<p>So I spent a day at USMMA visiting and what the mids told me most often was "Avoid band company!"</p>
<p>Can anyone shed some more light on the horrors of band company?</p>
<p>The band isn't bad if you don't have other things you want to do while at the academy. if you play a fall sport, you may have a lot of conflicts with the beat retreat, and usually you are forced to do band over athletics.</p>
<p>hmmm, where to start....</p>
<p>Band takes up a good amount of time in the fall, two beat retreat practices a week at night, plus there are some morning practices at 7am and you'll play colors outside every morning while everyone else just marches. It's not as big of a commitment as a high school marching band. You can play a fall sport, lots of kids do, there are even a few football players in band. Athletics generally win out over band, you just have to be kind of hard nosed when dealing with people who say, "no you gotta be here." Kids do XC, football, crew, sail, etc. </p>
<p>It used to be like all the upperclassmen in band were more strict...well that's what I heard when I was a plebe. I don't know...seems to me like every company has it's morons. I'm in band, if you couldn't figure it out. I'm not saying I like it, but I can deal with it.</p>
<p>Stereotypically, your Band Co member is a regimental prick who is overweight, doesn't play sports and out of shape who complains about doing PT. They also, because they are the "Pride of the Regiment," think they are better than the other companies.</p>
<p>Whether that is true or not is up for debate.</p>
<p>I was really inspired by Beat Retreat... (the only Parent thing I've been able to observe.).
Frankly, I'm impressed.</p>
<p>TIME.TIME.TIME.
EVERYTHING is going to be hard/time tradeoff/etc.
Let's just say that Band Co isn't overly burdened with athletes.
So, some of the other companies razz them along those lines.</p>
<h2>However, Band Co earned the entire group some special liberty at Parents Weekend/Beat Retreat.... I didn't hear a SINGLE complaint THEN ;) Nope. Not a single one.</h2>
<p>Net-net...
Follow your heart.
If you have some talent and enjoy it... DO IT. (won't be many others in OTHER companies that get to keep doing something they enjoy. Nice little escape)
Oh yeah, START RUNNING. Run regularly.</p>
<p>Special Liberty is always granted on Parent's weekend, as is every class year "the best the school has ever seen," and how each year the plebes "earn recognition." ;)</p>
<p>hahahah. I'm such a sucker for positive stories...
314.. don't go telling me cynical stories about Easter Bunny or other things..</p>
<p>all-in-all, i don't know anyone that likes being in the band. if you're a really skilled musician, chances are, you'll be bored senseless. as i told many people last year, you can't even play a radio. go with it. it's worth not being harrassed your plebe year just to deny playing anything.
after plebe year, not many people in the other co's really care, but even so...</p>
<p>k314sig09 - you must not know very many band co m/n. As from my sign on name, you can guess that my son is in band co. He is not overweight nor have I found any of his friends that are overweight. My son was on the swim team in high school and is very active. Playing may not be a top item of interest to him, but he has very good friends in band that he is glad to be there with. They don't like "regimental pricks" either, but he has found a few in band co and he has found a few in the other companies also. He tries to avoid all of them but they seem to pop up everywhere. </p>
<p>And with the attitude that you are showing, I am wondering about you, but am hoping for the best.</p>
<p>davygravy3 is a BAND JOCK...!!!! :eek:
My son had some friends in Band Co., although he won't normally
admit it... :) jk...
That's okay davy, I've sailed with a few former Band Co. guys and they were alright in my book... Not a "prick" among 'em</p>
<p>Maybe us supportive "band moms" are too out of the loop to give an accurate answer, but I completely agree with 2010bandmom's comments. If you are looking for negative comments about band, perhaps it's not a place where you will be happy. My son was told by a Mid to avoid band at all costs just before Indoc. With all the reasons presented to him, I think he considered it. But he has found it to be a good company: arguably it is a tighter group and generates more camaraderie. It also made Indoc more interesting when band broke away from the daily grind to practice.</p>
<p>If you love music and want to test your limits and experience a level of band participation that far exceeds high school, give 'er a try. You'll have to find your own fit as well as the positive side of the situation. It will be what you want make it.</p>
<p>In my defense, I did say "stereotypically." People in band co are just like my description in the same sense that all Irishmen are drunks, all asians are good at math and all the cadets from CG are retarded... ;)</p>
<p>I know quite a few people in band co and am friends with a lot of them.</p>
<p>On a side note, my personal bias on sports (something few people would agree with) is something along the lines of "there are only 4 sports, everything else is a game."</p>
<p>Two of these sports we have at KP and one has been slightly illegal since the days of the Roman Empire...
However, there are exceptions to the Band Co Rule, the head of the boxing team is in Band Co and an '06 grad was a great wrestler.</p>
<p>Two words:</p>
<p>Captain Force</p>
<p>okay a few more words:
A few years back (btw: a few years keeps getting to be a longer time frame for every year that passes since I graduated) some midshipmen took the golf cart used by CAPT Force and actually sent it off the end of the pier. Took forever to find and the regiment was threatened with losing money out of the m/n fund to pay for a replacement; however, one day on watch a very keen eyed midshipman (not me) noted the roof of the thing sticking up at low tide. Apparently, just prior to graduation the year prior someone had taken the thing and driven it all around campus, down stairs, everything and then sent it off into the water. (wow, now that i've typed this it sure doesn't sound as interesting a story, oh well)</p>
<p>Haha ok thanks for the advice. Sounds a lot like high school band really. One of the funnier things that the mids told me to do was that after they write a "B" (for Band company) on my hand for indoc, wet my thumb and wash away the lines to make it look it look like a "3"</p>
<p>If you are really smart, Zoober you'll take a marker and change it to a 2 :D</p>
<p>2nd co? But 4th is twice as good as 2nd.
Basic math. Everybody knows that ;)
2 x 2nd = 4th</p>
<p>Woo, all hail the mighty fourth co!</p>
<p>basically, just avoid band. not that the guys in it are bad, but Capt. Force seems to slip a little further off his rocker continuously. i'm an avid musician, i love music more than most things in life, but i wouldn't want to be in band here. too much committment, too little (if any) reward.</p>
<p>Fourth co. rocks!!!!</p>
<p>All Hail the Mighty 4th Co
You bring the whiskey, I'll bring the Coors
Send some plebes out for some gin
Don't let any sober officers in
We'll never stagger, We'll never fall
We'll sober up on grain alcohol
When we die we'll burn in hell
For the Glory of ol' fourth co
FOURTH CO</p>