Your plebe summer experience is really company dependant. Some companies did not have as hard of a plebe summer experience while others were just terrible.
Come into plebe summer knowing: The eleven general orders of a sentry, the mission of USNA, and the chain of command from President Obama to the Chief of Naval Operations. You don’t really need to buy reef points and study it beforehand. You will have more than enough time. And don’t bring an EXTRA copy of reef points. Someone got crap for doing that in my company.
My company was in the middle of that continuum and I thought there were alot of enjoyable plebe summer experiences as well as a few not so pleasant.
Well, let's start with the basics, IDAY is basically just a blur, you get shuffled around in a line, shoved a bunch of clothes, poked at with needles, and yelled at for a little bit.
Once you get to your room, START UNPACKING IMMEDIATELY. They will not give you adequate time and there are a lot of boxes and you need to check whether or not you have everything. And being unorganized the first week of plebe summer is not the best thing to do. TRY to figure out how to make your bed first though. Find a napster or youtube it because that is probably the easiest thing to get out of the way and the worst thing if you mess up. They really only come into your rooms (well at least my company) and mess with it or yell at you for it if your racks (beds) look like they were crappily made.
Showers- You will probably have 2 -5 minute showers. Get used to reading 3 articles fast and get used to learning fast.
Make sure you’re good at running. Or at least decent at it. A lot of people get really angry at those who “fall out” of regimental runs (which go up to 4.5 miles by the end of the summer). On the last day of plebe summer you’ll be running a 10k, which is 6 miles, at your own pace. You have to finish within an hour though. I recommend running a LOT before coming. You’ll reduce injuries and have an overall easier time during the summer.
Every morning you wake up and they give you 5 minutes to brush your teeth, shave (guys), get shoes and socks on, and fill your canteens. You will most likely have to grab your sheets and stuff them in your pillowcases. Tip: Roll your sheets from the foot to the head, that way when you pull your sheets out of your pillow case you can just roll them out and then make your tucks. ALSO rack races are a TEAM effort. Don’t ever let them catch you making a rack by yourself! On that note, DON’T EVER FALL OUT ON A BULKHEAD BY YOURSELF. There is nothing they stress more than teamwork. If you do that, they will call you individuals and single you out for special treatment.
Then comes PEP. PEP is about an hr and a half long. Make sure you hydrate well the night before. Be ready to work. PEP is hard.
We had various classes: Officer Development Class, Boxing, Wrestling, Swimming and a LOT of lectures and briefs. Do your best not to fall asleep. It’s hard but you can do it. We had drill almost every evening, and they take platoon drill really seriously.
Remember that plebe summer is a CONTEST. They will always be ranking you. Individually, as a platoon, and as a company. Make sure at EVERY evolution you put out to the FULLEST. If you do AMAZING at everything, you could win color company. Different graded evolutions were: Obstacle Course, Endurance Course, Marksmanship, Drill, Room and Uniform Inspections, Boxing, Wrestling, Soccer, and track smokers.
Bring your A game to EVERYTHING you do.
BE INTENSE and more importantly HAUL ASS. You will be tired but as long as you are FAST, LOUD, and you PUT OUT, you should get through just fine. Don’t get lazy!
Anymore questions, Just PM me or write back.
Sorry it took so long to reply.
And thank you