Questions on required items list

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brownnugen

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Daughter is part of 2027 and I have a couple of questions on the required items:
1. Do you buy unisex v-neck undershirts or are there female specific ones?
2. Compression shorts- what is the recommended length for these? Similar to what females wear for track meets or more like cycling short length?
3. optional framed photo or photo cube- are swabs only allowed the one picture or can parents send pictures in the mail during swab summer so they can swap them out? Why wouldn’t someone bring a photo cube instead of 1 framed picture?
4. Optional camera- when do they have the opportunity to take pictures? If they have to keep their Running Light and notepad in their socks, I can’t imagine them having a camera with them either.
 
1. You can find female specific ones but either is fine.
2. Track length is fine. That is the length my daughter had. I don't recall if they gave a specific length. If they do, then follow that guidance.
3. My daughter didn't bring either. It is just one more thing they need to pack up and move when they have to switch rooms. Parents often send photos just printed on paper in their letters so they aren't officially photos. I'm not sure if she could just have multiple photos already in the single frame to swap out if she wanted to.
4. They don't really have time, and honestly the cadre might give them a hard time if they saw them taking photos. Not because it is not allowed, but I could easily see a cadre saying, "You have time to take photos? You must not be busy enough or working hard enough." I don't think most kids brought cameras. They will get their phone back while on Eagle so they will be able to take photos there. Their time on Eagle at the end of the summer is really the only time the swabs might want a "real" camera, but most just use their phone.
 
Less stuff is better, in general. They'll be moving rooms during the summer, they'll be exhausted, there won't be much free time at all and it's just more stuff to keep arranged and clean for room inspections. My DD was so busy and run down she couldn't got a two page letter written in under three chunks (two paragraphs during the math test, a couple more early one morning and finish it on Sunday, for example.) Regarding the rest of the swab summer shopping list: she'll just want to blend in with the crowd and count down the days. The tshirts won't matter much (mostly used for shoe polishing later in the year) and a lot of the underwear and socks often just get tossed they're so ratty. As long as she looks like she's trying to be one of the company and not standing out she'll be fine.

She won't miss the camera. PDuddy Pics on Facebook takes a ton of photos, hundreds many days, so there will be a record of the summer. There may not be any of Chase Hall life, but that may just be as well since most aspects will be the same in later years and no one looks or feels their best during swab summer. EDIT: Paul Duddy takes pics mostly for the parents, the swabs never see anything until the end of summer. My DD was actually very interested to see what he collected since her memories were so jumbled. The days tend to run together a bit.
 
1. Unisex shirts is fine. My daughter purchased hers in the men’s section at Target. Just something simple and comfy. Nobody will see it.

2. Track meet length compression shorts. Like NikePros.

3. My cadet didn’t bring a photocube because it was big and bulky. Yes, you can send pictures. And/or bring multiple pictures in the frame and just swap them out. I also printed a bunch on paper when I sent letters, just so she could have a little glimpse into life back home, but not necessary pics to frame. Kinda like stuff you would send in a text, if they had their phone.

4. My cadet opted not to bring a camera, but ended up asking for hers towards the end of the summer. She took some pics of her and her friends. Not really a big deal and I would recommend skipping it.
 
Like St.Paul Dad mentioned, less is better! They will be moving rooms frequently and really need to bring very little for the summer. Everything my daughter brought fit into a backpack. They are issued a ton of stuff when they get there and as soon as Swab Summer is over, you can mail other stuff from home that they will want/need as they settle in to their room for the semester.
 
These were great questions! Unisex works great (and I don't know about track shorts).
I just wanted to add that my cadet never needed a camera. He was able to have his phone on Eagle and on Mystic Flag Day and that's when he took a few photos. We sent him a few pictures but he never needed/wanted any frame. He kept the photos in his box.
 
I asked my DD what she was missing, should have done, or did right for Swab Summer. She brought two pairs of broken in running shoes, the extra pair gave the sneakers a full day to dry out and keep them from getting funky. She said she should have yelled more at home, start sounding off to strengthen up those vocal cords! More pushups. She did not use the digital camera we gave her, nor did she have access to her wrist watch.
 
brownnugen said:
Daughter is part of 2027 and I have a couple of questions on the required items:
1. Do you buy unisex v-neck undershirts or are there female specific ones?
2. Compression shorts- what is the recommended length for these? Similar to what females wear for track meets or more like cycling short length?
3. optional framed photo or photo cube- are swabs only allowed the one picture or can parents send pictures in the mail during swab summer so they can swap them out? Why wouldn’t someone bring a photo cube instead of 1 framed picture?
4. Optional camera- when do they have the opportunity to take pictures? If they have to keep their Running Light and notepad in their socks, I can’t imagine them having a camera with them either.
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Class of '25 cadet here:

1. V-necks are rarely worn over the summer. They are only used for the tropical blue uniform. You don't need to bring many. Personally, I brought more than I will ever need. You can always purchase more after the summer.

2. Compression shorts are a matter of personal preference. I'd recommend them, though. The issued gym shorts are loose and baggy.

3. I brought a frame with me when I reported, and my family would occasionally send me photos. I loved receiving them but left everything in a ziplock bag in my lockbox. StPaulDad is right. We are constantly exhausted, and when it's time to change rooms, things tend to go missing. It was nice to have, but the photos are more important than the frame.

4. We aren't allowed to carry or use cameras over the summer, with the exception of underway onboard Eagle. However, any time you'd be allowed to use a camera, you'll probably have access to your phone, so a camera is not necessary.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll answer what I'm allowed to (no spoilers ;)).
 
So the compression shorts are only worn under the gym shorts (like underwear) and aren’t a stand alone thing to wear (like as running or work out gear)?
 
CGAdad2025 said:
I asked my DD what she was missing, should have done, or did right for Swab Summer. She brought two pairs of broken in running shoes, the extra pair gave the sneakers a full day to dry out and keep them from getting funky. She said she should have yelled more at home, start sounding off to strengthen up those vocal cords! More pushups. She did not use the digital camera we gave her, nor did she have access to her wrist watch.
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Exactly this and my DD said we should have trained her to iron better😂
 
JAH2002 said:
Class of '25 cadet here:

1. V-necks are rarely worn over the summer. They are only used for the tropical blue uniform. You don't need to bring many. Personally, I brought more than I will ever need. You can always purchase more after the summer.

2. Compression shorts are a matter of personal preference. I'd recommend them, though. The issued gym shorts are loose and baggy.

3. I brought a frame with me when I reported, and my family would occasionally send me photos. I loved receiving them but left everything in a ziplock bag in my lockbox. StPaulDad is right. We are constantly exhausted, and when it's time to change rooms, things tend to go missing. It was nice to have, but the photos are more important than the frame.

4. We aren't allowed to carry or use cameras over the summer, with the exception of underway onboard Eagle. However, any time you'd be allowed to use a camera, you'll probably have access to your phone, so a camera is not necessary.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll answer what I'm allowed to (no spoilers ;)).
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Can you elaborate on the lock box? Is this something they will have at the beginning of swab summer? Do we send items that he will need after swab summer is over (personal)? I'm just trying to wrap my head around exactly what we need to bring up the weekend before June 26. (We are in Virginia so our next time up is not yet determined)
 
Bulldogmom74 said:
Can you elaborate on the lock box? Is this something they will have at the beginning of swab summer? Do we send items that he will need after swab summer is over (personal)? I'm just trying to wrap my head around exactly what we need to bring up the weekend before June 26. (We are in Virginia so our next time up is not yet determined)
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They are all issued a lock box and they wear the key around their neck all summer. I believe things like their passport, birth cert, credit cards, drivers license and other important docs are stored here. Don't bring anything in June for after swab summer. They will let you know when you can send other stuff and what they want/need. I would suggest before they leave in June to set aside some civvies (civilian clothes) that they will want when they can have them as well as small personal items. Just made it easier for us to have a little pile set aside rather than trying to FaceTime and figure out where everything is that she wanted. In some of the first boxes, she had things like nicer toiletries (that she didn't need during Swab Summer), nicer undergarments (no need for regular bras during Swab Summer), a few small knickknacks for her shelf (these are very limited at first, but they can have a few things for one shelf in their room), some personal books, converse shoes, a very small (travel size) jewelry box. Things like that. They can't wear civilian clothes within 50 miles of the campus, but they can wear at their sponsor house and when they do go further away.
 
I agree with the plan to have your swab set aside items that they want you to send them at the end of Swab Summer.

We also had our daughter pick out what snacks she wanted ahead of time. We then sent some periodically throughout the summer.
Remember, they MUST have a small (~shoebox sized) plastic container if they want to store any snacks. They cannot just store food in a cardboard shipping box. Once they have that plastic container (one of the Parents Association Chapters sells them on the Sunday before Day 1 and on Day 1 or you can ship one), then you can send other snacks to add to it. But do not overdue it on the snacks. In one of the first letters we received from our daughter during her swab summer, she asked us not to send any more food for a while. She didn't have a lot of time when she could eat them, and she had more than she could store. This will certainly vary per swab. Some kids might eat everything you send and want more, but many parents report that their swab asked them to stop sending snacks due to lack of space.
 
Also, plans change once summer starts. For example our DD learned that in her part of the world snacks that smelled a lot weren't welcome, so no beef jerky. She needed a lot of throat lozenges because of all the yelling. And like @ProudMom7 said, she had no room for very much so she wanted a limited amount of specific stuff. Semper Gumby - stay flexible.

Don't sweat finding the Correct Plastic Box. There are a lot of tables run by the various Parents Assn groups on Day One that will sell you a variety of cool things, so give them a look. Two favorites include the correct plastic shoebox to be delivered during the first week that you can pack with things they offer that swabs will want, and another service where they'll do some scheduled deliveries through the year with themed boxes of goodies. It raises money for the chapters and saves you some hassle (and cash - shipping is not cheap these days.)

Everyone is learning, there will be funny mishaps, lots of things will get backed up in the mailroom, etc. But keep in mind a couple basic ideas: swabs are issued a lot of items and fed well, so if you stick to the list no one will starve, they will have clothes, they have the rest of their company to share stuff and support them, and there are chances to shop at the exchange if they run out of anything. Swab summer is only seven weeks, not the whole year, and shipping and shopping get much easier once the academic year begins.
 
For the c/o 2026, they were all given a plastic box to store their snacks if their parents didn’t purchase one on Rday. Also note that even if you purchase the box from the local Parents Association chapter and purchase their snacks to put in, they will charge you $10 additional if you want to add an item you didn’t purchase from them. I was a little taken aback by that and we were under the impression the plastic box was mandatory to purchase if our swab wanted snacks during the summer, so we paid the extra fee. Just giving new parents a heads up.

As far as getting enough to eat, we had a very different experience. Our swab had a difficult time squaring her food at meal time and as a result, lost a lot of weight and was very hungry during the summer. So we sent a ton of snacks and they were much appreciated. So maybe wait for some feedback from your swab and see how they’re doing with food. (Send self addressed stamped envelopes as they will have very little time to write).
 
acecreator71 said:
For the c/o 2026, they were all given a plastic box to store their snacks if their parents didn’t purchase one on Rday. Also note that even if you purchase the box from the local Parents Association chapter and purchase their snacks to put in, they will charge you $10 additional if you want to add an item you didn’t purchase from them. I was a little taken aback by that and we were under the impression the plastic box was mandatory to purchase if our swab wanted snacks during the summer, so we paid the extra fee. Just giving new parents a heads up.

As far as getting enough to eat, we had a very different experience. Our swab had a difficult time squaring her food at meal time and as a result, lost a lot of weight and was very hungry during the summer. So we sent a ton of snacks and they were much appreciated. So maybe wait for some feedback from your swab and see how they’re doing with food. (Send self addressed stamped envelopes as they will have very little time to write).
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The box sale is a fund raiser for one of the Parents Association Chapters, and all funds go back to supporting the Corps of Cadets. It is not mandatory, but most parents do buy one and enjoy filling it up with snacks and treats for their swab. It is an extra delivery to them in the first week or so that does not count towards their weekly mailed package. The Cadre enjoy delivering tham also.

There is a surcharge if the majority of the items in the box were not sold by the Parents Association. This sale is an anourmous amount of work for the parents who coordinate it, and they do make sure to have a big variety. For this chapter it is their only fundraiser of the whole year, so please consider giving them your support and shipping the special things that your swab will want in the USPS boxes. Again, all funds go back to supporting the cadets.

Also, I understand that meal squaring has been eliminated at USCGA for Swabs an 4/C cadets
 
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CGAGOBEARS said:
There is a surcharge if the majority of the items in the box were not sold by the Parents Association.
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Either this is new, or the person checking us out did it incorrectly. We stuffed the box full of items purchased from the Parents Assoc, and were charged $10 for one small item from home. Not a big deal, I just didn’t know that was their policy and I’m letting other parents know. I also wanted to let parents know their swab will receive a free box, if they didn’t want to purchase. I didn’t realize that. And during last summer, they didn’t keep track the number of boxes the swabs received.
 
It was such a relief to find out about all the items sold on Rday weekend by the various Parent Association Chapters! I was so stressed out beforehand but all those extra items that parents had mentioned were sold (from fruit snacks and lighters to throat lozenges and even little papers to write a few notes on). There are even "Morale Boxes" that you can purchase that get delivered on specific weeks.
 
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