Good Luck to Class of 2011

I still find it strange to see my classmates at firsties. I know all the 1/C detailers in those pics. Time has really flown by - I remember my I-Day three years ago and now I'm going to be a detailer in a few weeks. Counting down the days until second set!
 
MOM2LOLA2011 and Spidermom are other moms and are hoots to hang out with!
 
Something just doesn't seem right about a Senior Chief bracing up a mid. Nothing to do with rank, but the respect which a Senior Chief has earned over the years. Kinda like seeing the Supt or Commandant doing the same.

Yeah..... Just looks all wrong. Then again, the picture may be misleading. He might just be speaking to him to see how the poor kid is doing, which would better fit my expectations.

The best idea USNA ever had was to send senior enlisted to the Academy. Absolutely brilliant. Damned shame they didn't do it decades earlier.
 
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She should know this drill already. She's a NAPSter.

On a separate note, it's interesting that they got issued their watchbelts so soon. We didn't get ours until two weeks later or so when we first drew weapons and bayonets for drill.



Plebe Gaylan Greenwalt gets his hair cut during Induction Day at the Naval Academy. Greenwalt is an Oklahoma native and attended the Naval Academy Prep School.

And he showed up with hair THAT long? Is he NUTS? :eek:

Wait a minute! WTH are the NAPSters doing there? Don't they report the previous day, and in uniform, like they did in years past? :confused:


ETA:

Ah! I-Day minus one. THAT'S more like it! (Still expected them to be in uniform, though. We showed up in our WOOL Service Dress Blues. Boy was THAT fun! :rolleyes: )
 
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She should know this drill already. She's a NAPSter.

Pretty sure they don't do dixie cups (yep, JAM, we have uniforms named after regions of the US also. Please, let's not get into the parts of the dress cover at WP) and white works at NAPS.

On a separate note, it's interesting that they got issued their watchbelts so soon. We didn't get ours until two weeks later or so when we first drew weapons and bayonets for drill.

Probably something to do with the canteen so the plebes can drink powdered drinks sent by care package from their canteens rather than have to drink water.

And he showed up with hair THAT long? Is he NUTS?

NAPSters do show up in uniform, I am pretty sure, so hopefullly this is a case of mistaken identity.

Wait a minute! WTH are the NAPSters doing there? Don't they report the previous day, and in uniform, like they did in years past?

They do.
 
Any 9th Platooners. Our class sponsors 9th Company and we do various things with them throughout the year such as dining outs. We also have a great tailgater with them for every home football game. Talking to mids in these environments is a great way to keep one's hand on the pulse of the Academy.

OBTW, I think we have kind of adopted 8th and they have been coming to the tailgaters for the last couple of years.
 
You're both right re: NAPSters' uniforms on I-Day. They had to check in early Monday (civvies OK), then report in by 2200 in dress blues -- the wool ones. No Dixies @ NAPS these days.

Son was pretty calm (although he did reveal uncharacteristic excitement in the Mid store on Monday when he saw his name on the "Class of 2011" shirt).
Husband and I held up pretty well during the goodbyes, during the parents' activities on Wed., even when the plebes marched out in their whites. Then the F18s roared over Bancroft-- I swear less than 500 feet off the deck -- perfectly splitting the assembled crowd and tracing the Stribling path.

Thank God for a beautiful mother named Nancy who shoved Kleenex at me and at my husband -- I was too overcome to remember that I'd brought a ton. For me, it was "Welcome to the Navy, kids." For my husband, who flew USMC fighters during Vietnam, it was a reminder of lost friends and the very real dangers ahead.

When we were able to reconnect after the oath, son was still calm and collected. His closest NAPS friends had agreed on a mtg place for that time, and they loved seeing each other and posing in whites for a picture that mirrored a graduation shot from a few weeks ago.

Their stories included a female plebe who allegedly shaved her head before arrival, another who 'came on a dare' and 'hadn't decided' if she'd stay, and a cluster of kids who broke down in the morning and were allegedly sequestered someplace while cadre tried to figure out if they could be/should be salvaged (remember: I am getting these stories from 19 - 21 yr olds -- making no allegations re: veracity).

But oh, that heat. That humidity. I can't conceive of PT in those conditions.

Since son spent last year @ NAPS, I thought I'd be as calm as he seemed to be, but I can't imagine how I'm going to last 'til PPW.
 
My son (who would dearly love to be in the class of 2012) attended at cross country camp at USNA from 6/23 to 6/26. The weather was cool for MD in June. On 6/26 the heat came in like a lion and we saw a big blue bus dropping plebes off! My heart goes out to these kids and I wish them luck and stamina. We attended an orientation at Leahy Hall. The officer mentioned that they do lose plebes during the summer! I'm surprised considering how extremely hard it is to get in to USNA!
But he mentioned that the heat and stress takes its toll on quite a few, I think he said about 100! And they don't replace them from the waiting list.

Stay strong plebes!
 
On I Day, we talked to a guy who works at the mid store. He was very disgruntled that the day before a Napster had up and quit after being issued all his gear (apparently the store worker had to reshelve it all!). He said the Napster just stopped, said "I don't want to do this", and left. Hard to fathom a Napster doing that. :confused:
 
I did see a picture of a plebe with their head shaved, and please forgive me, thought it was a girl.
 
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