Graduating from Advanced Camp

Bluepit

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2017
Messages
19
Hi - my son will be going to advanced camp (Army) about this time next year. Is it common or expected for parents to attend this ‘graduation’ or there is no such thing?
Thanks
 
Hi - my son will be going to advanced camp (Army) about this time next year. Is it common or expected for parents to attend this ‘graduation’ or there is no such thing?
Thanks

I’m at Fort Knox now for the 1st Regiment graduation. It is a 2 day affair - Family Day and Graduation Day. We are not the only family here. Not everyone has family attending. At first my son didn’t want us attending, then he was glad we were. We were able to spend the rest of Family Day with him, returning him to base by 2100.
 
Try to go, if feasible. We went last year and it was worth it. Months later our son made a comment about how happy he was when we showed up at Ft. Knox. We did not do that much- two dinners, a movie, and a visit to the Louisville Slugger factory, but it made a difference for him.
 
We would highly recommend attending. Our son was very happy to see us and eat off post
 
It made a difference for our DS to be there. Louisville was also interesting to visit, especially the bourbon tours.

I'd pass on the dinner at Ft Knox though. Take him or her off post for a meal instead.
 
Nothing like being there, but if you can't make it to graduation or you just want to see what it's like, Cadet Command live streams the advanced camp graduations on their Facebook page.
 
Things have sure changed.

My older son went to LDAC when it was at Ft. Lewis in Tacoma WA, we live a little over an hour north so we attended his graduation. At that time they did not have a Family Day the day before, you arrived about an hour before the graduation, sat in the stands and when it was over you picked up your cadet and left if you had made those arrangements beforehand. Our son was leaving the next day for CTLT so he spent the night at home and then we took him to the airport.

Our youngest was part of the first LDAC at Ft. Knox, they didn't have any Family day either, just the graduation ceremony, not worth the trip from Seattle. Back then it seemed that for the most part only families that lived close enough to drive made the trip. The majority of the families were there for their cadets that were going through the end of camp Commissioning ceremony.

I remember asking their Master Sergeant about going, his response was "Why, they're just graduating LDAC, they have another year before they commission" He was a pretty tough dude.

Sounds like they make a bigger event out of graduation now, and they have a lot more for the families to do, plus having a day to spend with your cadet. We didn't see him until we saw him march by, there was no contact with them before graduation. I will say it's great for families that have no real connection to the Army to be able to see their DS/DD in a true Army setting and get an idea of what that's like and what they may be doing for the first time.
 
Thank you for your responses. We live overseas so it is a big decision for us from a time and financial perspective. Maybe just one of us will go as we still have another child at home. I do like the facebook feed tip and as we are not a military family (although I guess that starts now!) I would love to see the environment that my son is committing to
Thank you for your feedback
 
Things have sure changed.

My older son went to LDAC when it was at Ft. Lewis in Tacoma WA, we live a little over an hour north so we attended his graduation. At that time they did not have a Family Day the day before, you arrived about an hour before the graduation, sat in the stands and when it was over you picked up your cadet and left if you had made those arrangements beforehand. Our son was leaving the next day for CTLT so he spent the night at home and then we took him to the airport.

Our youngest was part of the first LDAC at Ft. Knox, they didn't have any Family day either, just the graduation ceremony, not worth the trip from Seattle. Back then it seemed that for the most part only families that lived close enough to drive made the trip. The majority of the families were there for their cadets that were going through the end of camp Commissioning ceremony.

I remember asking their Master Sergeant about going, his response was "Why, they're just graduating LDAC, they have another year before they commission" He was a pretty tough dude.

Sounds like they make a bigger event out of graduation now, and they have a lot more for the families to do, plus having a day to spend with your cadet. We didn't see him until we saw him march by, there was no contact with them before graduation. I will say it's great for families that have no real connection to the Army to be able to see their DS/DD in a true Army setting and get an idea of what that's like and what they may be doing for the first time.

Yes, things sure have changed. Back in "my day" when I "graduated" from Advanced Camp at Ft. Riley, KS, no parents came. I couldn't even imagine any parents wanting to come, as it was quite uneventful. We probably would have been embarrassed if any had shown up, too! But nowadays, when it comes to the Academies and ROTC, parents are much more involved then they used to be. I would say that if your cadet wants you there, and it is not a huge financial burden, then go. If not, it's not the end of the world.
 
Hi - my son will be going to advanced camp (Army) about this time next year. Is it common or expected for parents to attend this ‘graduation’ or there is no such thing?
Thanks

I attended advanced camp last year.
My girlfriend came because she happened to be seeing her grandparents relatively close.

Is it a perk? Yeah sure.
As a cadet though, I would NEVER deem it worth paying for a flight, never mind an international flight. Save it for commissioning/graduation.

The reason they make such a big deal of this now is because many ROTCs only stress advanced camp. Many say it will be the hardest thing they do so far in their life. I promise you if they push themselves within the Army in the future or in any other thing, advanced camp graduation will become trivial.
 
I don't know how common, or if expected, but we went last year for Basic even though my daughter said it wasn't necessary and that we should save our money and attend when she graduated Advanced.
She was glad to see us--she wanted to eat fried chicken off base, then get an ice cream for Dairy Queen. :) There were a lot of parents/family members, so I was glad we went. Most of the parents we talked to were within driving distance.

We'll be going again this year when she graduates Advanced camp (2 weeks!). It is an expense (flying from California) but I figure what the heck.
 
Back
Top