Flag Day is usually on a Saturday about 3 weeks before the end of Swab Summer. The guess is that it will be 27 July 2024, although that date is not set in stone yet. There is a ceremony at the Mystic Seaport Museum where the swabs gets their class flag presented to them. The swabs will march in by company, and parents and family can be there to watch.I keep reading about Flag Day. Could someone elaborate on that? Is it a chance to see our cadet during Swab Summer?
Usually swabs are allowed to interact with parents within the confines of the Mystic Seaport before the ceremony from approximately 0830 – 0930 (ceremony usually scheduled to start at 1000). The swabs then usually receive off-base liberty (at or around 1330), to expire onboard CGA no later than 1730. All swabs usually must be back onboard CGA by 1730 and back in their company areas by 1800. (Times could change this year.)
Any swabs that do not have family there are usually given their phones back so they can call home if they want. Many parents will gladly include swabs who do not have family there. Parents might take the swabs out for a meal or ice cream or just let them have some down time in the hotel where they don't have to be "on". Some swabs might just take the time to chill on their own.
KEEP IN MIND: Swabs usually have a week on the tall ship Eagle during the last 3 weeks of the summer. Usually platoons Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie are on the first week which starts that same weekend. Depending on the schedule for Eagle, that might mean that those 3 platoons will NOT be at the Mystic Flag Ceremony. You might not know this for sure until much closer to the date. Your swab will get their platoon assignment before heading to swab summer, but the departure date for Eagle and which platoons are on the first week might not be confirmed until closer to the date.
Last summer, the swabs on Eagle for the first of those 3 weeks started in Bermuda. Since this was a foreign port, there were some issues as to who had passports and who had fingerprints completed. CGA had to change the platoons shortly before Flag Day in order to make sure everyone in Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie could actually go to Bermuda. This meant a last minute change of plans for many parents. Hopefully, this won't be an issue this summer.