Reading list, please...

mwbluebeard

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My son has been immersed in a literature rich curriculum, and also reads widely on leadership. He has read a lot from a Coast Guard reading list he found somewhere on the web a couple of years ago. Still, he is looking for more books to read --- and since we buy not borrow usually, I like to have thoughtful recommendations before I go to Amazon.

Do you have any "must read" recommendations --- books you believe a dude should have read before swab summer?
 
They don't need read anything before Swab Summer. Basically if every swab came in knowing very different things, by the end of the summer they should all be one the same page. Enjoy your time before Swab Summer...because there are very few things you will be reading during that summer, and the stuff you do read, you'll also memorize.
 
They don't need read anything before Swab Summer.

While true, they don't need to read anything before Swab Summer, the 2008 Cadet Handbook gives 2 specific recommendations by the Commandant of Cadets (reprinted below).

Getting Connected -

Read! Top picks for the Class of 2012 are the Running Light (most of which you will be required to memorize during Swab Summer) and Character in Action, by best selling author Don Phillips. Copies of last year’s Running Light are available for $15.99 (plus S&H) from our Cadet Bookstore; Character in Action is available nationwide, but is also available for $23.99 (plus S&H) from the Cadet Bookstore. Phone orders can be placed by calling 860-444-8308; you’ll be reciting the Academy Mission and singing Semper Paratus before you know it!
 
Character in Action was good but we didn't really talk about it over the summer (we got issued one but that was about it). The Running Light thing is a whole other game though. Quite frankly I don't really think reading/memorizing anything besides maybe the mission and the chain of command is really all that important beforehand. People have different opinions but I think it's more important to relax and enjoy your summer rather than trying to memorize nautical flags. By the time knowing some of the stuff you memorized comes around during swab summer you may have forgotten it anyway. There were some people in my company who studied the running light hardcore before R-day and I don't really think it helped them much because a lot of the recitation is done under pressure with people screaming in your face, which is where the real challenge comes from. It may give you a slight edge in the beginning but I don't feel it's really worth it.
 
I still have my Handbook from AIM, would that be enough to study for Swab Summer or does information get updated? It has everything in it, the mission, Semper PAratus, the alma mater, history, cutters, ranks...it never ends lol.
 
The mission, ranks and the cadet chain of command (President, VP, S-DHS, Commandant, Vice Commandant, Supe, A. Supe, etc) was what was primarily focused on the first week or two. I would definitely make sure you know the mission, but then again... it's only November!
 
Haha...I dont think Ill ever forget the mission. Its been 5 months and I still know it word for word.
 
I would read "Absolutely American." Although it is about West Point, just about everything in there can be related to the CGA. Interesting stuff but read it all the way through as parts of it can come off as cynical and disenchanting.
 
Where can I get a copy of running light with out having to go to the academy and buying it from the book store there? thanks
 
The bookstore (or was it the exchange?) will ship you one. My mom ordered one from them in the spring.
 
I still haven't forgotten the mission....or how the cow is...or 180 seconds...


After that stuff is drilled into you for a year, and after you drill it into your swabs/ 4/c....it's hard to forget.


Running Light isn't a bad idea. It will change from time to time. My Running Light has some "slang" which was eventually considered inappropriate and was removed.
 
I tried to buy Running Light when darling son got home from

AIM -- but a call to the bookstore revealed they were out of stock.

I'll call and find out if they have more in.

He still can recite what he learned at AIM. I guess memorizing all the stuff in scouts and movie dialog, etc. was good preparation.

Thanks for the other recommendations. I'll check them out.
 
While not specifically about the Academy, these are good "Coast Guard" books:

The Barque of Saviors: Eagle's Passage from the Nazi Navy to the U.S. Coast Guard
So Others May Live: Coast Guard's Rescue Swimmers
Guardians of the Sea: History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present (Out Of Print; could be tough to find)
 
We enjoyed _Brotherhood of the Fin_.

About the early days of CG rescue swimming program.
 
I did confirm (at least last week) that the Cadet Bookstore has ~50 copies of the 2008 Running Light in stock; you can order at 860-444-8308.

AIM -- but a call to the bookstore revealed they were out of stock.

I'll call and find out if they have more in.

He still can recite what he learned at AIM. I guess memorizing all the stuff in scouts and movie dialog, etc. was good preparation.

Thanks for the other recommendations. I'll check them out.
 
Thanks, Objee. Will order that today.

Hopefully, it will be much needed by all who converse here.
 
Having the 2007 running light helped me very little in prepping for swab summer, just throwing that out there. Also, our running light happened to be a lot different than 2011's from what I understand.
 
It would be good for you to understand...you will never be a rescue swimmer though.

Some of the books will be issued to you, so you can save some money by not buying them.
 
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