Question - Standing Watch

WolfPackGrunt

WolfPackGrunt

USNA Papa
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
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How far in advance are Mids made aware that they have a scheduled watch - e.g., plebes and CMOD? If they have watch on that day, are they permitted Yard liberty when not on watch (if it's otherwise an authorized liberty DOW)? Attempting to understand the general timelines I am dealing with when scheduling trips to USNA and avoiding conflicts. Thank you.
 
WolfPackGrunt said:
How far in advance are Mids made aware that they have a scheduled watch - e.g., plebes and CMOD? If they have watch on that day, are they permitted Yard liberty when not on watch (if it's otherwise an authorized liberty DOW)? Attempting to understand the general timelines I am dealing with when scheduling trips to USNA and avoiding conflicts. Thank you.
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May I recommend letting your plebe learn to manage that for you.

They will have a watchbill they can reference. Depending on how many sections they are in, they should be able to predict which of their weekends will be a duty weekend with no liberty. They will also learn the finer points of swapping watches. Mids are generally very good about helping each other out to accommodate personal weekend plans. Let’s say you want to come visit on a birthday weekend, but it’s a duty weekend. If they can find someone willing to take it, and usually take one of theirs in return, then get it officially blessed, it all works.

I am not feeling the urge to plow through MidRegs right now, but generally speaking, if you’re in the duty section over the weekend, even if not on watch, you have neither town nor Yard liberty. I will defer to any current mids/recent grads if that is managed differently now. Mids in the duty section not on watch can be grabbed up at anytime to be in a working party or do anything else needed by the duty officer, so in my mind, they can’t be off on Yard liberty, but easily findable.

I always recommend letting your mid tell you good times to visit. They have overflowing plates, sometimes one in each hand and another balanced atop their heads, and weekends are times to deal with a lot of that. It is constant presssure, and DH and I have often been witnesses to our sponsor mid family feeling extra pressure from loving parents wanting to visit. Or they may budget 2 hours to walk out in town with a friend to hit up Kilwin’s for a treat on Saturday afternoon, then it’s back to the books, getting in PRT prep time, doing stuff for their ECAs or sport or company duties, getting some extra sleep or even chasing after a potential love life or having down time in the Hall with good friends, no agenda, no questions.

Offer them a window of time - fall weekend with no football game, Jan-Feb during the Dark Ages - and ask them to choose. Then they can plan accordingly, try to get more done ahead of a visit so they can open up the time without feeling they are getting behind in their work.

Pro tip: Long weekends with a holiday Monday, plebes rate Town liberty Sat AND Sun, Yard liberty Monday.

Now is also a good time to let that awareness settle into the back of your mind that at some point during these 4 years, they will tell you they are not coming home for spring break or just a few days at winter break then off to a ski trip with buddies.
 
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What you say about liberty and watch still stands, at least through last year. We went out, and dealt with that exact scenario: roommate couldn’t leave bc he was on watch all weekend. Even when not actually standing watch. And that includes all 3 days on a 3 day weekend.

Last year it was especially significant bc the first weekend they had liberty, after being locked up FOREVERRRR due to Covid, my plebes roommate had watch. It was Easter weekend. And NOPE couldn’t leave. We couldn’t even bring him a plate of food and visit him bc the Yard was closed. So my Mid took some and they had some food together.

In my experience with visiting and my boys, they know enough in advance. And if they do have watch, they can trade. Or pay a significant amount of money to pay someone to take their watch. Some Mids are known for being available to do that. It’s not been an issue visiting our guys as it pertains to watch. They have always been able to plan around our visit.
 
Capt MJ said:
May I recommend letting your plebe learn to manage that for you.

They will have a watchbill they can reference. Depending on how many sections they are in, they should be able to predict which of their weekends will be a duty weekend with no liberty. They will also learn the finer points of swapping watches. Mids are generally very good about helping each other out to accommodate personal weekend plans. Let’s say you want to come visit on a birthday weekend, but it’s a duty weekend. If they can find someone willing to take it, and usually take one of theirs in return, then get it officially blessed, it all works.

I am not feeling the urge to plow through MidRegs right now, but generally speaking, if you’re in the duty section over the weekend, even if not on watch, you have neither town nor Yard liberty. I will defer to any current mids/recent grads if that is managed differently now. Mids in the duty section not on watch can be grabbed up at anytime to be in a working party or do anything else needed by the duty officer, so in my mind, they can’t be off on Yard liberty, but easily findable.

I always recommend letting your mid tell you good times to visit. They have overflowing plates, sometimes one in each hand and another balanced atop their heads, and weekends are times to deal with a lot of that. It is constant presssure, and DH and I have often been witnesses to our sponsor mid family feeling extra pressure from loving parents wanting to visit. Or they may budget 2 hours to walk out in town with a friend to hit up Kilwin’s for a treat on Saturday afternoon, then it’s back to the books, getting in PRT prep time, doing stuff for their ECAs or sport or company duties, getting some extra sleep or even chasing after a potential love life or having down time in the Hall with good friends, no agenda, no questions.

Offer them a window of time - fall weekend with no football game, Jan-Feb during the Dark Ages - and ask them to choose. Then they can plan accordingly, try to get more done ahead of a visit so they can open up the time without feeling they are getting behind in their work.

Pro tip: Long weekends with a holiday Monday, plebes rate Town liberty Sat AND Sun, Yard liberty Monday.

Now is also a good time to let that awareness settle into the back of your mind that at some point during these 4 years, they will tell you they are not coming home for spring break or just a few days at winter break then off to a ski trip with buddies.
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Sage and spot on advice, thank you!
 
Capt MJ is right. But for one addendum to the info here, “Yard liberty” as a concept no longer really means anything these days. If mids do not have a military obligation such as class or watch, they are free to do what they want within the walls of the Yard, whether it be work out, study in their room, visit a friend’s room in Bancroft, hang out in the library, etc. “Yard liberty” always seemed like an oxymoron to me.
 
Kierkegaard said:
Capt MJ is right. But for one addendum to the info here, “Yard liberty” as a concept no longer really means anything these days. If mids do not have a military obligation such as class or watch, they are free to do what they want within the walls of the Yard, whether it be work out, study in their room, visit a friend’s room in Bancroft, hang out in the library, etc. “Yard liberty” always seemed like an oxymoron to me.
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It was always knotty for me to grasp as a newly-arrived non-grad BattO. Yet another free fall down a rabbit hole.

I always appreciate @Kierkegaard ’s deck plate insights.
 
Kierkegaard said:
If mids do not have a military obligation such as class or watch, they are free to do what they want within the walls of the Yard, whether it be work out, study in their room, visit a friend’s room in Bancroft, hang out in the library, etc.
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Kind of the definition of Yard Liberty and in addition to the strict definition of "walls" that one thinks about also includes the waters of the Severn as well as the facilities on the other side of the Severn such as the Tennis Center and Golf Course.
 
In our day, Yard Liberty meant plebes could "drag" on the Yard. So people (parents, GF/BF, sponsors) could come onto the Yard to visit them. They could also go to Dahlgren for food, which I don't think was permitted when not on Yard liberty. Most importantly, it meant the upperclass wouldn't mess with you. They were on town liberty (or on WE) and those on duty left you alone. Chow calls were greatly reduced, no come-arounds, etc. And I think uniform regs were slightly relaxed in that plebes could wear gym gear during the day in Bancroft (though my memory may be sketchy on this point).

Agree wasn't great, but it was better than a "normal" day for plebes.

Also, in the spring, it meant time on "Red Beach." I understand that's now a thing of the past. For those who are wondering, Red Beach refers to the red tile area on the outside and backside of Wings 5 and 6. Mids would go out there with beach towels and sun themselves (in reg PT gear or swimsuits, of course) -- hence the "beach" connotation. I don't know why or how we thought that lying on hard tiles was remotely fun, but it was a blast. On a warm and sunny day, it was hard to find an open spot. A true rite of spring!
 
Kierkegaard said:
Capt MJ is right. But for one addendum to the info here, “Yard liberty” as a concept no longer really means anything these days. If mids do not have a military obligation such as class or watch, they are free to do what they want within the walls of the Yard, whether it be work out, study in their room, visit a friend’s room in Bancroft, hang out in the library, etc. “Yard liberty” always seemed like an oxymoron to me.
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While true, in my day you had to get permission/concurrence with the CDO/ACDO before going off deck. Nothing like having to do a surprise muster or accountability for a fire and that person can’t be located. Some folks would get caught standing their watches early on the weekend and then attempt to go on liberty…didn’t end up well for them. The CDO, BOOW, MOOW, or OOW could call a surprise muster and if there wasn’t full accounting of everyone…well standby for heavy seas! Some OOWs would even insist on a report back when all personnel were visually verified present by the CDO…so if someone went to PT, the CDO owed a report to the OOW when that person returned. It was a trust BUT verify 100%.

One Navy term no officer will ever forget…”trust but verify.”
 
usna1985 said:
Also, in the spring, it meant time on "Red Beach." I understand that's now a thing of the past.
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What ..no Red Beach ? Had to build that base layer tan for Spring Break !

Curious, when did they stop letting Midshipmen hang out on the Beach ? Is the concern Sun exposure ?
 
All the posts I read last year, about Mids getting “fried on red beach”by the Dep Dant (bc they couldn’t gather anywhere. Due to Covid.) make more sense now. I pictured them on sand somewhere on the yard. That was tinged a reddish color. Like Oklahoma dirt 😂
 
Assuming your Midshipmen has a competent company adjutant, they should know when they have weekend CMOD for the fall semester within the next week. Most companies have 6-8 section watches, therefore your plebe would have watch every 6th to 8th weekend. They are authorized yard liberty when they are on a duty status and aren't actively on watch.

Plebes know what main office watches they have about a month in advance. Most plebes stand 2-3 main office watches the whole semester.
 
Latest signed “Bancroft Hall Watch Instruction” (COMDTMIDNINST 1601.10N) signed by then CAPT Buchanan, section 100.d:

“d. Liberty: All duty section personnel are considered to be in a duty status and are not authorized town liberty. Yard liberty may be granted at the discretion of the CDO. Yard liberty for duty section personnel does not include any part of Naval Support Activity (NSA) or the Brigade Sports Complex. Duty personnel are required to sign out of the company duty log when leaving deck.”

Appears the policy has not changed.
 
Restrictees, anyone else stuck in the Hall and sometimes lucky local midshipmen. I think it’s mostly Main Office watch. I’m sure a current mid or recent grad will pop up.
 
It's mostly the restrictees (or fomer restrictees who have loss of leave) and those residing in Bancroft during the leave period. If you're on leave, then they won't ask you to come back, even if you live on the Yard (mids will sometimes if they have a parent who is in a billet that comes with Yard housing.) Company watches are stood down and only the critical ones such as MOOW, Main O, and Colors are manned. I can't remember if Rover was manned. Anyway, if you can avoid it, do not reside in Bancroft at all costs. It turns into a ghost town quickly after leave begins. The watches are already longer and if there aren't too many restrictees, then watches are more frequent. You also have to muster every day at 0700 for accountability purposes. No need to do that to yourself. Plenty of sponsors are willing to take you in and many mids who don't have plans or a place to go will go home with their roommates, teammates, friends, etc. I even had a professor ask if anyone needed a place to go for Thanksgiving.

There is duty the day leave begins and ends, however. Usually the turnover between the normal duty sections and the restrictees occurs in the early afternoon for leave departures and in the late afternoon to evening for arrivals.
 
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