Current USAFA C/27 Doolie AMA

How do you feel / how does your class feel about the incoming changes to 4-deg year? Genuinely curious from the upper-3 perspective.
 
USAFA_86 said:
How do you feel / how does your class feel about the incoming changes to 4-deg year? Genuinely curious from the upper-3 perspective.
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Can you expand on these incoming changes?
 
AFrpaso said:
Can you expand on these incoming changes?
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The current commandant wants to restructure the entire 4-class system. Basically leadership wants to make training more applicable to the actual AF. In practice this involves removing many restrictions placed on 4-degs. Starting in November, 4-degs will be at rest in squad after 5:45, won't have to do full greetings, and training sessions/DDTs will be completely re-evaluated to better reflect the challenges faced by current AF officers. I personally think that there are many pros and cons to the new system, but other cadets are much more passionate about the changes.
 
USAFA_86 said:
The current commandant wants to restructure the entire 4-class system. Basically leadership wants to make training more applicable to the actual AF. In practice this involves removing many restrictions placed on 4-degs. Starting in November, 4-degs will be at rest in squad after 5:45, won't have to do full greetings, and training sessions/DDTs will be completely re-evaluated to better reflect the challenges faced by current AF officers. I personally think that there are many pros and cons to the new system, but other cadets are much more passionate about the changes.
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Well done wanting to understand the perspective of the C4C on the changes. Many of those on here have probably been in a similar situation at a variety of Academies and training establishments throughout their varied careers and they will all probably acknowledge that "Change is the only constant". Whether it was the introduction of a new syllabus, new uniform standards, women joining the ranks or a plethora of other changes, the key is to remember that the current C4C had nothing to do with those changes. Someone will always be on the receiving end of the change while their upperclass perceive either a benefit or a detriment to the way the course is now run. "Back in my day" is such a classic comment and yet we all still managed to serve with highly capable officers and survive even after these changes were implemented. Best thing to do is accept the new Commandant has his way of doing things and Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. "In my day" the things considered character building and essential to growing a new military leader are now considered hazing and are unacceptable as were the restrictions placed on new cadets compared to the current cadet life. Make the most of the experience and enjoy the ride.
 
All3Services said:
Well done wanting to understand the perspective of the C4C on the changes. Many of those on here have probably been in a similar situation at a variety of Academies and training establishments throughout their varied careers and they will all probably acknowledge that "Change is the only constant". Whether it was the introduction of a new syllabus, new uniform standards, women joining the ranks or a plethora of other changes, the key is to remember that the current C4C had nothing to do with those changes. Someone will always be on the receiving end of the change while their upperclass perceive either a benefit or a detriment to the way the course is now run. "Back in my day" is such a classic comment and yet we all still managed to serve with highly capable officers and survive even after these changes were implemented. Best thing to do is accept the new Commandant has his way of doing things and Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. "In my day" the things considered character building and essential to growing a new military leader are now considered hazing and are unacceptable as were the restrictions placed on new cadets compared to the current cadet life. Make the most of the experience and enjoy the ride.
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"Back in my day" (literally 6 months ago) the things considered training are now considered "maltraining". Most of the changes are good and warranted, but some are questionable. The general feeling amongst the wing is a feeling of confusion on how this will pan out, I guess we'll see very soon!
 
For the upperclassmen, they go from unlimited weekend passes to limited. I know that is one change.
 
For the Doolies, there is no change, because they never experienced what other did. The 'back in my day" is a moot point for many of them
 
Usafa27-Dad said:
For the Doolies, there is no change, because they never experienced what other did. The 'back in my day" is a moot point for many of them
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But for us (the doolies) its irritating to always being hit with the "back in my day" constantly for changes we have no control over. I think most the doolies don't agree with the changes anyways. I agree with the whole wing feeling confused since the cadet wing seems to be pulled in two directions, mental health (the changes to doolie year) and rumored reduced privileges for upper three classes which seems to be the opposite. Doolie changes are coming end of the month but wing wide changes will be delayed at least to next school year.
 
USAFA_86 said:
How do you feel / how does your class feel about the incoming changes to 4-deg year? Genuinely curious from the upper-3 perspective.
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As for the change in training, I personally think it's ridiculous. I see the value in the tough training that doolies had to go through, and that's what I signed up for. I feel like I'm being robbed of the academy experience. I think the 'at home' policy is going to be a slippery slope of declining standards, as it's impossible to fully enforce the standards during designated training times(known as DDTs) when there are times during the day that the standards don't exist. People are going to get used to living without them. The Commandant claims that he wants to let people relax outside of DDTs or minutes so they'll be more locked in, but training doesn't just occur during DDTs. It happens when you're walking into squad at 2255 and desperate to go to your room and get to bed, but you get held up by a bunch of upperclassmen because you got one of their greetings wrong and you have to think of the fastest way to get them off your back. That's training. That's teaching you how to think on your feet in an environment where you think the stakes are high but there are no real consequences for your actions, so you can experiment. The whole point of doolie year is to make you hard, think fast, and think confidently. That just won't happen anymore. I sound like an old grad lol, I just don't like how quickly this place is changing from the one I signed up to go to. In the moment I might be glad I don't have to do rapid redeploys(moving all your stuff to a different room under a time limit, for those who don't know), but I know long term I'm being robbed of a beneficial experience.

purpleCarrot said:
What have you heard about the Martinson Honors Program?
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I'm applying for Martinson, I'm personally not to sure about everything that happens; here's what I know. You get enrolled in advanced 'scholars' sections of various core courses, which are usually taught by the best professor in the department and go way deeper with the material. Commonly, instead of tests(known here as GRs) you'll submit more papers. The point is to make you a deeper, more critical thinker. They claim that these scholars sections aren't harder than the regular classes but let's be real here. They are, maybe not in content difficulty but in work load. It takes much less time to study for a test than to write a paper. But like all things at the Academy, you embrace the suck so you can grow and be a better person afterwards. Then your firstie year you'll do a capstone project. They also have a lot of opportunities for reasearch projects, summer internships, etc., so that's another reason why I'm applying. Although it seems more focused on fuzzy majors than STEM, I'm still applying as a STEM major because you should never close any door until you know you won't go through it. If I find out that Martinson isn't for me then I'll just drop back to regular classes, no harm done.
 
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