Cadet Life questions?

tennisfan88 said:
I can answer that, I did it in October and it really wasn't that bad but it depends on your squadron and the element you're in in it. You just have to write up a special Air Force document (called a SSS) and send it up the chain of command. Really simple and upperclassmen should be able to help you with it. As long as it's not ridiculous and you have a good reason, 99% of the time they will approve it.

In regards to the difference between real college and USAFA, I went to a real college for a few years (long story) and I can tell you USAFA is almost completely different from one. I agree with someone who says that life probably isn't even remotely similar to a real college even after Recognition (haven't been experienced it yet but have a pretty good idea). You still need permission to do so many things even like going to Wal-Mart in the middle of the day whereas at real college, you are free to do whatever you want, and I mean anything as long as a)it's legal or b)you don't get caught. You could skip class the whole day and just sleep in. Go home every single weekend. Get drunk at the bars or at a house party every weekend and wander back to your room completely trashed. You could become a loner and talk to basically no one your entire college career if you felt like it. At USAFA, you're almost always under a microscope and is literally a book full of rules that you have to follow at all times.

However, choosing to go to a civilian college or USAFA is choosing between two different paths. you're either picking a civilian life or a life where you will be serving your country and be in the military for at least 5 years. It all depends on which one you want to do. If you're doing this just to get a college diploma that you can use later down the road, then well good luck on that. I think the point of trying to compare real college life and USAFA life is kind of pointless because they are completely different paths and it just sort of depresses some of us by constantly reminding ourselves how our lives could be so much "funner", granted we get to do some pretty cool things here.:biggrin:
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Alright, well...lets say theoretically i'd want to come back to my hometown for my girlfriend's homecoming dance...would they consider that as out of order? >< haha

i see the point youre making about civilian colleges, but like besides the orders and doctrine, are the living conditions the same as well?

like....do the students at usafa bunk in a barracks or a dorm room? and...well. what are the rest of the facilities like as well?
 
My son attends the USAFA. As a doolie, he didn't have a lot of extra time.He had some weekends that he had military training and couldn't leave or had very little time. If his squadron didn't pass their knowledge test as a group, no one left for the weekend, Homecoming or already purchased ticket or not. We have personal experience with that one. We flew in the weekend before Thanksgiving and we were praying that his squad had passed so we could get extra days.

Depending on your age, you really need to visit the academy and see it for yourself to see if that is something you are interested in. If you are a junior, you can apply to a summer seminar. You can also sign up for a visit.

The Academy is not for everyone and like others have said before, you need to make sure you are attending because this is what you really want. Remember, you are the one who has to contend with all that doolies go through.
 
What about electronics?

I assume that all cadets are given standard issue laptops after BCT, but when are other personal electronics allowed? Cameras, iPods, etc.? Are they allowed before recognition or even after?
 
smle said:
My son attends the USAFA. As a doolie, he didn't have a lot of extra time.He had some weekends that he had military training and couldn't leave or had very little time. If his squadron didn't pass their knowledge test as a group, no one left for the weekend, Homecoming or already purchased ticket or not. We have personal experience with that one. We flew in the weekend before Thanksgiving and we were praying that his squad had passed so we could get extra days.

Depending on your age, you really need to visit the academy and see it for yourself to see if that is something you are interested in. If you are a junior, you can apply to a summer seminar. You can also sign up for a visit.

The Academy is not for everyone and like others have said before, you need to make sure you are attending because this is what you really want. Remember, you are the one who has to contend with all that doolies go through.
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It's also important to note that a lot of things are "squad. dependent". What squadron you're in truly does determine how bad or lax your freshmen year will be. In terms of rooms, the rooms are dorm rooms albeit dorm rooms as well as most of the campus was built in the 50's. One thing that really gets me is the lack of good internet connection or even WiFi in the dorms, something that seems so basic for a college but since this is government run they only give you the minimum required. Also certain websites are blocked randomly for the stupidest reasons (one time I tried to get onto Expedia and the filter said the reason it was blocked was for: Travel....lol). We do get laptops and they're pretty nice but they do come out of your pay over the long run. You can't have an iPod since that would be media but you can have an iPhone since it's a phone also and it's sort of based off of honor that you won't listen to music on it even though most do. Cameras you can definitely have and it is encouraged to. Everything else depends on squadron but I'm pretty sure you can basically have anything that can't be used purely for "media" purposes.
In terms of leaving and stuff, in theory a SSS which is what you send up to your AOC should be able to supersede any restrictions training staff puts on you since you've sent it up earlier. Even if you failed your knowledge miserably for the week, if you got a SSS approved you should be able to do whatever it says. For the homecoming dance, I vaguely remember someone going back for something like that but like I said it's squadron dependent and you just really need to "stretch it" in terms of the reasoning behind it and how it will help you.
Weekends here (at least this semester) actually were not that bad and my squadron only had one Saturday training session and it was because we messed up badly that week. Other than that, they're usually pretty lax depending on your squadron and quite a few doolies just go out (in service dress) to Colorado Springs and chill if they can find a car.
 
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tennisfan88 said:
In terms of leaving and stuff, in theory a SSS which is what you send up to your AOC should be able to supersede any restrictions training staff puts on you since you've sent it up earlier. Even if you failed your knowledge miserably for the week, if you got a SSS approved you should be able to do whatever it says. For the homecoming dance, I vaguely remember someone going back for something like that but like I said it's squadron dependent and you just really need to "stretch it" in terms of the reasoning behind it and how it will help you.
Weekends here (at least this semester) actually were not that bad and my squadron only had one Saturday training session and it was because we messed up badly that week. Other than that, they're usually pretty lax depending on your squadron and quite a few doolies just go out (in service dress) to Colorado Springs and chill if they can find a car.
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The key with the SSS is to send it up the chain of command very early (several months in advance). If you wait until the last minute (i.e. week or two before), already have a plane ticket purchased, and the SSS gets denied, you're out of luck. Also, we have two kinds of weekends at USAFA. Blue weekends mean there is no training, and you are free after your last class on Friday. Silver weekends mean there is weekend training. If the weekend you want to leave falls on a silver weekend, you may have a tough time justifying a trip to see the gf.
 
Does commiting to do some presentations about the AFA in your hometown stretch your reason to go to homecoming? I figured I'd be able to go home for something personal if I mentioned that I'd visit my Boy Scout troop and advertise Service Academies and ROTC.
 
RyWalk said:
Does commiting to do some presentations about the AFA in your hometown stretch your reason to go to homecoming? I figured I'd be able to go home for something personal if I mentioned that I'd visit my Boy Scout troop and advertise Service Academies and ROTC.
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Probably not. The main USAFA sponsored recruiting activity is Grass Roots, which was the Monday before Thanksgiving. I was able to get an extra four days of leave (left Saturday instead of Wednesday) for one day of work. Unfortunately though, this is not open to 4*s.

The big if is whether homecoming falls on a blue weekend (no training and you are free after last class on Friday) or a silver weekend (training on Friday/Saturday). If it's the former, there is a good chance, but no guarantees, that the trip would get approved. If it's a silver weekend, you will likely be out of luck. The key is to send up the paper early (several months in advance) and don't purchase any tickets until you get the green light.
 
As the mother of a third class cadet, I have watched this thread for the last week and want to emphasize that going to an Academy is NEVER like going to a regular college -- including after Recognition. There are some things that will never be the same as a "regular" college -- at least at USAFA -- you will never walk across the street to Starbucks (it's probably a 5-7 mile walk, if you could do it at all), you will never skip a class (for 4 years) without a consequence, you will never go on a long weekend trip and decide to stay away an extra day or two without consequences, you will never rent an apartment or live off campus while you are a cadet, you will never belong to a fraternity or sorority -- most of your friends from high school will do all or most of these things and they will NOT understand why your life is so different from theirs. You will have amazing possible opportunities -- like skydiving -- but your friends at regular colleges may take a semester or a year abroad which you will probably not be able to do (my daughter is the only one of her friends not planning to spend at least one semester -- if not both -- of junior year abroad). If you are a female cadet, you may take a raft of verbal grief -- you may be surprised and even offended at the comments you hear from other cadets and you will probably be offended by the names you are called by other cadets. Some of those offensive comments may be made in front of professors -- at a regular college -- they would be grounds for discipline -- at the Academy, your professor may or may not say anything. You will become a stronger person in many, many ways -- but it will never be like a regular college and you should not go into an Academy expecting that it will be like a regular college. If you come from a military background you may know better what to expect -- if you do not come from a military background, you will find your way if you want to make it work -- but in either case you must be willing to accept a school experience that will be nothing like a regular college -- if you want a regular college experience, you should go to a regular college and consider ROTC. Do not go to an Academy unless you can accept that it will never be a regular college.
 
but your friends at regular colleges may take a semester or a year abroad which you will probably not be able to do (my daughter is the only one of her friends not planning to spend at least one semester -- if not both -- of junior year abroad).
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There are actually tons of opportunities to study abroad while at the academy. Every semester many, many cadets go to the far corners of the world to study.

Not only that, there are language immersion programs and the Olmstead Grant programs that provide for even more travel. My son has been on two Olmstead trips and will be going on his third over spring break.

As for regular college vs not. My son spends plenty of time doing regular college stuff and plenty of time not being able to do "regular" college stuff. Dorms are dorms no matter where you are at. About the biggest difference is that you don't have the same level of "choice" or "control". But your experience will be whatever you make of it.
 
bandit said:
There are actually tons of opportunities to study abroad while at the academy. Every semester many, many cadets go to the far corners of the world to study.

Not only that, there are language immersion programs and the Olmstead Grant programs that provide for even more travel. My son has been on two Olmstead trips and will be going on his third over spring break.

As for regular college vs not. My son spends plenty of time doing regular college stuff and plenty of time not being able to do "regular" college stuff. Dorms are dorms no matter where you are at. About the biggest difference is that you don't have the same level of "choice" or "control". But your experience will be whatever you make of it.
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Best part of study abroad is that it's free and you are getting paid while you go. Something you can't say happens at any other college.
 
tennisfan88 said:
Best part of study abroad is that it's free and you are getting paid while you go. Something you can't say happens at any other college.
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After looking at some of the engineering degree coarse loads and highly programmed nature of them, I'm going to say I seriously doubt anyone with any hard core engineering degree is doing any fall or spring semester long study abroad. I think that's an option only for the softer degrees...
 
After looking at some of the engineering degree coarse loads and highly programmed nature of them, I'm going to say I seriously doubt anyone with any hard core engineering degree is doing any fall or spring semester long study abroad. I think that's an option only for the softer degrees...
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That would not be correct. There are study abroad programs for the engineers too. For example, I know a couple choices for the Aero majors who also know spanish are:

Tecnologico de Monterrey - http://www.itesm.edu/wps/portal?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=

Spanish Air Force Academy - http://www.aire.org/ea/org/aga.htm

I am sure there are others. Those are just two that I became familiar with over my son's time at the USAFA.
 
Yea the whole point of study abroad is not to have fun, although you can, should, and will. It is to take classes (especially major) over at another university or foreign service academy while immersing yourself in the culture.
 
The Chinese department is also offering trips to Singapore now instead of China to accommodate engineering majors. In short, USAFA will pay to get you overseas if you put in just a little effort, and they will work every way they can so you get your classes in. In this regard they are much more accommodating than the typical civilian school.
 
Not too mention your GPA is frozen when you go abroad. That makes it a little less intimidating to go take classes in a foreign language.

Although some, like the ones in Singapore (I think) are taught in english
 
I have a quick question...How must cadets dress when they come home for breaks, such as for Christmas break? Are they allowed to dress like a civilian?
 
When on leave orders 4 degrees are allowed to wear civilian clothes. Therefore for both Thanksgiving and Christmas break we must wear service dress when traveling to our destination, but once arrived may wear civies. Our next break will be Spring Break and we will be recognized so we will be allowed to wear civies at the academy.

Later,

Brian
 
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