Sponsor Family Requests
- Thread starter NAVY2029!
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Yes - but they must also request you. Has to be a two-way request.
Sponsors must be registered with the sponsor office; there is a training/informational brief that must be attended. It has been both in-person and virtual at times.
Sponsors fill out request forms too - how many, any special requests, anyone specifc. For example, a sponsor might request plebes from their home state or a sport or a faith group or an international plebe. Plebes-to-be can indicate things like small children or not, pets, sports, etc.
If you have a family in mind who are not designated as official sponsors, they can go to this link and learn about the process. No mad rush right this minute. I don’t think the office finalizes match-ups until after PS is well underway, because of plebe attrition. But, I think the training happens in the next month or two. A simple background check is also done - no sex registry people, etc.
Be sure to read the hamburger menu at top left.
USNA Sponsor Program
USNA Sponsor Program page for USNA Sponsor Program at USNA.edu. Updated Wed May 17 16:34:35 EDT 2023.
www.usna.edu
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If you're requesting a specific family because you already know them -- say, relatives or family friends -- I offer this suggestion:
Don't request them as your sponsor family. Instead, have a sponsor family assigned to you. Now you have potentially two families you can turn to. (1) The one you already know, who'd be there for you anyway, even without an official designation. (2) The USNA-designated family, who may turn out to be great people as well.
That's what DD did, and it worked wonderfully. (1) Her USNA-designated family included two active-duty officers who taught her a lot. (2) Her unofficial family, who she became very close to and provided a non-navy respite. It was the best of both worlds.
Don't request them as your sponsor family. Instead, have a sponsor family assigned to you. Now you have potentially two families you can turn to. (1) The one you already know, who'd be there for you anyway, even without an official designation. (2) The USNA-designated family, who may turn out to be great people as well.
That's what DD did, and it worked wonderfully. (1) Her USNA-designated family included two active-duty officers who taught her a lot. (2) Her unofficial family, who she became very close to and provided a non-navy respite. It was the best of both worlds.
IronmanDaremo
What, me worry?
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My kid did not request to be sponsored as my parents still live in Annapolis, and we are within town liberty radius. But I do know of some kids who have family but still request a sponsor. Having that "neutral territory" to go to can be a good thing. I know our house is pretty stressful, so kid coming home isn't always that relaxing for him.
Old Navy BGO
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While I understand the strategy, be careful about the fine print ....if I recall correctly there were certain things a Plebe was allowed to do that were limited to official sponsors, including riding in cars. I suspect few would care if you were out with "Uncle Bob" instead of your designated sponsor, but if something happens, there might be some fall out.
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Here it is, from USNA.edu on the sponsor program.
Fourth Class Midshipmen are not authorized to own or operate motor vehicles. They are authorized to make use of public transportation. They may only ride in private automobiles when accompanied or driven by a USNA staff or faculty member, their parents and/or guardians, or a registered Sponsor. (Children, extended family members, or friends of registered Sponsors who are licensed drivers should not transport midshipmen in their vehicles.) First and Second Class Midshipmen may drive Plebes directly to and from a sponsor’s home. Fourth Class may also ride in First Class or Second Class vehicles to and from authorized official functions. Exceptions may be approved by company officers on a case-by-case basis. Midshipmen of all classes are authorized to operate or ride in automobiles during a leave period (e.g., Thanksgiving and End of Semester Leave).
A plebe can cover themselves by asking permission, for example, requesting blanket permission to be picked up by an uncle or aunt or another extended family member, if it’s going to be routine and frequent. Or, a special occasion, a former coach and mentor will be in town. And yes, technically if a GF or BF comes to visit, the plebe cannot ride in a car with them. All part of the suck.
And yes, no doubt this routinely gets ignored, but midshipmen learn to practice operational risk management as they think through situations like this - first, the ethical one, they did take an oath to obey the orders of those appointed over them, and their responsibility to know and abide by MidRegs and all policies governing their lives, and second, weighing the primary, secondary and tertiary consequences of knowingly choosing to break a rule and bring prepared to accept those consequences if caught. Impact on order of merit, privileges, opportunities, explaining to your mom why you’re on restriction the weekend of their planned visit, etc.
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A P2B can request a specific sponsor on the sponsor request form. But - the person requested must be a registered soonsor and must also request the P2B when they fill out their annual plebe rrquest form online.
Read all about it here. Be sure to read through the hamburger menu items.There are also many threads here on SAF you can search.
USNA Sponsor Program
USNA Sponsor Program page for USNA Sponsor Program at USNA.edu. Updated Wed May 17 16:34:35 EDT 2023.
www.usna.edu
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Start here:
USNA Sponsor Program
USNA Sponsor Program page for USNA Sponsor Program at USNA.edu. Updated Wed May 17 16:34:35 EDT 2023.
www.usna.edu
And here:
How to Sponsor a USNA Midshipman
Considering one of the great Navy traditions of sponsoring a USNA midshipman from the Brigade of Midshipmen? Join the Annapolis family and learn more here!
go.navyonline.com
As for trust - there is a background check and training. It is not a mandatory program for any plebe. It’s an option. And, if their assigned sponsor is not a good fit, they may tag along to a roomie’s or other classmate’s sponsor and get adopted. In our Class of 2025 4 sponsor mids, one is an adoptee. She just started coming over with her roomie and liked it.
Now, run an external Google search on SAF (sometimes easier than using SAF Search tool) to bring up the many, many threads here on sponsor program. Try this targeted search string in Google:
site:www.serviceacademyforums.com USNA midshipman sponsor family program
On a personal note, as my DH and I drove cross-country in early July many years ago as I executed orders to join the USNA staff, my DH (A Grad) turned to me (A Grad of Another Fine Institution) and said, “We are going to apply to sponsor mids as soon as you check in.” He had the best memories of his sponsor family as an oasis he could escape to on days he could leave USNA.
One of the best and most rewarding, decisions ever. We have been sponsoring for 25+ years. We are close in a special bonded way to our mid and alumni family. They come back as grads and stay with us for reunions, weddings, etc. I already have 12 Morher’s Day cards from the alumni sponsor family. This past Easter, we had several alumni at our dinner table, all either on AD in the area or out of the Navy or Marine Corps and working locally. The table was full of warm laughter, memories and stories. For 20 years, we took 5 new plebes a year, now it’s usually “friends & family referral” or just 2 a year.
This is typical:
- Send out weekly text, see who wants to come over, any special requests. “When you pick me up, can we stop by the Commissary so I can get some Halloween candy to have in our room when the upperclass come around?”
- See how fast the plebes can scurry downstairs to the mid bedrooms where we keep a stash of leftover USNA issue PE gear (shorts, blue rims, sweats, etc.) and change out of their uniforms. They root around in the drawers, looking for vintage gear with old mid numbers sharpied on them. A mid’s alpha number is always the last digits of their class year plus 4 random numbers to make a unique number. Incoming Class of 2029 will be 29+4 digits.
- Watch them hit the designated mid snack pantry shelf, raid the refrigerator, decide to make brownies, find a movie to stream on the big screen surround sound room downstairs while sprawling on the sofa while doing homework, having started a load of laundry.
- They snooze. On sofas, in beds, sitting upright with open laptop, with the dogs. They take long showers. They bond among themselves. They go off to get alone time in other rooms in the house, emerging for dinner. They play the piano.
- We give them rides to the airport. We see them over the summer as they go and come from summer training and stay with us as they transition from 1 training block to another, if they don’t have to stay in Bancroft.
- They join us on holidays if they can’t get home. We have had great fun with international mids and introducing them to eating pie for breakfast and Thanksgiving leftovers.
- They are welcome to join us as we cook dinner for a big table of mids from all classes, sometimes with a visiting alumni big sponsor sister or brother. The upper classes give insight and advice. The laughter, inside jokes and mutual support are awesome to watch. As we and mids clear the table, every clsss has a job. Plebes gather ice creams (always 5-6 Tillamook or Turkey Hill flavors), bowls, spoons, scoops, announce flavors chow call style to much laughter and take orders, deliver bowls. Youngsters (3/C) stow leftovers, 2/C scrape plates and wash dishes, 1/C load dishwasher and put things away (they are well-trained by then). It’s a team effort. Tutorials are always available for life skill chores.
- As plebes move on to other classes, they quite rightly become more independent, going off with friends, having a car, etc. We might only see upperclass on a Sunday when they drop by to do a load of laundry, snoop for leftovers from whatever we fed the plebes, snack on a Naval Bagel, go for a long run and take a nap or do some required reading for class.
- We listen to frustrations, roommate drama, love life blow-ups, indecisions about major, service selection worries, summer training choices, etc.
- We are the “default setting” when they are out of money or ideas. We are not their parents, but adults willing to offer a home away from home to young adults
- There are many styles of sponsorship. Some sponsors take their mids out for meals or see them less often. It’s very fluid. Mids figure out whether it’s a good fit for them, as do we. Some mids find they don’t need or want the option. It’s all good. I just What’s Apped a bit earlier this evening with an alumni sponsor family member in Bahrain, now a captain themselves, who wears DH’s command at sea pin, as the first mid family member to earn command at sea. Some we are extraordinarily close to as family members, others less so, some have drifted away - just like blood-related families.
- We meet our new plebes at the Sponsor Social, usually the Sunday afternoon before PPW. At that time, we provide an info sheet on us to share with families and an invitation to stop by between 2-5 PM on the Saturday of PPW, usually a time they might be out and about with family. We know parents want to see the home and meet the family. We end up creating great relationships with them over the years.
- We attend every wedding and change of command and other sponsor family event we can, years after they have graduated. We have countless sponsor grandchildren now - including some who attended NASS and STEM and sports camps last summer!
Just one story of what midshipman sponsoring can be, a potentially lifelong, richly rewarding relationship. There are dozens of families in the Annapolis area, with or without military background, who are king-time sponsors. Several of our neighbors sponsor. Plebes are now young adults on active duty in the military. They are no longer kids (though they will always be kids to their parents). This is a safe first step to creating relationships with adults from other generations away from their own families. They figure it out.
Last edited:
newtonsapple
Member
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- Apr 2, 2023
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- 185
@Capt MJ, so when is this book coming out???Start here:
Be sure to read through all the hamburger menu items.USNA Sponsor Program
USNA Sponsor Program page for USNA Sponsor Program at USNA.edu. Updated Wed May 17 16:34:35 EDT 2023.www.usna.edu
And here:
How to Sponsor a USNA Midshipman
Considering one of the great Navy traditions of sponsoring a USNA midshipman from the Brigade of Midshipmen? Join the Annapolis family and learn more here!
As for trust - there is a background check and training. It is not a mandatory program for any plebe. It’s an option. And, if their assigned sponsor is not a good fit, they may tag along to a roomie’s or other classmate’s sponsor and get adopted. In our Class of 2025 4 sponsor mids, one is an adoptee. She just started coming over with her roomie and liked it.
Now, run an external Google search on SAF (sometimes easier than using SAF Search tool) to bring up the many, many threads here on sponsor program. Try this targeted search string in Google:
site:www.serviceacademyforums.com USNA midshipman sponsor family program
On a personal note, as my DH and I drove cross-country in early July many years ago as I executed orders to join the USNA staff, my DH (A Grad) turned to me (A Grad of Another Fine Institution) and said, “We are going to apply to sponsor mids as soon as you check in.” He had the best memories of his sponsor family as an oasis he could escape to on days he could leave USNA.
One of the best and most rewarding, decisions ever. We have been sponsoring for 25+ years. We are close in a special bonded way to our mid and alumni family. They come back as grads and stay with us for reunions, weddings, etc. I already have 12 Morher’s Day cards from the alumni sponsor family. This past Easter, we had several alumni at our dinner table, all either on AD in the area or out of the Navy or Marine Corps and working locally. The table was full of warm laughter, memories and stories. For 20 years, we took 5 new plebes a year, now it’s usually “friends & family referral” or just 2 a year.
This is typical:
- Send out weekly text, see who wants to come over, any special requests. “When you pick me up, can we stop by the Commissary so I can get some Halloween candy to have in our room when the upperclass come around?”
- See how fast the plebes can scurry downstairs to the mid bedrooms where we keep a stash of leftover USNA issue PE gear (shorts, blue rims, sweats, etc.) and change out of their uniforms. They root around in the drawers, looking for vintage gear with old mid numbers sharpied on them. A mid’s alpha number is always the last digits of their class year plus 4 random numbers to make a unique number. Incoming Class of 2029 will be 29+4 digits.
- Watch them hit the designated mid snack pantry shelf, raid the refrigerator, decide to make brownies, find a movie to stream on the big screen surround sound room downstairs while sprawling on the sofa while doing homework, having started a load of laundry.
- They snooze. On sofas, in beds, sitting upright with open laptop, with the dogs. They take long showers. They bond among themselves. They go off to get alone time in other rooms in the house, emerging for dinner. They play the piano.
- We give them rides to the airport. We see them over the summer as they go and come from summer training and stay with us as they transition from 1 training block to another, if they don’t have to stay in Bancroft.
- They join us on holidays if they can’t get home. We have had great fun with international mids and introducing them to eating pie for breakfast and Thanksgiving leftovers.
- They are welcome to join us as we cook dinner for a big table of mids from all classes, sometimes with a visiting alumni big sponsor sister or brother. The upper classes give insight and advice. The laughter, inside jokes and mutual support are awesome to watch. As we and mids clear the table, every clsss has a job. Plebes gather ice creams (always 5-6 Tillamook or Turkey Hill flavors), bowls, spoons, scoops, announce flavors chow call style to much laughter and take orders, deliver bowls. Youngsters (3/C) stow leftovers, 2/C scrape plates and wash dishes, 1/C load dishwasher and put things away (they are well-trained by then). It’s a team effort. Tutorials are always available for life skill chores.
- As plebes move on to other classes, they quite rightly become more independent, going off with friends, having a car, etc. We might only see upperclass on a Sunday when they drop by to do a load of laundry, snoop for leftovers from whatever we fed the plebes, snack on a Naval Bagel, go for a long run and take a nap or do some required reading for class.
- We listen to frustrations, roommate drama, love life blow-ups, indecisions about major, service selection worries, summer training choices, etc.
- We are the “default setting” when they are out of money or ideas. We are not their parents, but adults willing to offer a home away from home to young adults
- There are many styles of sponsorship. Some sponsors take their mids out for meals or see them less often. It’s very fluid. Mids figure out whether it’s a good fit for them, as do we. Some mids find they don’t need or want the option. It’s all good. I just What’s Apped a bit earlier this evening with an alumni sponsor family member in Bahrain, now a captain themselves, who wears DH’s command at sea pin, as the first mid family member to earn command at sea. Some we are extraordinarily close to as family members, others less so, some have drifted away - just like blood-related families.
- We meet our new plebes at the Sponsor Social, usually the Sunday afternoon before PPW. At that time, we provide an info sheet on us to share with families and an invitation to stop by between 2-5 PM on the Saturday of PPW, usually a time they might be out and about with family. We know parents want to see the home and meet the family. We end up creating great relationships with them over the years.
- We attend every wedding and change of command and other sponsor family event we can, years after they have graduated. We have countless sponsor grandchildren now - including some who attended NASS and STEM and sports camps last summer!
Just one story of what midshipman sponsoring can be, a potentially lifelong, richly rewarding relationship. There are dozens of families in the Annapolis area, with or without military background, who are king-time sponsors. Several of our neighbors sponsor. Plebes are now young adults on active duty in the military. They are no longer kids (though they will always be kids to their parents). This is a safe first step to creating relationships with adults from other generations away from their own families. They figure it out.
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- Sep 27, 2008
- Messages
- 24,309
@Capt MJ, so when is this book coming out???
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2010
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- 6,953
I absolutely loved my sponsor family who lived out in Cape St Clair. Mids had a couple of bedrooms in the basement which was also used for Midshipmen dates who were in for the weekend. I even had chores to do including lawn mowing and cleaning the "landmines" out of the dog run. They were not my original (official) sponsors but rather some folks who I met through a religious group and they had a robust mix of different classes. As a plebe who was definitely in the crosshairs within the hall, having some firsties and second class who were actually human to me was a revelation. "Fight Club" rules prevailed within the "family" and there were times that upperclassmen drove me back to the yard on Saturday night when my liberty expired. They allowed me to keep a car out at their house starting Youngster Year and Sponsor Dad helped work on it when I needed help.
They moved to Manassas during my 1/C year and we kept visiting when we could. Sadly, they both passed away within a decade or so of my graduation so they never got to sponsor the next generation.
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- 24,309
Another great story above. And not atypical.
Supes and Dants and other “grad” officers around the Yard often mention their sponsors and the ongoing relationship or with fond memories.
I have a milestone birthday this year. I’ve told DH one of the things I want is a big gathering of every sponsor family member close enough to come and story-telling time. So many stories - good, bad, sad, hilarious.
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Many of our sponsor mid alumni, while at the Naval War College for a year, or on USNA staff, sponsored NAPSters or plebes. They called me for remembered crowd-feed pleaser recipes and commented on they now realized the work required. But they loved doing it.
MID2029MM
Member
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- Sep 8, 2024
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Thank you, Capt MJ! I am very new to this. You just gave me very positive information, which I will let my DS sign up for. Hopefully, he can match up with a great sponsor family like yours. I would love him to have a warm heart and a feeling of family.Start here:
Be sure to read through all the hamburger menu items.USNA Sponsor Program
USNA Sponsor Program page for USNA Sponsor Program at USNA.edu. Updated Wed May 17 16:34:35 EDT 2023.www.usna.edu
And here:
How to Sponsor a USNA Midshipman
Considering one of the great Navy traditions of sponsoring a USNA midshipman from the Brigade of Midshipmen? Join the Annapolis family and learn more here!
As for trust - there is a background check and training. It is not a mandatory program for any plebe. It’s an option. And, if their assigned sponsor is not a good fit, they may tag along to a roomie’s or other classmate’s sponsor and get adopted. In our Class of 2025 4 sponsor mids, one is an adoptee. She just started coming over with her roomie and liked it.
Now, run an external Google search on SAF (sometimes easier than using SAF Search tool) to bring up the many, many threads here on sponsor program. Try this targeted search string in Google:
site:www.serviceacademyforums.com USNA midshipman sponsor family program
On a personal note, as my DH and I drove cross-country in early July many years ago as I executed orders to join the USNA staff, my DH (A Grad) turned to me (A Grad of Another Fine Institution) and said, “We are going to apply to sponsor mids as soon as you check in.” He had the best memories of his sponsor family as an oasis he could escape to on days he could leave USNA.
One of the best and most rewarding, decisions ever. We have been sponsoring for 25+ years. We are close in a special bonded way to our mid and alumni family. They come back as grads and stay with us for reunions, weddings, etc. I already have 12 Morher’s Day cards from the alumni sponsor family. This past Easter, we had several alumni at our dinner table, all either on AD in the area or out of the Navy or Marine Corps and working locally. The table was full of warm laughter, memories and stories. For 20 years, we took 5 new plebes a year, now it’s usually “friends & family referral” or just 2 a year.
This is typical:
- Send out weekly text, see who wants to come over, any special requests. “When you pick me up, can we stop by the Commissary so I can get some Halloween candy to have in our room when the upperclass come around?”
- See how fast the plebes can scurry downstairs to the mid bedrooms where we keep a stash of leftover USNA issue PE gear (shorts, blue rims, sweats, etc.) and change out of their uniforms. They root around in the drawers, looking for vintage gear with old mid numbers sharpied on them. A mid’s alpha number is always the last digits of their class year plus 4 random numbers to make a unique number. Incoming Class of 2029 will be 29+4 digits.
- Watch them hit the designated mid snack pantry shelf, raid the refrigerator, decide to make brownies, find a movie to stream on the big screen surround sound room downstairs while sprawling on the sofa while doing homework, having started a load of laundry.
- They snooze. On sofas, in beds, sitting upright with open laptop, with the dogs. They take long showers. They bond among themselves. They go off to get alone time in other rooms in the house, emerging for dinner. They play the piano.
- We give them rides to the airport. We see them over the summer as they go and come from summer training and stay with us as they transition from 1 training block to another, if they don’t have to stay in Bancroft.
- They join us on holidays if they can’t get home. We have had great fun with international mids and introducing them to eating pie for breakfast and Thanksgiving leftovers.
- They are welcome to join us as we cook dinner for a big table of mids from all classes, sometimes with a visiting alumni big sponsor sister or brother. The upper classes give insight and advice. The laughter, inside jokes and mutual support are awesome to watch. As we and mids clear the table, every clsss has a job. Plebes gather ice creams (always 5-6 Tillamook or Turkey Hill flavors), bowls, spoons, scoops, announce flavors chow call style to much laughter and take orders, deliver bowls. Youngsters (3/C) stow leftovers, 2/C scrape plates and wash dishes, 1/C load dishwasher and put things away (they are well-trained by then). It’s a team effort. Tutorials are always available for life skill chores.
- As plebes move on to other classes, they quite rightly become more independent, going off with friends, having a car, etc. We might only see upperclass on a Sunday when they drop by to do a load of laundry, snoop for leftovers from whatever we fed the plebes, snack on a Naval Bagel, go for a long run and take a nap or do some required reading for class.
- We listen to frustrations, roommate drama, love life blow-ups, indecisions about major, service selection worries, summer training choices, etc.
- We are the “default setting” when they are out of money or ideas. We are not their parents, but adults willing to offer a home away from home to young adults
- There are many styles of sponsorship. Some sponsors take their mids out for meals or see them less often. It’s very fluid. Mids figure out whether it’s a good fit for them, as do we. Some mids find they don’t need or want the option. It’s all good. I just What’s Apped a bit earlier this evening with an alumni sponsor family member in Bahrain, now a captain themselves, who wears DH’s command at sea pin, as the first mid family member to earn command at sea. Some we are extraordinarily close to as family members, others less so, some have drifted away - just like blood-related families.
- We meet our new plebes at the Sponsor Social, usually the Sunday afternoon before PPW. At that time, we provide an info sheet on us to share with families and an invitation to stop by between 2-5 PM on the Saturday of PPW, usually a time they might be out and about with family. We know parents want to see the home and meet the family. We end up creating great relationships with them over the years.
- We attend every wedding and change of command and other sponsor family event we can, years after they have graduated. We have countless sponsor grandchildren now - including some who attended NASS and STEM and sports camps last summer!
Just one story of what midshipman sponsoring can be, a potentially lifelong, richly rewarding relationship. There are dozens of families in the Annapolis area, with or without military background, who are king-time sponsors. Several of our neighbors sponsor. Plebes are now young adults on active duty in the military. They are no longer kids (though they will always be kids to their parents). This is a safe first step to creating relationships with adults from other generations away from their own families. They figure it out.
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- Sep 27, 2008
- Messages
- 24,309
He can sign up, test drive it, find a good match - or not - get adopted elsewhere - or decide it’s not for him. No doubt you raised him to have common sense and think things through on his own, so you can be confident he will navigate this small decision on his own.
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- Sep 27, 2008
- Messages
- 24,309
When a plebe has town liberty (can leave USNA Yard, stay within a certain radius), they can simply walk out a gate into DTA. wearing the prescribed uniform. They can take public transportation to a local movie theater or mall, go to Target or the Navy Exchange or Commissary or Whole Foods or ChickFilA, etc. They can go solo or go with classmates, as a plebe. This starts with the ac year. Each successive year, more town liberty and weekends/overnights are available.
The sponsor program is completely voluntary, not a requirement, but a great option to have - a home environment.
There will be times when a plebe has to stay on the Yard, typically when they have the watch or are in the duty section. That is military life. If they are unsat in some graded area or in a restricted status due to an awarded punishment, possibly for misconduct, they may not have the privilege of town liberty.
They will learn all about this. Then they will teach you. Always ask about visiting. They may not be able to leave the Yard or may not have Yard liberty, when they can have visitors on the Yard in approved areas.
DS requested a sponsor family, but did not get one despite several follow-ups. However, his teammates and roommates made sure to bring him along when visiting their sponsor families, where he was welcomed, despite the copious amount of food they would consume. It is quite a program and based on our other college kids' experience, unique to the service academies.