All Things Beast Barracks

[TX_USA]

Please don't study knowledge before showing up to CBT. Enjoy your time at home. I promise you will have plenty, plenty of time to stare at a knowledge book during Beast. -- Beast cadre last summer

I will say, knowing a few things going in made the task a little less intimidating. You don’t need to know anything, you’ll have time to learn it, but knowing a few of the longer ones, or at least being familiar with them helped ease the burden a little bit, and I was also able to help my squad mates practice or find ways to learn it. Just don’t make it too obvious, I didn’t try to pass off Schofield on R-Day, that’s when you would run into issues.

 

[Monikat]

1) So regarding comment above "you cause your platoon to get smoked"--I can tell it's punishment, but not sure what exactly it means. Can you define "smoked"?

2) This is going to sound so...mom-ish, so I apologize in advance. But here goes. Do you label your stuff? If so, with marker or sticky labels?

3) What happens to the civilian bag that all the R-Day contents get transferred out of? (and does that bag need a label?)

 

[newcadet2027]

I will say, knowing a few things going in made the task a little less intimidating. You don’t need to know anything, you’ll have time to learn it, but knowing a few of the longer ones, or at least being familiar with them helped ease the burden a little bit, and I was also able to help my squad mates practice or find ways to learn it. Just don’t make it too obvious, I didn’t try to pass off Schofield on R-Day, that’s when you would run into issues.

As someone who can struggle with being able to memorize things quickly, I think that I would benefit from following this advice more so than going in completely blind. But with that being said, I do not have any intentions of spitting out a flawless recitation of Schofield's, I can tell that will warrant some unfavorable attention from the upperclassmen which I do not want...

 

[TX_USA]

1) So regarding comment above "you cause your platoon to get smoked"--I can tell it's punishment, but not sure what exactly it means. Can you define "smoked"?

2) This is going to sound so...mom-ish, so I apologize in advance. But here goes. Do you label your stuff? If so, with marker or sticky labels?

3) What happens to the civilian bag that all the R-Day contents get transferred out of? (and does that bag need a label?)

Getting smoked is a term for having to do push ups and other exercises for messing up. As much as I thought I could avoid it, you don’t. Every form of correction is done to improve the new cadets, so it’s really not that big of a deal. My push up numbers actually increased almost 20 from the beginning of the summer to the end of the summer on my ACFT, which was an unforeseen benefit.

To the last two, on R-day and all throughout beast our cadre had us put last names and battle rosters (another code form of ID) on all our stuff. The first thing we did when we left Eisenhower auditorium after the 90 second goodbye was put a name tag on our civilian bag. Additionally, the cadre will take care of it after the bag drop.

 

[TANK27]

The two most important items to bring are a good pair of boots and a good pair of running shoes because you will spend a lot of time on your feet. Also take a little time to break in some dress shoes as well.

As an incoming cadet, do you have any suggestions for which boots, running shoes, and dress shoes do purchase beforehand?

 

[USMAZoo98]

As an incoming cadet, do you have any suggestions for which boots, running shoes, and dress shoes do purchase beforehand?

There will be a memo that will come out in your appointment portal soon that will outline the types of boots and shoes. Bates makes the most common dress shoes. Boots are somewhat a personal preference as long as they follow the guidelines. Some of the current cadets on the forum here could better answer. You could also do a search here to get info on boots. The Garmonts are very popular.

For running shoes, find a pair that are comfortable and fit well. The moms forums will also tell you to buy running shoes with a distinctive color, like a high impact color. That will make it easy for the moms to pick the cadet candidate out in the millions of photos they will search through this summer.

 

[newcadet2027]

As an incoming cadet, do you have any suggestions for which boots, running shoes, and dress shoes do purchase beforehand?

Adding onto USMAZoo98, I am not a current cadet (appointed USMA CO'27) but here's some other suggestions I have seen from cadets throughout the forum: Garmonts, Oakleys and Underarmour are all apparently popular. I bought a pair of Underarmour to break in before basic and I LOVE them. Having been forced to wear the boots I was issued in my JROTC unit, they are a dream in comparison and very light-weight. I've also heard repeatedly that it is a good idea to go to the exchange and try on several different pairs to see which will best fit you. You will be good to go with your boot memo and acceptance letter.

As for running shoes, yes, running shoes with a distinctive/bright color will make it much easier to find you in the photos, however, several cadets have also said that is a great way to draw unnecessary attention from the upperclassmen as well. Choose your battles.

The recommendations I pulled were from the "Current Plebe here to answer any questions!" forum. You can find additional info there while waiting for answers from others.

 

[USMAZoo98]

Adding onto USMAZoo98, I am not a current cadet (appointed USMA CO'27) but here's some other suggestions I have seen from cadets throughout the forum: Garmonts, Oakleys and Underarmour are all apparently popular. I bought a pair of Underarmour to break in before basic and I LOVE them. Having been forced to wear the boots I was issued in my JROTC unit, they are a dream in comparison and very light-weight. I've also heard repeatedly that it is a good idea to go to the exchange and try on several different pairs to see which will best fit you. You will be good to go with your boot memo and acceptance letter.

As for running shoes, yes, running shoes with a distinctive/bright color will make it much easier to find you in the photos, however, several cadets have also said that is a great way to draw unnecessary attention from the upperclassmen as well. Choose your battles.

The recommendations I pulled were from the "Current Plebe here to answer any questions!" forum. You can find additional info there while waiting for answers from others.

A couple more things:

My son loves the Oakleys because they are light, but he preferred Garmonts for in the field and his Oakleys primarily for road marching. He also did not take his Oakleys to Beast. We brought them to him on A-Day weekend because it wasn't clear they were authorized for Beast.

And the idea that bright shoes will draw the attention of upperclass cadets is a myth. The cadre do not care about the color of your shoes. If the person in those shoes is not performing, that will get their attention.

 

[Warrior-Poet]

Getting attention from upperclassmen means that you’ll leave Beast even more physically fit.

 

[Allectus]

DS is now a yuk. We found that the easiest way to get dress shoes was to order from the cadet store. The post exchanges did not have the leather shoes.

 

[PM2627]

Anyone know if we are allowed to bring our own rifle cleaning gear? (Found a star chamber cleaner that I'm eyeing)

 

[prospective2019]

Anyone know if we are allowed to bring our own rifle cleaning gear? (Found a star chamber cleaner that I'm eyeing)

No need. You will be issued a pretty good rifle cleaning kit with a star chamber cleaner. You do not shoot very much during CBT--something like that is more practical for CFT. Save the space in your bag for something else.

To address some repeat sentiments: the best boots are the ones that fit your feet. Garmonts give me terrible blisters and unsupportive Oakleys did wonders for me for CLDT. Try and go somewhere where you can try on a bunch and find what feels best. Something more sneaker-like is great for CBT; you do not do as much rucking as you'd think.

Additionally--all the comments about doing things to draw extra attention from cadre--I promise your cadre are far too busy and too tired to pay much attention to if you studied Scofield's ahead of time or if you brought X/Y/Z in addition to the packing list. You are all bright individuals and will want to over-analyze CBT but take it from someone wasted time doing that and just relax and enjoy your last months of freedom. Run a bit, do some resistance training for injury prevention, and get comfortable standing for long periods of time, but "keep your feet and knees together and just relax."

 

[PM2627]

No need. You will be issued a pretty good rifle cleaning kit with a star chamber cleaner. You do not shoot very much during CBT--something like that is more practical for CFT. Save the space in your bag for something else.

Thanks!