oops:

The WP facebook has observers gathering near "the Supe's box" which is the cement seating area that is in the center of the bleechers for The Plain. Again, this is generic information, and information seems to change on a dime in my experience. At least this gives you something to prod your attendee with.

Please post what you learn for the benefit of the rest of us. :)
 
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