Extracurricular Activity at USAFA

[bigplane87]

Hello all! I have a couple questions regarding extracurricular activity at USAFA.
- How possible is it for a cadet to participate in multiple clubs at the same time? For example, if a cadet is interested in both a sports club and an aviation type club, could they do both? Can you switch in and out of clubs as the semesters go by in order to experience multiple clubs?
- If a cadet is not an intercollegiate athlete, but is highly active within a certain sport, is there any ability for the cadet to continue participating in this sport on a regular basis? For example, I am an active cross country runner who is dedicated to improving, but I do not qualify nor plan on pursuing IC cross country - will there be opportunity for me to continue pursuing my fitness goals on my own? Access to a track, time, etc. is what I’m getting at. I know how important PFT scores are at USAFA, so I fear if I don’t continue pursuing running, my scores will lower.

 

[T-37IP]

Hello all! I have a couple questions regarding extracurricular activity at USAFA.
- How possible is it for a cadet to participate in multiple clubs at the same time? For example, if a cadet is interested in both a sports club and an aviation type club, could they do both? Can you switch in and out of clubs as the semesters go by in order to experience multiple clubs?
- If a cadet is not an intercollegiate athlete, but is highly active within a certain sport, is there any ability for the cadet to continue participating in this sport on a regular basis? For example, I am an active cross country runner who is dedicated to improving, but I do not qualify nor plan on pursuing IC cross country - will there be opportunity for me to continue pursuing my fitness goals on my own? Access to a track, time, etc. is what I’m getting at. I know how important PFT scores are at USAFA, so I fear if I don’t continue pursuing running, my scores will lower.

There is a marathon club and a tri club. My son is at the gym/pool nearly every day, academics permitting.

 

[shiner]

This is a challenging one to answer. The easy answer is "you can do as much or as little as you want in terms of extracurricular." The difficult part is your time availability and the activity. Some clubs are very active - like Drum and Bugle. In the case of high ops tempo clubs, some (like D&B) have mandatory activities, while some other clubs are 100% optional. The mix you encounter will depend on the activities you want to do. Honor Guard and Saber Drill are two more examples of high ops tempo clubs with mandatory activities. Ski club is a great example of a low ops tempo optional activity with no requirements.

Times may have changed, but some clubs have/had dues (fees). When I was a club team captain, we would warn our new team members against signing up for anything and everything on Club Day because it often turns into a fee grab by clubs - meaning 300 kids registered and paid fees behind the scenes, only to have 25 remain active. Those fees fund club activities and equipment expenses.

In terms of CC running and self fitness goals for a non IC cadet, this is easy to answer. I may be over simplifying this, but there are essentially 3 categories of cadets for athletic classification - Intercollegiate, Limited Onseason Status (LOS), and NARP (non-athletic regular person). Some clubs have LOS. If you are not an IC and not on LOS, you participate in the Intramural sports season for the semester. There is a limited window of weeks within the semester for the season. This requires participation every other day. As a freshman, your non-intramural day may be consumed with military training activities or you just have free time to spend studying or go to the gym, or run, etc.

As for changing/joining at any time - it depends on the club. Some clubs have a rigid tryout window of opportunity - like Falconry or Wings of Green. Other clubs like eSports may be open to come and go.

 

[T-37IP]

This is a challenging one to answer. The easy answer is "you can do as much or as little as you want in terms of extracurricular." The difficult part is your time availability and the activity. Some clubs are very active - like Drum and Bugle. In the case of high ops tempo clubs, some (like D&B) have mandatory activities, while some other clubs are 100% optional. The mix you encounter will depend on the activities you want to do. Honor Guard and Saber Drill are two more examples of high ops tempo clubs with mandatory activities. Ski club is a great example of a low ops tempo optional activity with no requirements.

Times may have changed, but some clubs have/had dues (fees). When I was a club team captain, we would warn our new team members against signing up for anything and everything on Club Day because it often turns into a fee grab by clubs - meaning 300 kids registered and paid fees behind the scenes, only to have 25 remain active. Those fees fund club activities and equipment expenses.

In terms of CC running and self fitness goals for a non IC cadet, this is easy to answer. I may be over simplifying this, but there are essentially 3 categories of cadets for athletic classification - Intercollegiate, Limited Onseason Status (LOS), and NARP (non-athletic regular person). Some clubs have LOS. If you are not an IC and not on LOS, you participate in the Intramural sports season for the semester. There is a limited window of weeks within the semester for the season. This requires participation every other day. As a freshman, your non-intramural day may be consumed with military training activities or you just have free time to spend studying or go to the gym, or run, etc.

As for changing/joining at any time - it depends on the club. Some clubs have a rigid tryout window of opportunity - like Falconry or Wings of Green. Other clubs like eSports may be open to come and go.

My son is in D&B, and it is busy, but it does allow him to "escape" and they do travel. D&B is the substitute for intramurals. Everything is certainly a trade-off. He really appreciated it as a doolie. For those of you new to this, USAFA will occupy your time, especially as a Doolie, D&B does give some control, if you like music. D&B is NOT your high school marching band, by the way. They do a show but it isn't focused on the visuals.

 

[justsomecadet]

there are essentially 3 categories of cadets for athletic classification - Intercollegiate, Limited Onseason Status (LOS), and NARP (non-athletic regular person)

FYSA NARP does not mean what it used to-- it mostly refers to people who take military stuff way to seriously, and doesn't really carry any connotation about athletic ability or involvement.

Proper usage includes:
"Why does [so and so] wear blues to class even when he has a chem lab?"
"I don't know man he's kind of a narp though"
and
"Did you hear the question she asked in the all call today? Kid is a huge narp."

 

[DomerDad]

Hello all! I have a couple questions regarding extracurricular activity at USAFA.
- How possible is it for a cadet to participate in multiple clubs at the same time? For example, if a cadet is interested in both a sports club and an aviation type club, could they do both? Can you switch in and out of clubs as the semesters go by in order to experience multiple clubs?
- If a cadet is not an intercollegiate athlete, but is highly active within a certain sport, is there any ability for the cadet to continue participating in this sport on a regular basis? For example, I am an active cross country runner who is dedicated to improving, but I do not qualify nor plan on pursuing IC cross country - will there be opportunity for me to continue pursuing my fitness goals on my own? Access to a track, time, etc. is what I’m getting at. I know how important PFT scores are at USAFA, so I fear if I don’t continue pursuing running, my scores will lower.

DD is in 4 clubs at USAFA plus aviation ground school (not an aviation club). One of her clubs is Marathon. I think she runs nearly every day. Teammates self-select and (on weekdays) run in small groups based on ability. On the weekends they run as a larger group and go out to eat after their run. She loves it. They compete in regional races several times each year (mostly 5k & 10k). They also travel further distances for half marathons and marathons. The team raced a half marathon against Army, Navy, and Coast Guard last month in Dahlgren, VA and they took first place!

I think the other clubs meet much less frequently and are not much of an imposition on her time. I am sure some ECs (like D&B) require a lot of time, while others are more laid back. Marathon requires a lot of (practice) time but you control who you run with, when you run, and how far you run. She has been able to handle all 4 clubs while staying on top of her academics and military requirements.

Cadets can drop clubs if they wish.