Appointee Orientation... Yes? No?

<p>I don't know about other people, but if I can get out in the morning, I'm still coming. For either of the other dates I would have to miss a band concert in which I have a solo or a tennis tournament, which really doesn't work out.</p>

<p>Did anyone make it to orientation last weekend?? I'm anxious to hear from anyone who has about their experiences there. Did you get a real feel for a day in the life of...? Please post...</p>

<p>Hey,
I just got back from orientation. I didn't arrive at the academy until 11:00 on Monday thanks to the ice-covered interstate, but it didn't sound like I missed much. Basically, we just had lunch, had a couple of briefings about BCT, medical stuff, honor code, etc. Then they drove us back to the field house to meet up with our cadet. From there, it was a day in the life because you went everywhere with your escort. Overall, I got a really good feel for what life is like there and am probably going to sign the papers within the next week. All of the cadets are more than willing to answer any questions you have and will tell you the truth and not sugarcoat it. Oh, and if you want to buy your boots, get a money order for $99.89 because the people who were supposed to sell them to us on Monday didn't show up, so we all had to inconvenience our cadet by going to the bank on Tuesday. If you want to know anything else, just let me know.</p>

<p>Bluefalcon...glad you made it, glad you like it! Did you get to go to all of your cadet's classes and practices? Did you sleep in your sleeping bag on the floor? Did your parents go with? What did they do?</p>

<p>Okay, now the million dollar question...what kind of boots did you get...all leather or soft sided?</p>

<p>I called the academy yesterday because there was a descrepancy(sp?) with what was emailed to us and what the actual boot would be. I talked with a Mr. Robinson, the civilian in charge of the cadet issue office, and he said that what they are selling is in fact the soft sided boot. The upperclassmen have been able to wear them for at least a year now but we will be the first class of doolies to have them. Just to let everyone know.</p>

<p>If we're unable to make orientation and would like to break in our boots before hand, how do we go about ordering the boots???</p>

<p>we fly out sunday with a layover in houston - i wonder if there will be a flood of people due to the weather messing alot of plans last week - we are staying at the staybridge - anyone out there with similar plans?</p>

<p>Ok, I'll see if I can answer everything here.
I only ended up going to one class with my cadet because she was a glider instructor for most of the morning, but it was cancelled so she was studying for a GR she had that afternoon. So, I went to another class with her roommate and another later with another girl from her squadron. Basically, if you want to go to a specific class, just tell your escort and he or she will probably be more than willing to find someone who has it (we literally talked to everyone in her squadron who was in the dorms at that time, but most didn't even have class much that day).
My escort wasn't an intercollegiate athlete, so I don't know about practices, but intramurals were cancelled due to the snow, so it might be different for you.
I believe that they gave a cot to each escort for their appointee to sleep on, but mine had already worked it out to get a matress before I got there, so I slept on top of that in my sleeping bag.
My parents did come with me and I think that if your parents are still unsure about letting you go, it's a very good program for them to attend. We got there late so we didn't hear all the briefings, but the ones that we did hear were informative and helped a lot. Much of the time was spent on BCT and what to bring, how to prepare, etc. Oh yeah, and MSgt Coleman who is going to be in charge of it was talking to everybody during lunch and man, that guy is going to be hardcore.
Once 4:00 rolls around, all the appointees get on busses back to the fieldhouse where you meet up with a cadet. You basically get whoever you pick or whoever picks you unless you've been preassigned. I believe that the parents came back on the busses after we did, but there was nothing else for them to do, so they just left.
The boots are soft-sided and to me at least seem pretty cool. I think I'm going to start breaking them in this weekend.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions, just let me know.
Oh, and bring sandals for the showers because I forgot that...no need to get athlete's foot.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, from what I saw on the sign-in list, probably only about a third of those signed up for the 11-12 orientation showed up, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is packed next weekend. It doesn't really matter though since you most just hang out with your cadet and his or her friends.</p>

<p>Ooh, so I'm going on the crazy fun extra people weekend.
Bluefalcon, did many girls wear skirts? I really don't want to have to go buy nice pants before I come to this, and I honestly don't own any khakis or black pants or anything like that (I wear skirts all the time, and uniforms at school). Should I make a trip to the mall soon, or is it okay to tentatively plan to wear skirts that are considered appropriate for church or a school function?</p>

<p>We didn't get and agenda for orientation but I found this online
Maybe it would be helpful to someone</p>

<p><a href="http://atlas.usafa.af.mil/pa/agenda.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://atlas.usafa.af.mil/pa/agenda.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks for the link, it was helpful :)</p>

<p>Sparklemouse,
I didn't see any girls wearing a skirt. You would probably stand out a lot with that, so I'd advise against it. Everyone was wearing either khakis or jeans. If you have a nice pair of jeans I'd go with that because you'd blend in more. Afterall, remember that any 2 or 3 degree you meet could be cadre for BCT this summer and them remembering you would not be a good thing. Just my advice.</p>

<p>Mom had the final say anyway, skirts officially are out.
We went shopping this evening (right before the mall closed o_o), and bought a pair of nice jeans and a pair of nice grey pants, like you'd wear to work if you worked in a business office. I have a nice sweater thing that'll go alright with the grey pants and everything matches jeans, so I hope I'll blend in now and keep a low profile :)</p>