Any advice for parent of MID going to board

vmtony said:
Thank you All for the encouraging post. So what I was told is that this was a mock PRT, so it wont go on his official record.
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It was indeed an official marking office PRT (assuming he didn't run a mock company level prt on the same day as the marking office prt). It will not remove the failure from his record, but it does reinstate privileges lost due to a failure (overnights, weekday liberty, etc. based on class).

Best of luck to your DS. I am happy for the both of you that he passed. Fortunately every company has a physical mission staff. He should get to know his well and ask for guidance in staying for staying fit.
 
Capt MJ said:
Hoping for good news. There are likely to be no extra chances the rest of his time at USNA.
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GWU PNS said:
I am not familiar with USNA boards, but they are likely similar to our Professional Review Boards.
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Skipper07 said:
It was indeed an official marking office PRT
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That does not sound good. It seems like people are doing formal punishment but acting like "it's no big deal." If it's really no third chance and the results are very close, I'd definitely not want to possibly owe the government tens of thousands of dollars later because of a fluke after some commitment point.
 
Skipper07 said:
It was indeed an official marking office PRT (assuming he didn't run a mock company level prt on the same day as the marking office prt). It will not remove the failure from his record, but it does reinstate privileges lost due to a failure (overnights, weekday liberty, etc. based on class).

Best of luck to your DS. I am happy for the both of you that he passed. Fortunately every company has a physical mission staff. He should get to know his well and ask for guidance in staying for staying fit.
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He did mention that there were BTT officers and coaches there but he was told that it was BTT mock. He mentioned few firstie too, so it could be official for those firsties. Ha failed 3 consecutive PRT after his plebe year. So this was kind of do, show or die for him.

More importantly for him I think is the confidence that he can do it again and again with extra effort and proper habits.
 
vmtony said:
More importantly for him I think is the confidence that he can do it again and again with extra effort and proper habits.
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This is absolutely critical. It’s important that, should he survive the board, he doesn’t see it as the end, e.g. “Whew, it’s done. Thank goodness.” Instead, he should see it as the start, e.g. “That was my wake-up call. Now I need to make the most of this new opportunity.”

And that’s in fact how he should see passing the PRT — as an opportunity, not a hurdle to be cleared or obstacle to overcome. By amping up his fitness levels, he can expand the opportunities available to him in terms of MOS: special warfare, perhaps, or OED or USMC. Now those roles may not appeal to him, but he’s always better off with more options, not fewer. And being in good physical shape allows him to lead his sailors from the front. So good for him. And now, carry on!
 
To add to the excellent comments posted already, this is also a great place for him to lead, once he has cemented his position post the board. Mind you of course he has to stay the new course.

Mids who go through boards, whether academic, physical, honor, or behavior can learn from that process. They can acknowledge their shortcoming or lapses in judgement and grow. They can embrace the results of adjudication, learn, grow, and rebound in a stronger more mature capacity.

Enormous growth can come from these experiences and opportunities to mentor others who are facing the same will present themselves. This has happened to DS and the positive impacts to himself and others are something we have discussed numerous times. The lessons learned are not soon forgotten and the ability positively impact others is ongoing.

Having a mid come to you and say, “hey, you treated me with respect and courtesy while holding me accountable during my xyz” is a full circle moment.

I think mids who do face these challenges and show real personal accountability and growth will be better officers for the experience.
 
Heatherg21 said:
To add to the excellent comments posted already, this is also a great place for him to lead, once he has cemented his position post the board. Mind you of course he has to stay the new course.

Mids who go through boards, whether academic, physical, honor, or behavior can learn from that process. They can acknowledge their shortcoming or lapses in judgement and grow. They can embrace the results of adjudication, learn, grow, and rebound in a stronger more mature capacity.

Enormous growth can come from these experiences and opportunities to mentor others who are facing the same will present themselves. This has happened to DS and the positive impacts to himself and others are something we have discussed numerous times. The lessons learned are not soon forgotten and the ability positively impact others is ongoing.

Having a mid come to you and say, “hey, you treated me with respect and courtesy while holding me accountable during my xyz” is a full circle moment.

I think mids who do face these challenges and show real personal accountability and growth will be better officers for the experience.
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Outside of edit window. Correction: impacts to him and others.

Things that keep me up at night, lol.
 
Watching a Mass from Fatima, Portugal... I prayed for your DS. Hope for the best.

If the outcome is not favorable, it's a blessing in disguise. Relay this to your DS: "Lesson(s) learned is to remain fit for the rest of your life regardless of your chosen profession." Don't be that female cadet who sued The Citadel in 1995 then DOR'ed in 4 days... fast forward to 2023... her appearance, my God.
 
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Honestly there is no excuse for failing a PRT.
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As someone who really struggled with the PRT, I disagree. At USNA, I was in great shape and well within weight guidelines. I maxed crunches. I got As and Bs in swimming, gymspastics, and always passed the O-course (timed tests in our day) without issue. But the mile run was my nemesis. I ran daily. I did long runs and sprints. I had people pace me. I just had terrible technique in part b/c I never learned to run properly.

Heinz Lenz (old-timers will know the name) once said to me (in his German accent): "If you work really, really hard, you could be a good runner. But you'll never be a great runner." I was never even good. I passed, but always by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.

I realize some mids are out of shape and others don't do the workouts needed to pass. But some do everything right and still struggle, just like some mids study like crazy and still fail academic exams.

It's odd how we never say, "There's no excuse for failing academically."
 
vmtony said:
Update :
MID is being retained, passing the mock PRT helped put a strong case.

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and your prayers and wishes.

Great wake up call ☎️ for him..
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Great news! It sounds like he knows what he needs to do going forward.
 
Fantastic poiu
vmtony said:
Update :
MID is being retained, passing the mock PRT helped put a strong case.

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and your prayers and wishes.

Great wake up call ☎️ for him..
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So happy for you and your mid.

Congrats.
 
Fantastic post by @usna1985.

For everyone with slow run times applying or about to be inducted - before you start practicing - meet with the track or cross country coach at your high school or local college.

Learn the proper technique before you practice. You will optimize your individual scores and avoid injuries.
 
usna1985 said:
As someone who really struggled with the PRT, I disagree. At USNA, I was in great shape and well within weight guidelines. I maxed crunches. I got As and Bs in swimming, gymspastics, and always passed the O-course (timed tests in our day) without issue. But the mile run was my nemesis. I ran daily. I did long runs and sprints. I had people pace me. I just had terrible technique in part b/c I never learned to run properly.

Heinz Lenz (old-timers will know the name) once said to me (in his German accent): "If you work really, really hard, you could be a good runner. But you'll never be a great runner." I was never even good. I passed, but always by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.


I realize some mids are out of shape and others don't do the workouts needed to pass. But some do everything right and still struggle, just like some mids study like crazy and still fail academic exams.

It's odd how we never say, "There's no excuse for failing academically."
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I totally get you!
The O course on Hospital Point was no joke and quite difficult for me due to difficulty in getting onto the final obstacle (monkey bars) due to my vertical challenge. The ten foot wall was not difficult at all but the stupid monkey bars were a different story. Considering the many midshipman knee and other injuries that happened there, I'd bet that if it were still in use, we'd see a LOT of parent comments here about it.

By the way, when I graduated the ocourse record holders, male and female were both varsity intercollegiate (dinghy) sailors.
 
Outstanding! Congrats to your Mid!

Now, they need to keep up the great work and not let themselves get into that situation again.
 
Congrats to your DS and you! I am sure you let out a deep breath. May this be the last time he deals with this and never looks back.
 
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