Post-2023 PPW Reports!

I was stressed watching my son eat in his whites. Especially the ice cream (why couldn't he just have plain vanilla?). Not a drop touched his uniform! Couldn't say that 6 weeks ago!

I had to laugh when I read this. We had dinner Saturday night at a pretty nice restaurant in DC. During dessert, a few drops of something-whatever fell on DS's pants. He pulled out a Clorox pen from his sock (apparently, they were told not to put anything in their pockets so he had his wallet, his cell phone, his ID, and this Clorox pen stuck into his socks all day!). He started working on the stain and the smell of bleach cleared out half the restaurant for a few minutes. Glad we were about ready to leave anyway. When DS was small, we would take him to restaurants and he would get very excited to have unlimited refills of pop (or soda, depending on your region) and he would bounce up and down on his seat. Thus, he became a human soda can, shaken and ready to open. At many restaurants, this resulted in inevitable regurgitation just about the time the check arrived. His sibs joke that he threw up at every dining establishment in our town. So, his timing is still impeccable. Lesson learned, however - Clorox pens are not the same as Tide pens.

Only one person in their Company lost their rifle.
 
Everything said previously, but also apply for your DBIDS card! (And pick it up 1st thing). We never expected to drive onto the Yard, but applied for one "just in case." Turns out you needed it PPW to get in early for Friday morning PEP. There was a crowd of people (without their DBIDS) outside Gate 1 having to wait until like 6:30 or so (?) to get in. Not a horrible thing, but pretty frustrating if you showed up with your coffee at 5:30 expecting to get in to see the start. Also, if you ever want to stay at Navy Lodge during Plebe year you will also need DBIDS (so you can check in without your Plebe being present).
 
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Only one person in their Company lost their rifle

"Only" one..? One is one too many....I bet the whole Company learned a lesson they won't forget.
Yeah, we heard Sunday afternoon that there was one Company where the detailers were swinging around like 8 (!!) rifles.(Forget the exact number, but A LOT!) DS was rather shook until he heard that there was "only" one loose rifle in *his* Company (and in the other platoon, at that), then he was greatly relieved. It's all relative. LOL
 
we heard Sunday afternoon that there was one Company where the detailers were swinging around like 8 (!!) rifles

> This is really disappointing. One of the first things that any military service teaches is to be responsible for your weapon. If one plebe messes up, it is an attention to detail issue that can be used as a lesson to all (usually involving group punishment). However, if 8 people forget to secure their weapon, that is a Leadership problem and suggests that USNA is losing focus on its military mission.
 
Isn’t that parade on Saturday? I think it can be attributed to excited Plebes post parade trying to shower and change for PPW Saturday Liberty. But that doesn’t excuse not taking accountability for a weapon. At TBS we keep weapons in our rooms too. And they aren’t ancient non-operational drill weapons. On deployment you sleep with your weapons. It’s learning this habit early. There is fault on the Plebes for personal accountability, room mates for next checking each other, and Detailers for not doing a check reinforcing this prior to liberty. I also question if detailers didn’t discover this until Sunday what they were doing.
 
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Here is what I heard: First set detailers told Plebes in some companies to write down the combination of their lock inside their Reef Points. Reef Points were on Plebes desks during PPW liberty. Second set detailers "knew" this and as a result, lots of rifles were unlocked. They were going to get wrecked no matter what - perhaps this was the "thing" (instead of 46-degree corners on rack sheets etc.)
 
this is what happened if you left your locker unlocked at AOCS, and this is who would be waiting for you...
4546313_orig.jpg
 
A6E - exactly the type of company wide learning experience I was contemplating..
Looks like a rare inside winter storm (is that snow ?) instead of hurricane or tornado.
(I'm guessing that's not done anymore, but it is an effective way to get Plebe's minds over the end of PPW, and back into the game)
 
Here is what I heard: First set detailers told Plebes in some companies to write down the combination of their lock inside their Reef Points. Reef Points were on Plebes desks during PPW liberty. Second set detailers "knew" this and as a result, lots of rifles were unlocked. They were going to get wrecked no matter what - perhaps this was the "thing" (instead of 46-degree corners on rack sheets etc.)
Well that makes so much more sense. We were trying to figure out how one company was so wrecked.
 
this is what happened if you left your locker unlocked at AOCS, and this is who would be waiting for you...
4546313_orig.jpg
Great memories A6. Pensacola, AOCS, Marine Gunnies. For all I know I stayed in that hooch. Indoor Hurricanes were in full effect during my tenure, far worse than those from Mother Nature. One time when we were out getting trashed in the Rose Garden, our DI found an unsecured locker and had another Gunny lock him in. When we got back soaked, sandy and completely exhausted, the Gunny burst out screaming as soon as the kid undid his lock. The kid went white as a sheet and fainted back onto his rack. The DI was so scared he called me and another classmate over, completely broke protocol, and speaking very informally, asked us to be sure and give him a heads up if the kid was going to lodge a complaint.
 
Random points from the weekend:

1. We stayed in a house about a mile walk from Gate 1. It was definitely walkable which helped as DS was hyper sensitive about being on the Yard at least 30 minutes early each day. Having the extra space in a house made the weekend a success (further explained below).
2. The academic briefs Friday morning were excellent. Had great discussions with the Economics, History, Poli Sci, and Cyber Departments. So impressed with all of profs (military and civilian) and their desires to help the Mids find the major that worked best for them.
3. We took our lead from DS and skipped Friday's lunch. We did get to see his room and meet his roommates, but he wanted to head out so we did not linger. I do regret not meeting his squad and platoon leaders.
4. The return Friday night was stressful. The Plebes were having a hard time getting back on the Yard because so many families were exiting through the turnstiles. Maybe the Academy could route the exiting families through the Security Building and let the Plebes use both turnstiles?
5. We decided to brave the promised traffic nightmare and drive on Saturday morning (around 730am). 30 second wait at Gate 1, parked by the Mid Store, no problems, perfect! We drove on Sunday as well and it was the same. Parked at the Mid Store lot each time. Worked great for us.
6. Sunday was HARD. The homesickness kicked in big time. Luckily we had the extra space in the house for him to escape and then talk to him without the rest of the family being on top of him. Luckily(?) he got most everything out of his system by the time we got back to the Yard. I felt for the families that looked like they were going through the same thing right there next to Bancroft.
7. He was already talking about wanting to be a squad leader for next year's Summer Seminar so he's looking to the future. That made us feel really good. We know the Academic Year will be hard, but in a completely different way that we think he's ready to handle.
8. I grabbed his cover by the bill. CAPT MJ, why couldn't you have warned me in advance?!
 
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji6] on the cover! You’ll learn throughout this journey just as he does.
Pro tip: never let him enter a Navy bar with his cover on.
 
Lesson I learned from plebe summer and parent's weekend

1) I was terrified the whole time, that he would hate it, that he would get injured....
He really enjoyed plebe summer, said it wasn't really very hard, it was just really long.
2) He liked his detailers, both the first set and the second set. Said they didn't yell anymore than his high school football coach on a bad day.
3) I was really worried about the heat. We live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, where it almost never sees above 80 degrees.
He is a teenager. Said it was hot, but it was fine.
4) I wrote 44 letters, one each day of plebe summer and two for reform week
He wrote the obligatory one, with four lines ending in GO Navy, BEAT Army...
5) I was prepared for horrible phone calls, worried about how to be encouraging
He had good/great calls from the beginning
6) I was worried about HELL-o night
He said it was relaxed and fun, go 12th Company
7) We watched THREE movies on PPW... (I fell asleep during Lion King and Spiderman lol)
8) He watched us eat at King's Hall (didn't want to get his uniform dirty, but was fine with us eating there.)
9) We climbed to the sixth floor to see his clean room.... bet that won't happen at home on Thanksgiving!
10) We stayed at a hotel near the Annapolis mall, great location, probably wouldn't stay downtown.
11) The movie theater was full each time with plebes and their parents. We learned more about plebe summer from talking with them :)
12) We would have asked more open ended questions to ask about plebe summer.
13) He is still attached to his phone, couldn't get enough of it....
14) Mass at the chapel is an absolute must do.
15) We are in awe of the wonderful support system to both us parents and the plebes themselves. Great family to now be a part of!
 
He really enjoyed plebe summer, said it wasn't really very hard, it was just really long.

This is the big takeaway for us, as well. DS said that the best thing he has ever done was to take seriously getting physically ready for Plebe Summer. The physical stuff wasn't really hard and it made the heat and humidity much more tolerable. Plebes who were not in shape (and he said there were lots - many more than he ever thought he'd see) really suffered and missed evolutions for injuries. FOR FUTURE PLEBES - GET IN GREAT SHAPE BEFORE GOING TO PLEBE SUMMER!!!!

Also, he said you gotta have the right attitude. If you go in with a positive, team-oriented, I'll-give-it-my-all attitude (i.e. "drink the Navy kool-aid") it will be a fantastic experience. On one of our phone calls he said, "Dad, you won't believe it - I'm not cynical at all!"

So, if there is a lesson for others, it seems to be that Plebe Summer is in your control - you control your physical conditioning going in and you control your attitude.
 
We climbed to the sixth floor to see his clean room.... bet that won't happen at home on Thanksgiving!
Bet large sums because you will no doubt win that bet.
 
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