Football days with your plebe

......will anyone ever answer my original question?
Sadly the reality is obvious...your whole house may be practicing your battle cry, but the parents and fans are long gone...
:laugh:
 
.....my son applied to ROTC, USAFA, USNA, and of course USMA, but WP was his dream school from the start. Before the deadline for ROTC, I encouraged him to think hard about it before he declined, and the same for USAFA. We visited USNA multiple times, as we did USMA. For him WP and the Army is the place to be.

I joke about USNA, as I love the rivalry, but each of these academies are incredible, and I would have glowed with pride if my son attended any of them. As it happens, my wife and I both shared my sons sentiment, and always hoped he would land at West Point, but we encouraged him to think hard about the pros and cons of all options. USNA has two services, and tons of options. That to me was its best selling point. I liked Annapolis too, but that was not a relevant factor. USNA does seem to be the most popular lately, but that isn't relevant either.

My sarcasm must not have been as transparent as I thought.
 
Maybe if you post over in the ask a Cow. TPIAD has been pretty responsive. He should be able to give good insight.
 
......will anyone ever answer my original question?
Has been a couple years since I had a cadet but your plebe should have walking privileges after the game and yes you would be able to spend time with them. Of course, this is all company dependent and assuming your cadet is in good standing. Lots of things seem to be changing lately in regards to free-time and privileges so hopefully someone with more current info will chime in. We attended many games when my grad was a plebe...often we tailgated and enjoyed spending time with cadet and friends after the game on post. September/October games have the best weather.
 
Mine graduated in 2015. Our experience was you could spend some time Saturday after the game. In many cases that was a bite to eat and a little time talking. Not too much time. Then we would get up and pick him up for breakfast Sunday morning. He would take walking privileges into town where there are a bunch of places to eat. Go EARLY. On football weekends it is packed by a little after 8am. Then we would take him to the PX so he didnt have to walk and we would be on the road home by noon. He had homework and duties to complete. Its not a ton of time but we all enjoyed it very much.
 
Thank you both for your insight. It gives me an idea. We were hoping to possibly be able to take him overnight, but any time will be valued.

We will likely be staying in Newburg. Would "walking privileges" include going to Newburg? That way if he needs to do any shopping we can do that and get a meal?
 
My DS is a 2019 Cadet. Since we live within a 4 hour drive so we have season tickets. Our DS typically had some sort of commitment before a game, they stand in the stands with the cadets but can get a few minutes to see you at half time. After the game we would typically get an hour or so with him eating then sleeping at our tailgate then off to study, sometimes he could get to our hotel to sleep but I think he would have been happier in the barracks because he wouldn't have to get out of bed to sign in and get back into bed. Plebes usually have walking privileges only and can only get out into Highland Falls with a very limited selection. We stayed in Highland Falls and would pick up our DS in the AM, he would typically sleep while his laundry got done. Great to see your cadet, but you won't see them as much as you would like..
 
My wife and I would like to attend a home football game, preferably early in the season, and be able to spend time that day with our plebe son. We would like to avoid the crowds of parents weekend, so would like to do it on a different game day. If we picked a game randomly, will we be able to spend any time with our son that Saturday? Or the following Sunday?

Just my 2 cents - I hate crowds, did not attend Parents Weekend my son's Plebe year (went to PPW instead), but went to the Army/Air Force game (not really a football fan either, and we also live in the Midwest so it's expensive to fly / too far to drive). The Army/AF game was in early November, the weather was great, we got a taste of a low-key rivalry (vs Army/Navy), and my then-Plebe was able to join us for a hockey game Friday night. I can't remember if he took pass after the football game, but we definitely had dinner together on Sat. I would encourage you to attend one of the home football games when there are football crowds, but not necessarily all-parent crowds like Parents Weekend.

With the new Comm and some different rules in place for leave/pass and weekends, no one can really tell you how much time you'll get with your DS. A lot depends on what weekend it is (A/C, A/D), what responsibilities your Plebe has, whether he puts in for pass in time/whether it gets approved, etc. A lot of these variables aren't known until the last minute.

Just last weekend my DS was able to fly across the country for his cousin's wedding (he was only on the ground for 36 hrs). He put in for the pass early enough, but with the new weekend leave/pass rules, his ETP (exception to policy) wasn't even approved until the day before (expensive airline tickets purchased 2 months in advance; he had to ferry/train/bus to the airport on a Friday afternoon with traffic). He ended up missing his flight because the bus was late, and that was the only flight that night. He ended up getting booked on another flight to a different airport an hour north of the original airport, but it worked out. What I'm trying to say is your DS will learn to be flexible and accept change, and as new WP parents you'll learn (quickly) that nothing is ever set in stone. Plans change, so just do what you can and enjoy what works out.
 
Thank you both for your insight. It gives me an idea. We were hoping to possibly be able to take him overnight, but any time will be valued. We will likely be staying in Newburg. Would "walking privileges" include going to Newburg? That way if he needs to do any shopping we can do that and get a meal?

He would have to put in for a pass for an overnight. Walking privileges are generally as far as Highland Falls -- Newburgh is ~30+ min drive away. Here's a map of walking privileges. http://www.usma.edu/parents/siteassets/map of walking privilege area.pdf

My DS was part of the Military Tattoo (Pipes & Drums) a few weeks ago. I was there from Fri-Mon. I (and he) had hoped he could get a pass and stay with me Fri & Sat night, but as I said above, the new Comm has changed some of the rules for pass/leave. As a Yuk in good standing with no passes taken all year, he had walking privileges only on Friday night for dinner. (His Plebe year, he was able to leave Friday after class/duties and return by 7 pm recall on Sunday.) On that particular Saturday, cadets couldn't leave until 11:30 am. He had practice/duties until 11:30, was ready to leave by noon, and we hightailed it to the train station to catch the only train that hour that would get us to Grand Central Terminal in time to walk the 8 blocks to the 2 pm Broadway show I had purchased tickets to. The train was a couple of minutes late, which we barely made, and we made it to the theatre just as the show was starting. Not something I want to do again, at least not on purpose. Because many things were out of our control, we kept talking about Plan B, which luckily we didn't have to use (miss 1/2 the show, eat the cost of 2 Broadway tickets, etc). In the end it all worked out...and an hour on a train is a good place to get your cadet to talk.
 
For Parents weekend would he be allowed to go beyond Walking Privileges? Do they loosen the rules that weekend?
 
The message that I am getting from reading many posts here is that we can not expect what was done before will continue. The new Comm has brought many changes and it seems that change will continue. This is obviously brutal for parents who live far enough away that advance planning is required but the unofficial army motto is Semper Gumby and we must remember this.

The other factor is that cadets can get priviledges revoked. So the cadet may have permission to leave and then that permission is taken away. I've read of this happening on the Mom's FB page. It is esp painful when costly plane tickets are involved.
 
For Parents weekend would he be allowed to go beyond Walking Privileges? Do they loosen the rules that weekend?

Here's some info from last year's Parent/Family weekend -- http://www.usma.edu/parents/SiteAssets/Parents'Weekend FAQ2015.pdf . Note this year's Family Weekend is Friday, October 21 - Sunday, October 23 and does not fall on the Columbus Day 3-day weekend. I know that was convenient for the last two years, but the parent liaison said they had to go with dates that worked for WP this year.
 
It’s easily googable if that’s a word. Home games are amazing. I would be a total stalker if I was 4 hours out. I am sure my 2021 is thankful. Ha!
 
OK
Thank you both for your insight. It gives me an idea. We were hoping to possibly be able to take him overnight, but any time will be valued.

We will likely be staying in Newburg. Would "walking privileges" include going to Newburg? That way if he needs to do any shopping we can do that and get a meal?
I went to a home game this past Fall. Spent time with my Plebe. Walking privileges include Highland Falls and Fort Montgomery etc. I believe the Cadet is restricted to within 7 miles of West Point unless he/she has a pass. Should you come on a three day weekend and the schedule works that is very possible for your plans. Get to USMA early enough to park. 0730 for a 1000 game. There is plenty of parking but it does get crowded. You are subject to search coming into the gate and the game itself. As your time draws nearer, the experienced dads will reach out with advice. Make sure you join the West Point Dads group on FB (Must Do). Great bunch. Very helpful. Shuttle busses will take you from parking, to the pre-game parade review, and back to Michie Stadium. If you park at Buffalo Soldier Field (In front of the Thayer) the walk from Michie back to BSF is easy and downhill, maybe half a mile. Parking is pretty easy but again, get there early. There are many places nearby to take your Cadet. People will willingly share resources and experiences to help the new parents along.

Welcome!
 
......will anyone ever answer my original question?
This is a plebe Mom. I am not into football and know nothing about football. But I tried my best to attend one game last October which happened to fall onto the Family Weekend. If you asked for my advice, that is the weekend you should attend. From what I know, during the football home game seasons plebes are not allowed to go out on Friday night. It is academic night. Early Saturday morning there would be parade and WP skydiving team for show around 8am. Parade will be represented by assigned Regiment(s) for regular home game but all Regiments will parade on the Family Weekend. The stadium will be opened around 10a and there are many activities and pregame tailgating set up by parents at various places and in parking lots. Your plebes will have to sit with their companies. During the break your plebes May attempt to sit with you then they have to go back to their seats. After the game, they will return to their barracks to sign out to leave the post with you given that they have applied and received approval for weekend pass days before. You will have your plebes until the Sunday evening before evening formation. We usually dropped him off at 5pm.
The reason why I chose Family Weekend because I am from Washington State, I have to coordinate work and family for travel. The advantage of that weekend is full of activities for parents as early as Thursday evening. Friday you can attend the class with your plebes, talking to their professors, Contitutional island tour, visiting their barracks in the afternoon, and having dinner at the Mesh Hall, library...you can’t do that at any other home games. The usual home games are pretty empty but on that weekend it will be almost full. Don’t let the crowd discourage you. So far I have stayed at the Thayer for the A-days in their executive suite that I paid about $2k that was full of mold and no apology from the hotel. I vow not to return but I don’t mind to have their Sunday brunch at all. I don’t like to stay at Homewood Suite in Newburgh because it brought back the nightmares during the RDay. We were stuck in the elevator on the way out to WP, my plebe had to pry it open...there are many hotels south of WP in Nanuet and Nyack areas with reasonable rates, and less than 30 minutes to WP. I have not explored the Peekskill or Fishkill areas yet. I hope that will help.
 
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