Induction Day Tips

I've covered this several times on my blog and in a podcast, but I know better than to put links here! :)

Good advice here. For both Plebes and Parents - hang in there. Thousands and thousands of people have survived Plebe Summer.
 
Ah, one more, triggered by a photo I saw on Facebook. Don’t feel the need to wear the T-shirt that extols your high-school athletic prowess. The one that says, “Section Champions” or “State Qualifier” or “Elite Travel Program.” A cool achievement, to be sure, but nothing special at an SA. And don’t wear the Summer Seminar T-shirt from the prior year either. Keep it simple, keep it humble, keep it real.
 
We were advised at our welcome aboard picnic for P2B to not wear Navy or USNA shirts on i day because P2B do not yet rate them and they will get “wrecked”.
 
Honestly they will be in that shirt for about 1 hour inside Alumni Hall. They are in full uniform before they depart there. They haven’t sworn in there. They won’t be dropped. They are handled very sternly but Plebe Summer hasn’t started just yet. They actually are escorted through Alumni by mostly new Ensigns and 2ndLts. They really don’t see many detailers until they get off the bus.
 
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A lot of good advice here. I’ll add just a bit based on my experience last year:

First, relax while you still can. Like Hoops said, you’re a civilian until you take the Oath of Office. The training doesn’t officially start until after dinner when your company commander recites a fiery, scripted monologue going over their expectations. At that point you’ll start getting yelled at and PT’ed. Prior to that the focus is all on getting you processed in, so try not to stress out too much during the day.

For the subsequent 49 days, the things that immediately come to mind are 1. Do your best at every training evolution, 2. Look out for your classmates, and 3. Don’t take it too seriously—Odds are your detailers won’t be. What I mean by this is don’t feel bad about yourself if you start struggling with rates, PT, etc. The reality is your company is going to get punished about the same amount no matter what you do. And after that 50th day, none of it matters anymore. Plebe Summer is a pass/fail test of endurance. Again don’t slack because of that, just know that your failures aren’t the end of the world—they’re an inevitable and intended aspect of your indoctrination training. As long as you do what you’re told and put out, you should do just fine in the end.


Oh, and MidCakePa is right: Don’t wear Navy merchandise to I-Day. It’s just tacky.
 
MidCakePa said:
Great advice here. Will add just a few points:

Visit the Yard and get your Mid Store shopping done a couple days before I-Day. Avoid the crush the day before and certainly on I-Day. Being on the Yard a couple days before — and taking an official tour — is less stressful when you’re not surrounded by other nervous P2Bs and their families.

Hit DC or Baltimore the day before. Enjoy a relaxed day without much of a schedule. Just let it flow and enjoy without much expectation. Let your P2B be pensive if they want. And let them choose that last dinner.

Don’t try to do it all on I-Day. Certainly hit the picnic — good place to meet new people. Do the Supe’s briefing — you’ll beam with pride. But beyond that...I say, get off the Yard until Swearing In. The place is packed, it’s hot and humid. Go back to your place and rest. Or walk around DTA.

Stake out a post-Swearing In spot early. Figure out what will be shady at 6:30 pm. Throw down a blanket or set up chairs. Have cold drinks — clear liquid! — and a sandwich ready. Don’t ask a million questions. Your freshly sworn-in plebe will be grateful.
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Great advice. Although I will add that even though we had already “toured the yard”, we still did a free tour with one of the volunteer tour guides. In fact, they were all full (you do register to manage numbers) but we just added on to one (with permission). The tidbits of perspective and information the guides have were really interesting (ie: about the very first army navy football game). Stuff you don’t read on a plaque. Our guide was fantastic. Old guy with a mustache. They know their stuff!!

Also, be sure and get the countdown timer from the parent association tent. Don’t know where that’s located, but we missed it. Had to get one parents weekend in Dahlgren during the exhibits they have set up regarding majors. We wished we would have had one before. I use it every time he is coming home.

Oops...more parent stuff. It happens!
 
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I don't think that you should concern yourself with anything. All you need to do is show up. My DS said that I-Day and Plebe Summer was fun.
The only negative I heard from him was that he couldn't hit the weight room and they didn't eat as much as he would have liked, so he lost about 7 pounds.

There's a first-World problem that I wish I had. ;)
 
I-day parent tips from a Class of 2022 Parent:
- IMO - There is some value to going to the parents lunch on Hospital Point. While the food may not be great, everyone there is in the same boat as a Plebe Parent. Also, there is some good information share in the vendor booths.
- Have a meeting place after swearing in that isn't the "assigned place" where everyone is meeting. Pick a certain tree or area in Stribling Walk. This will save valuable minutes.
- Have your P2B's favorite sandwich available after the swearing in with ample water/gator aid. It is possible/likely they may not have eaten all day. The Big Cheese outside Gate 1 is an easy option to get the sandwich.
- Set up in a shady area for your time after swearing in. Have a chair or blanket for your P2B to sit on and a towel to cover him/her while they eat the sandwich. Also have a stain stick available for an accident.
- Enjoy every precious minute. Plebe summer/year will go by fast as a parent. Not so much for your DD/DS.
- Be thankful for your blessings. If you have a P2B - you have many!
 
Hard to add much to the great advice CAPT MJ started with , but want to emphasize one point - it may be too late now, but GET IN SHAPE.
Plebe Summer is two games --mental and physical; if you are in good shape, the physical game gets easier , and that lightens the load in the mental game. Also, as '85 said, you and your follow Plebes are a team. Nobody gets through Plebe Summer alone, each of your Companymates and Roomates have strengths and weaknesses, and they key is learning how to take advantage of that to build a team that is better than the sum of the parts. (Not coincidentally, that same theory applies in the Fleet as well !). Finally, I think it was 'Hoops that said it above ...Positive Mental Attitude ... there are times that you simply have to embrace the suck ! There will be good times and bad times, but I can tell you... 38 years later you will remember the good times a lot more than the bad !

ders_dad said:
We were advised at our welcome aboard picnic for P2B to not wear Navy or USNA shirts on i day because P2B do not yet rate them and they will get “wrecked”.
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> I don't think anyone really cares about wearing a Navy shirt--anybody can go to the Visitors Center or any shop downtown and buy a Navy tshirt, That said, I would avoid a West Point tshirt :) ! (Funny story, one of my classmates kids went to USAFA a couple years ago, and we had a pool going to see how much money it would take to get him to wear a Navy '85 tshirt to their I Day. I don't recall if he did or not, but do recall seeing pictures of him reporting with a pretty serious Mullet.),

Final advice, most of the Class is very competitive, and used to being the Big Man (Woman) on Campus ( i.e. center of attention) in High School. The natural inclination is to be bold, brash and try to lead the pack from beginning. That's great, we want leaders and those willing to take risks, and there will be plenty of opportunities to lead and draw attention to yourself throughout your time at USNA. However, the first few days of Plebe Summer are not the time to charge ahead or draw unnecessary attention to yourself, particularly if this is all new to you. If there is something that you are good at ....by all means, help your classmates , quietly and without being a know it all. If I were to look back at Plebe Summer (and I really don't remember many details anymore), I really don't think that those who ended up doing best at USNA were the ones leading the charge during Plebe Summer .

Good luck to '23. I think I said it last year .....but I'd love to be doing it all over again with you (with an 18 year old body and the wisdom of 38 years of water under the bridge !)
 
Great advice, @Old Navy BGO.

I told my son to "be content to be in the middle for a while". The middle is good.
 
My S who was a plebe in 2010 always said that Plebe Summer was like a really weird summer camp with really strange rules, but if you follow the rules and do what the detailers tell you to do you will get along just fine. If you try to fight it, you will have trouble. Don't ask why, just do.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
If there is something that you are good at ....by all means, help your classmates , quietly and without being a know it all.
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This! The best way to show your new shipmates — and the detailers — that you’re really good at something is to not “win” that particular activity but to look behind you and help those who are struggling. That, not being first across the line, is true leadership.
 
THParent said:
The only negative I heard from him was that he couldn't hit the weight room and they didn't eat as much as he would have liked, so he lost about 7 pounds.
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Detailers weighed in the Plebes once a week just to make sure we weren't losing too much weight. About midway through Plebe Summer my Squad Leader asked why I had lost 10 lbs, and I answered that I hadn't had a beer in a month -- he laughed. Different times !
 
Plebe summer, although arduous, goes by quickly. I can only relate my son’s experience. And he never mentioned bad days only good times . But I know there were tough ones, occasionally they come out in a conversation but not without a smile . He loved the discipline, he loved the physical trainings and the class room work . It’s a time to absorb and build bonds . My son is very close with his plebe company friends. He also built close relationships with a few firsties he respected and wanted as mentors . Honestly , he said the toughest time he had was the week after PPW when he had to actually pay attention to watch duties and class work . The real world started and the good times of plebe summer had passed.
 
All great advice.

Get up there a day or two early, do DC, have some nice meals, laugh, enjoy your time. Morning of, grab some breakfast, drive to the stadium, hop on the shuttle, drop off at Alumni Hall, quick good bye, they go inside. Do the free tour (They do a GREAT job of getting you as far away from Alumni Hall as possible!) Walk around check out the Plebes in their new starchy white works. Head into DTA, open an account with The Big Cheese, lunch at Hospital Point, hit the Mid Store, relax by the Severn, reapply sun screen. Get a Jimmy Johns sandwich for your plebe, find a great spot to watch the swearing in. At this point its around 6:30??? Find your Plebe, sit on a blanket, get pics, let them relax and eat (they may not - nerves will be jumping) ask about the day. Enjoy your time. Watch them march in, slam the doors, and then you're off! Back to Alumni Hall, grab a shuttle and get in your car. Next morning if you want back to the Academy get a glimpse and then leave! First letter arrives in about a week. First phone call in a couple weeks after that.

its the best worst time you'll ever have as a parent so enjoy it. USNA has been doing this for 150 years, they know what they're doing.

Show up for Plebe Parent Weekend! You'll love it.
 
whatever you do - try to avoid the temptation to stand behind the barricade behind Alumni Hall and wait for your new Plebe to exit with his/her fresh haircut, whiteworks and big seabag of gear. and then try not to follow him/her, or wait near the mid store, as they walk over to Bancroft and go up the stairs.

they will be fine without you for a few hours, and you'll see them after the swearing in :)

it's stressful and disorienting enough, the last thing they need is for Mom or Dad to be waving and taking pics as they walk by

you will have a much more enjoyable time going over to hospital point, or going out in town for lunch and a few drinks and making your way back to the yard in the late afternoon
 
A6E Dad said:
whatever you do - try to avoid the temptation to stand behind the barricade behind Alumni Hall and wait for your new Plebe to exit with his/her fresh haircut, whiteworks and big seabag of gear. and then try not to follow him/her, or wait near the mid store, as they walk over to Bancroft and go up the stairs.

they will be fine without you for a few hours, and you'll see them after the swearing in :)

it's stressful and disorienting enough, the last thing they need is for Mom or Dad to be waving and taking pics as they walk by

you will have a much more enjoyable time going over to hospital point, or going out in town for lunch and a few drinks and making your way back to the yard in the late afternoon
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After reading about Capt. MJ's cookie locker, dogs, multiple flavors of ice cream, and tankless water heater, I will be spending my time hanging out at her place (kidding of course).

Keep these tips coming. I am making mental notes of all of them.
 
ProudDad2022 said:
Keep these tips coming. I am making mental notes of all of them.
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It was just him and me...one last brief moment to say something; Remember who you are and where you came from...make the most of your
opportunities.

Four years later as he commissioned last month, it was him and me again: You didn't loose sight of who you were or where you came from...you made the most of your opportunities, and then some by a long shot.

It all came full circle.
 
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