Cadet summer

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FightingFalcon2027

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When will the cadets know their summer schedule? Divided into 3, 3 weeks each including vacation? How does it work? Mom has to make vacation request from work a year in advance. Thank you.
 
FightingFalcon2027 said:
When will the cadets know their summer schedule? Divided into 3, 3 weeks each including vacation? How does it work? Mom has to make vacation request from work a year in advance. Thank you.
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I found out mine for this summer around March of this year I believe, so maybe 3 months out from summer max. You are able to put in a preference for what summer period you want off but it is not guaranteed.
 
pnwski said:
I found out mine for this summer around March of this year I believe, so maybe 3 months out from summer max. You are able to put in a preference for what summer period you want off but it is not guaranteed.
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What activity or work are you assigned in the other 2, 3 week period? Thank you.
 
FightingFalcon2027 said:
What activity or work are you assigned in the other 2, 3 week period? Thank you.
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For the summer after your doolie (freshmen year), the average cadet will have 1 period off, one devoted to an airmanship program, and 1 towards something called Combat Survival Training (CST), think SERE but just the survival and evasion portions. For the airmanship block, you have multiple options which include Soaring, Jump where you get to jump out of a plane by yourself, Azimuth which is a space force oriented program, powered flight in a small single engine aircraft, a program for people interested in special warfare and probably a couple others I’m forgetting about. Some people either elect or are forced to give up their airmanship block to do summer academics (take a class) or elect to do so in lieu of taking a break period.
 
pnwski said:
For the summer after your doolie (freshmen year), the average cadet will have 1 period off, one devoted to an airmanship program, and 1 towards something called Combat Survival Training (CST), think SERE but just the survival and evasion portions. For the airmanship block, you have multiple options which include Soaring, Jump where you get to jump out of a plane by yourself, Azimuth which is a space force oriented program, powered flight in a small single engine aircraft, a program for people interested in special warfare and probably a couple others I’m forgetting about. Some people either elect or are forced to give up their airmanship block to do summer academics (take a class) or elect to do so in lieu of taking a break period.
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Thank you very much, this is very helpful!
 
FightingFalcon2027 said:
When will the cadets know their summer schedule? Divided into 3, 3 weeks each including vacation? How does it work? Mom has to make vacation request from work a year in advance. Thank you.
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No matter what the summer training schedule requested is, it likely won’t be confirmed until the spring, and then may shift unexpectedly. This is part of adjustment by both the military member and their families to the fluidity of military life. The cadet’s summer leave may not coincide with parent’s scheduled vacation.
 
Capt MJ said:
No matter what the summer training schedule requested is, it likely won’t be confirmed until the spring, and then may shift unexpectedly. This is part of adjustment by both the military member and their families to the fluidity of military life. The cadet’s summer leave may not coincide with parent’s scheduled vacation.
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Thank you Captain MJ!
 
If you happen to be a fall athlete odds are you will get second session off freshman year. First session CST and third session airmanship to be back on campus for sports training. Everyone else is up the air and subject to multiple changes as noted by Capt MJ.
 
There is simply no way to reconcile that maddening feeling of wanting to know so we (parents) can go ahead and book plans/vacation with being on hold often until the last moment. The 3 block description by @pnwski is a great starting point. But the Cadets are all over the board with schedules, and it's often program/squadron/Cadet specific. My DD has been home since 05/19 and will leave for her 8 week internship on Saturday, she returns at the end of the summer for another week at home and then we get her back to USAFA. She was a bit sad to miss Ring Dance, but she said the 2 weeks at home and not having to do 23ers graduation greatly outweighted that loss.

This is hard for parents, but here's my advice: don't bug them about leave or vacations. Instead, encourage them to do, be, experience, and go for opportunities, and then let them tell you when they are coming home or available. In the meantime, i'm booking cruises but looking for travel insurances that must have CFAR and single supplement clauses. That's all I can do.
 
Add in a planning factor for the upcoming years when your cadet may say, “I’m so excited, I have a chance to do X during my summer leave block/session, so I signed up for that, and won’t be coming home.” “My teammate Z lives on the Gulf Coast in Florida a block from the beach, so a bunch of us are spending spring break there.” “My GF/BF’s family has invited me to Thanksgiving with them in Maine, so that’s where I am going.” “I’m coming home for Christmas, but the day after, I’m leaving to meet up with 2 classmates at their family’s timeshare in Aspen to go skiing, and I’ll go back to USAFA from there.”

We see this with our USNA sponsor family, and I urge them to let family know as soon as possible, so assumptions and expectations can be managed. In the excitement of being a young adult with the ability to make and execute plans, sometimes they unthinkingly relegate family/home to the familiar “default setting” and blithely pursue alternates to expected patterns.
 
Good advice from all. DD (26) is an IC and a double major (both in STEM) so she is using her 3 weeks of leave to take a chemistry class. Because it's a semester crammed into 3 weeks, cadets had to have a certain score or better in the prerequisite. Am I am sad she won't be home? Yes, but she can get this class knocked out. I have learned this year to be flexible on when she can come home. It will prepare me for her life in the AF.
 
Capt MJ said:
Add in a planning factor for the upcoming years when your cadet may say, “I’m so excited, I have a chance to do X during my summer leave block/session, so I signed up for that, and won’t be coming home.” “My teammate Z lives on the Gulf Coast in Florida a block from the beach, so a bunch of us are spending spring break there.” “My GF/BF’s family has invited me to Thanksgiving with them in Maine, so that’s where I am going.” “I’m coming home for Christmas, but the day after, I’m leaving to meet up with 2 classmates at their family’s timeshare in Aspen to go skiing, and I’ll go back to USAFA from there.”

We see this with our USNA sponsor family, and I urge them to let family know as soon as possible, so assumptions and expectations can be managed. In the excitement of being a young adult with the ability to make and execute plans, sometimes they unthinkingly relegate family/home to the familiar “default setting” and blithely pursue alternates to expected patterns.
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My DD is at another SA but in both her first two summers she's spent a week elsewhere and brought a classmate to our house for another week. She also spent this spring break with her team and stayed on campus for Easter and only came home for one Thanksgiving so far. We only live in MN, not anywhere remote, and she did enjoy living here at one time, but their lives are just bursting with new opportunities and sometimes they steal from home time to fit everything else in.
 
Capt MJ said:
Add in a planning factor for the upcoming years when your cadet may say, “I’m so excited, I have a chance to do X during my summer leave block/session, so I signed up for that, and won’t be coming home.” “My teammate Z lives on the Gulf Coast in Florida a block from the beach, so a bunch of us are spending spring break there.” “My GF/BF’s family has invited me to Thanksgiving with them in Maine, so that’s where I am going.” “I’m coming home for Christmas, but the day after, I’m leaving to meet up with 2 classmates at their family’s timeshare in Aspen to go skiing, and I’ll go back to USAFA from there.”

We see this with our USNA sponsor family, and I urge them to let family know as soon as possible, so assumptions and expectations can be managed. In the excitement of being a young adult with the ability to make and execute plans, sometimes they unthinkingly relegate family/home to the familiar “default setting” and blithely pursue alternates to expected patterns.
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Ds already informed me that he will not be coming home for Thanksgiving next year (the CO mountains are calling), might spend some winter break days in NYC with a friend (we cannot compete with Broadway), and wants to go to Japan one summer (I went to Germany my 2 degree summer so I get it). I absolutely love all of these experiences for him! Still miss him and hate parts of having adult children but love it.
 
99Gold said:
Ds already informed me that he will not be coming home for Thanksgiving next year (the CO mountains are calling), might spend some winter break days in NYC with a friend (we cannot compete with Broadway), and wants to go to Japan one summer (I went to Germany my 2 degree summer so I get it). I absolutely love all of these experiences for him! Still miss him and hate parts of having adult children but love it.
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My DS (Class of 2027) getting ready for BCT at the end of this month already informed us he is going to Taiwan next summer. Yep we better get use to him not being here with us. :(
 
Prep your extended family too if they are used to having large family gatherings. In our case, the grandparents didn't understand why their beloved grandson wouldn't want to be home for every major holiday. DH and I handled it better than they did LOL! Even now that DS is AD, they still ask when he's coming home for Christmas etc....
 
mommahedg said:
Prep your extended family too if they are used to having large family gatherings. In our case, the grandparents didn't understand why their beloved grandson wouldn't want to be home for every major holiday. DH and I handled it better than they did LOL! Even now that DS is AD, they still ask when he's coming home for Christmas etc....
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Places to go, things to do, people to meet…
 
Capt MJ said:
Places to go, things to do, people to meet…
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So very true. We told DS that if he had the chance to go do something, to do it. Most of those opportunities don't come around often :)
 
DS25 was in South America for half the winter break, didn't come home for spring break because of a USAFA commitment and now he is gallivanting around Europe with his roommate. He'll be home for a couple of days then off to ops AF. He already has a dive trip planned over Christmas with his roommate. We couldn't be happier for him. We'll see if DS27 does the same thing, or if he'll be the "favorite son":)
 
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