Class of 23 & 24 Shotgunning

I think it means they realign all of the companies?
 
For my mid, it is potential to lose the roommate he was looking forward to having the next 3 years. They are super close, great pairing. It is also the relationships you had built over the last 10 months during trying times, with upperclassmen who have become mentors.

He gets it, rules and needs of the Navy etc., he knows there are pros and cons to it all. A little bummed but he knows it is what it is, he's just excited to be under a month before he is a plebe no more. Semper gumby.

I am curious to see someone with experience weigh in on the rationale. TIA.
 
Strictly a guess for this year but I'm thinking it's due to attrition; higher number of Mids choosing to leave after struggles with ISO and ROM along with the cheating scandal being the cause of a decrease in class sizes. I figure rationale is to even out the company numbers but complete speculation on my part.
 
@Heatherg21 Throughout the history of USNA, they have seemingly debated the merits to this practice. They called it "scrambling" back in the 80's and when we (my husband and I) were plebes. At that time, they only scrambled the plebes, not the youngsters too. It did allow those plebes who had had a really rough time, but made it through the year, to enjoy a fresh start. It is a bummer though, if you were really fond of your plebe year company. I find that I remember the upper class from my plebe year company more than the upper class from my youngster year company. As far as classmates go, though, I am still close with some from each of those - so in the long run, not a horrible experience.
 
I was shotgunned after my Plebe Year. I was happy about it. Pros - you get to know more people in the Brigade, a chance to start new, the fleet changes a lot and this sort of mirrors that. At any one time in the fleet you are turning over at least 1/3 of your unit each year and this helps Mids understand what that change is like. Starting new can be challenging for many as the unknown is what most do not like. For Mids who have good reputations they will have to work hard to re-establish it. For those who maybe didn’t or struggled with the COVID environment, it’s a chance to start fresh. Cons - close bonds with company mates and room mates. With these 2 classes having a lot of COVID months at USNA, I think it’s a great chance to sort of start fresh next year.
 
It can be a negative or positive - or both.

Apparently detailers might not be with the plebes they trained this summer during plebe academic year?
 
JmeBeMe said:
Strictly a guess for this year but I'm thinking it's due to attrition; higher number of Mids choosing to leave after struggles with ISO and ROM along with the cheating scandal being the cause of a decrease in class sizes. I figure rationale is to even out the company numbers but complete speculation on my part.
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Attrition, even through COVID, is dramatically different than when I was there and even 20 years prior to my time. I would be surprised if this is the reason, but never know.
 
abrandicourt said:
@Heatherg21 Throughout the history of USNA, they have seemingly debated the merits to this practice. They called it "scrambling" back in the 80's and when we (my husband and I) were plebes. At that time, they only scrambled the plebes, not the youngsters too. It did allow those plebes who had had a really rough time, but made it through the year, to enjoy a fresh start. It is a bummer though, if you were really fond of your plebe year company. I find that I remember the upper class from my plebe year company more than the upper class from my youngster year company. As far as classmates go, though, I am still close with some from each of those - so in the long run, not a horrible experience.
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Now they consider scrambling to be when a class within a company is picked up and moved to another company. And shotgunning is what happened today. Not sure when that changed, but even my class used these definitions. I was after your time at USNA, but not super long after you.
 
NavyHoops said:
Attrition, even through COVID, is dramatically different than when I was there and even 20 years prior to my time. I would be surprised if this is the reason, but never know.
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But isn't everything COVID's fault? :p
I forget that retention is so much higher in recent years.
 
Youngsters are pretty upset about it. After months of lecture about bonding as a class and getting through COVID together, they drop this bomb. I forecast extreme cynicism and retention problems with 2/7. A lot of people that "hate" it here stay because of the people. Now we have to start anew.
 
NavyHoops said:
Now they consider scrambling to be when a class within a company is picked up and moved to another company. And shotgunning is what happened today. Not sure when that changed, but even my class used these definitions. I was after your time at USNA, but not super long after you.
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Showing my age I guess:)! We never experienced an entire class from one company being moved to another - just all plebes re-distributed to other companies (not together) after plebe year. This practice happened or didn't happen as times, needs, and leaders changed. It did allow us to meet mids across Bancroft Hall - since suddenly we had to travel to different wings to see our old roommates - and then we met their new roommates. I definitely liked this part of the process. And it is very reminiscent of what life after USNA is like.
 
This from DD, who was involved in discussions about the decision before it was made (though not involved in the actual decision itself): The classes were shotgunned because there was a feeling that they had gotten complacent and comfortable, and weren’t being adequately pushed because of all the pandemic-caused conditions. Shotgunning, the reasoning goes, will “shock the system” and prompt the soon-to-be 2/C and 3/C to re-engage and re-energize in leadership development.
 
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MidCakePa said:
Shotgunning, the reasoning goes, will “shock the system” and prompt the soon-to-be 2/C and 3/C to re-engage and re-energize in leadership development.
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I think being home last year, being at St John's this year, and being in ROM for a straight month was enough shock to the Youngsters' systems.

They'll get through it, and it probably will make them stronger leaders in the end. As much as I don't care for the decision, I am quite sure the Supe will not lose sleep because of how I feel...

I heard that '2023 enrollment is now below 1,000. Curious how many will still be there for 2/7...
 
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