Phone Calls?

Messages regarding phone calls

elan_xu said:
By now, the first official phone call period has passed?
I wonder why I have not seen many posts of people receiving calls?
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The calls are being chronicled all over the other parent resources (e.g., the Facebook West Point Parents, the West Point Moms and the USMA 2014 Yahoo sites). The postings have ranged from the very emotional "My kid is very unhappy and wants to quit." :eek: to "It's hard work but my NC is having the time of their life." :thumb: and everything in between.

While this is a very "free wheeling" blog that provides some very useful information regarding pre-entry issues (and some really mundane topics), it really doesn't focus well on after R-Day topics. I can't imagine a worried parent posting here an emotional plea for advice about what to do about their NC wanting come home because they get yelled at which is in essence letting the Cadres decide their future. Then, having some Class of 2015/16 hopeful telling them they should be happy they chose to come home. (Of course, I'm a tough ol' lady and think someone missed the boat on preparing that young person properly or in the selection of the candidate.)

Your thoughts? Let 'er rip on me!
 
Excellent post Grannie! We have a lot of activity on facebook these days! Nice thing is, we "friend" each other and then can help through the rough spots!
 
Grannie said:
The calls are being chronicled all over the other parent resources (e.g., the Facebook West Point Parents, the West Point Moms and the USMA 2014 Yahoo sites). The postings have ranged from the very emotional "My kid is very unhappy and wants to quit." :eek: to "It's hard work but my NC is having the time of their life." :thumb: and everything in between.

While this is a very "free wheeling" blog that provides some very useful information regarding pre-entry issues (and some really mundane topics), it really doesn't focus well on after R-Day topics. I can't imagine a worried parent posting here an emotional plea for advice about what to do about their NC wanting come home because they get yelled at which is in essence letting the Cadres decide their future. Then, having some Class of 2015/16 hopeful telling them they should be happy they chose to come home. (Of course, I'm a tough ol' lady and think someone missed the boat on preparing that young person properly or in the selection of the candidate.)

Your thoughts? Let 'er rip on me!
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You're a cantankerous broad. I like your style!

You have hit on more than one of my issues with SAF.

1. I agree completely about the number of posts here that are concerned with just getting in to USMA. More than once in the short time I've been here I've considered walking away because of the utterly shallow and repetitive posts. Look at the forum now...any serious thread about the implications of WP and life in the Army gets ten looks and drifts to the bottom, to be replaced by "How do I improve my SAT" and "How do I look for admissions?" The USMA forum is a great resource for people who want to know about applying. But unless we make an effort to address real subjects of lasting consequence (majors, Branches, R-Day, Buckner, Army life, etc.) then that is all the forum will ever be.

2. Candidates. You hit the nail on the head. The mock expertise I see from 17-year-old applicants on all manner of USMA and Army subjects is troubling. New kids come on here and have their candidate profiles "evaluated" by a bunch of their peers, none of whom have been admitted themselves. Not much of a resource! That's not to say I think we should have to suffer the prattling of so-called experts the other academy sub-forums do, as hearing the gospel-according-to-the-spouse and the gospel-of-the-parent-who-isn't-a-grad-and-never-served over and over ad nauseum is a detriment in its own right. We have the people here. What we need is to direct more positive and deeper-reaching discussion.

To your point about candidates not being mentally ready, see my post about Paul (if it hasn't been shoved off by questions about which SAT book is best).
 
I did read your post about your friend, Paul, was touched, but the reality of it all was driven home. . .face to face. This is a truth and isn't a video game these young men and women have decided to play. Real people with real loved ones die here. I have flashes regarding the peril of this career choice for our boy. . .What did I let him get himself into?

I think herein lies my feelings about the truth that should be an over-lying theme in this blog and not a bunch of "woosy", molly-coddling answers. The applicants really have to do their research and think about what they are doing long-term rather than what to do with the envelopes sent to them. I'll share with how shallow our kid made me feel when he was making his decision. At our family meeting where we discussed what his final decision was to be, my husband and I discussed how we had thought about the college financial advantages, the opportunity to play as a D-1 athlete, etc. Finally, we asked him what he was thinking about over the past days. "Well, I've been thinking about what kind of man I want to be. Everything I learn and do these next few years at West Point and beyond will change me for the rest of my life." This is a direct quote from a kid that was 16 1/2 at the time.

Well, that kinda ended the discussion and he's at Beast right now. Guess what the tone of his phone call was on Friday. While talking about the buddies he's made and the hard work of tasks totally foreign to him, the bottom line conclussion we had when we hung up was that he was having the time of his life!
 
Grannie said:
I did read your post about your friend, Paul, was touched, but the reality of it all was driven home. . .face to face. This is a truth and isn't a video game these young men and women have decided to play. Real people with real loved ones die here. I have flashes regarding the peril of this career choice for our boy. . .What did I let him get himself into?

I think herein lies my feelings about the truth that should be an over-lying theme in this blog and not a bunch of "woosy", molly-coddling answers. The applicants really have to do their research and think about what they are doing long-term rather than what to do with the envelopes sent to them. I'll share with how shallow our kid made me feel when he was making his decision. At our family meeting where we discussed what his final decision was to be, my husband and I discussed how we had thought about the college financial advantages, the opportunity to play as a D-1 athlete, etc. Finally, we asked him what he was thinking about over the past days. "Well, I've been thinking about what kind of man I want to be. Everything I learn and do these next few years at West Point and beyond will change me for the rest of my life." This is a direct quote from a kid that was 16 1/2 at the time.

Well, that kinda ended the discussion and he's at Beast right now. Guess what the tone of his phone call was on Friday. While talking about the buddies he's made and the hard work of tasks totally foreign to him, the bottom line conclussion we had when we hung up was that he was having the time of his life!
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That is great to hear. Beast is step one of what is, at a minimum, a nine-year formative experience that will shape his life in immeasurable and innumerable ways.

And I agree about the Molly-coddling answers. It seems to be part of the culture here. Too much talk about fluffy extraneous stuff. But since this is the Army forum and not the Air Force, we can be hard on our candidates :thumb:

Maximus knows what I mean :biggrin:
 
scoutpilot said:
You're a cantankerous broad. I like your style!

You have hit on more than one of my issues with SAF.

1. I agree completely about the number of posts here that are concerned with just getting in to USMA. More than once in the short time I've been here I've considered walking away because of the utterly shallow and repetitive posts. Look at the forum now...any serious thread about the implications of WP and life in the Army gets ten looks and drifts to the bottom, to be replaced by "How do I improve my SAT" and "How do I look for admissions?" The USMA forum is a great resource for people who want to know about applying. But unless we make an effort to address real subjects of lasting consequence (majors, Branches, R-Day, Buckner, Army life, etc.) then that is all the forum will ever be.

2. Candidates. You hit the nail on the head. The mock expertise I see from 17-year-old applicants on all manner of USMA and Army subjects is troubling. New kids come on here and have their candidate profiles "evaluated" by a bunch of their peers, none of whom have been admitted themselves. Not much of a resource! That's not to say I think we should have to suffer the prattling of so-called experts the other academy sub-forums do, as hearing the gospel-according-to-the-spouse and the gospel-of-the-parent-who-isn't-a-grad-and-never-served over and over ad nauseum is a detriment in its own right. We have the people here. What we need is to direct more positive and deeper-reaching discussion.

To your point about candidates not being mentally ready, see my post about Paul (if it hasn't been shoved off by questions about which SAT book is best).
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SP, since you've mentioned it, I do have a question pertaining to the first phone call home and what's actually going on at Beast.

1) Are New Cadets typically standing next to Cadre when calling home, I noticed DS had his serious voice on.

2) Are they at Buckner if they are calling home from Land Nav?

3) Do they change Company's after Beast?

I think I just might start a new topic with more questions like this as I drift away from the phone call thread.
 
Maximus said:
SP, since you've mentioned it, I do have a question pertaining to the first phone call home and what's actually going on at Beast.

1) Are New Cadets typically standing next to Cadre when calling home, I noticed DS had his serious voice on.

2) Are they at Buckner if they are calling home from Land Nav?

3) Do they change Company's after Beast?

I think I just might start a new topic with more questions like this as I drift away from the phone call thread.
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1. sometimes. Sometimes cadre leaves the room, sometimes they are nearby...depends.
2. IDK
3. Yes. This is just their beast company. After marchback, they will move to their academic year company. They will tell you what it is so you can find them during the Aday parade.
 
Maximus said:
SP, since you've mentioned it, I do have a question pertaining to the first phone call home and what's actually going on at Beast.

1) Are New Cadets typically standing next to Cadre when calling home, I noticed DS had his serious voice on.

2) Are they at Buckner if they are calling home from Land Nav?

3) Do they change Company's after Beast?

I think I just might start a new topic with more questions like this as I drift away from the phone call thread.
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The cadre is within earshot. I used to stand about 10 ft away. He's standing at parade rest talking, so he's doing what he should be. I'm sure you remember from boot...it's hard to turn that voice off when it's been a 24/7 thing.

He may have been calling from Buckner. Not sure. We didn't do land nav in beast, but the whole beast/Buckner setup was a bit different then.

Yes, he will change companies. The CBT regiment is disbanded after CBT. Someone who knows more can fill in, but when I was cadre all the kids from A and B companies went to 1st Reg, with platoon cohorts generally filling a company, e.g. 1st platoon A co went to A-1, 2nd platoon A Co went to B-1, 3rd platoon to C-1, etc. C and D companies from CBT RGT went to 2nd Regiment companies, E & F went to 3rd Regiment, etc. Minor adjustments are made for demographics, but that was the breakdown.
 
Phone calls -
Parents need to take their New Cadet's whining, complaining and homesickness with a grain of salt. No matter how much the NC whines or tells their parent they want to come home - parents should not worry unless they get a personal call from a TAC.

New Cadets are teenagers. Teenagers are two-year olds on hormones. Remember when your two year old screamed and cried when you left them and then they played happily after you were gone. Same deal here. Separation anxiety is real but generally not fatal - unless the parent plays into it and starts a cryin' too.

Parents need to enable their kids to become adults, not delay normal maturation. Remember everything your NC complains about will be worn as a badge of honor. Their feet are ripped up? In August they will brag about how they marched xx miles with ripped up feet.
They got dropped because of mail? In August they will brag about their APFT and how they survived their cadre.
 
scoutpilot said:
The cadre is within earshot. I used to stand about 10 ft away. He's standing at parade rest talking, so he's doing what he should be. I'm sure you remember from boot...it's hard to turn that voice off when it's been a 24/7 thing.

He may have been calling from Buckner. Not sure. We didn't do land nav in beast, but the whole beast/Buckner setup was a bit different then.

Yes, he will change companies. The CBT regiment is disbanded after CBT. Someone who knows more can fill in, but when I was cadre all the kids from A and B companies went to 1st Reg, with platoon cohorts generally filling a company, e.g. 1st platoon A co went to A-1, 2nd platoon A Co went to B-1, 3rd platoon to C-1, etc. C and D companies from CBT RGT went to 2nd Regiment companies, E & F went to 3rd Regiment, etc. Minor adjustments are made for demographics, but that was the breakdown.
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Ahem mm, we didn't get a call home till the 13 week program was over, and....formation could last a week or two back then so you only had mail call for up to 14 / 15 weeks.

Thanks for the other answers and, I'm sure you'll remember the: how many Marines/light bulb discussion :yllol:
 
Grannie said:
The calls are being chronicled all over the other parent resources (e.g., the Facebook West Point Parents, the West Point Moms and the USMA 2014 Yahoo sites). The postings have ranged from the very emotional "My kid is very unhappy and wants to quit." :eek: to "It's hard work but my NC is having the time of their life." :thumb: and everything in between.
Click to expand...

If anyone knows the link(s) to posts regarding the phone calls, please post them here. Maybe we can have them all linked here. I am apparently not very good at finding them so am not able to do that.
As other parents, I want to learn the emotions and perspectives of other new cadets via their first calls, besides my own son's.
 
elan_xu said:
If anyone knows the link(s) to posts regarding the phone calls, please post them here. Maybe we can have them all linked here. I am apparently not very good at finding them so am not able to do that.
As other parents, I want to learn the emotions and perspectives of other new cadets via their first calls, besides my own son's.
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Speaking only about the phone call from my NC, there was definitely a cadre member pretty close by because I could here him telling my son 'one minute 30 left'. I figured they were in the cadre's room using their phone.

My NC told me that he was tired, but everything was going well and getting better. He did say that there are some times that are tougher than others but during those times he focuses on getting through that task. Task to task, meal to meal. Whatever it takes for him to stay positive and focused on the end result.

On the other discussion about this forum and speaking as a parent of a NC, I found this forum a wonderful source of information and support from others who had been in my place, who knew the specifics because they have been there before or were going through it with me, or were the professionals dealing with process from the other side. For everyone who helped me through these processes, thank you! :thumb:

Now we are in the beginning stages of our NC's experience, I have been receiving a lot of updates from Plebe-net and the new Commandant, BG William Rapp's, Facebook page. Here is the link for Plebe-net if you are interested.

http://www.west-point.org/parent/wpp-net/
 
Great post, JAM! Thanks!

The mock expertise I see from 17-year-old applicants on all manner of USMA and Army subjects is troubling. New kids come on here and have their candidate profiles "evaluated" by a bunch of their peers, none of whom have been admitted themselves. Not much of a resource!
Click to expand...

Scoutpilot, thank you for pointing this out. I find it odd, amusing, puzzling, etc., that this is where kids come to get their "stats" examined when they should be in contact with their Admissions Officer or FFR. That's where you find out what you need to improve on!
 
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Dixieland said:
Great post, JAM! Thanks!



Scoutpilot, thank you for pointing this out. I find it odd, amusing, puzzling, etc., that this is where kids come to get their "stats" examined when they should be in contact with their Admissions Officer or FFR. That's where you find out what you need to improve on!
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Exactly! I don't do this FFR gig for the pay, that's for sure!
 
elan_xu said:
If anyone knows the link(s) to posts regarding the phone calls, please post them here. Maybe we can have them all linked here. I am apparently not very good at finding them so am not able to do that.
As other parents, I want to learn the emotions and perspectives of other new cadets via their first calls, besides my own son's.
Click to expand...

Directions:
Go to facebook. Search for West Point Parents. click "discussions." Go to phone calls.
 
Elan Xu, do you have a kid at West Point? I am kind of confused for several reasons, mostly due to fb related things..:confused:
 
Dixieland said:
Me too.
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Yes, he does. He has the son who needs 9.5 hours of sleep which was referenced earlier. In another thread, he mentioned that he's taken over his boy's SAF account, and I would assume he did the same for the FB account.
 
They say never use real names on the internet. Please keep that in mind.
To answer your question, yes, my son is at WP.

mom3boys said:
Directions:
Go to facebook. Search for West Point Parents. click "discussions." Go to phone calls.
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And thanks for the info to CBT calls. It was a good read.
 
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