<p>Your best bet is to buy EXACTLY what they tell you to buy if you are going to get them before Beast starts. Candidates that accept appointments will be sent a letter telling them what to buy.</p>
<p>I am confussed. Our letter doesn't say anything about issue or commercial boots. It just says tan hot weather. What are we missing?</p>
<p>I would call the folks at AAFES. I remember them being very helpful last year---tell them you are buying for a new cadet. You can order right over the phone.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aafes.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.aafes.com/</a></p>
<p>well i got some desert boots from my unit, and i went to travisAFB today and "they" said that you can get either issue or commercial, hot weather or temperate. i don't trust dem clowns. i sent in my appointment paperwork, and havent heard back yet. i got me a pair of oxfords. are you allowed to use parade gloss at wp? diff people say diff things. ie. cheating vs its okay....</p>
<p>You could also give the West Point Post Exchange a call, it's not toll-free though: 446-5404/5405 and ask for military clothing sales. Cadets are purchasing the new boot and ACUs there so those folks will also know.</p>
<p>Every year the boot discussion seems to cause a lot of stress and concern and then parents spend R Day and those first weeks until a letter or phone call wondering if the boots/low quarters were the right ones, did they fit correctly, were new ones issued, etc. Then when you finally get to communicate and ask about boots/shoes you'll get an "it's okay" answer because so many other things take priority. </p>
<p>The important thing is to condition the feet to a boot and to the low quarters. Even if a Cadet Candidate shows up with the wrong style, at least their feet will be ready...and new boots/shoes will be issued. From what I'm hearing, the new boot is fairly comfortable from the beginning. Give lots of time to the low quarters - those are source of potential (and serious) foot, ankle, shin and knee problems. Don't think of breaking in the shoes/boots solely in terms of blisters...think long hours, standing.</p>
<p>nova07 sums it up. Focus on the low quarters. The all leather Bates ones are the ones they've been issuing for 3 years now, so I'd say they'll stick with thoses. They are hard to find because no one uses leather shoes anymore in the military...</p>
<p>As far as boots go, you'll have forever and a day to work them in, you do like 3 mile road marches with 2 stops to check feet slotted in, and the new ACU boots break in very easily. The difference in those boots (you cant tell by looking), the the temperate vs. hot weather. The temperate have gore-tex on the inside to keep your feet warm; no exactly something you will need during Beast...From my experience, you cant go wrong with the Bellevilles, and even if for some reason, they dont let you wear them and make you get issed two other pairs (which I highly doubt), you'll still have them for later after promotion and in your Army career. Too much worrying about it going on here, worry about getting in shape and enjoying your last months of freedom...</p>
<p>Rasdad - You're right the letter says that tan colored, hot weather ACU boots must be purchased, but does not say that issue boots are required. When we went to the Fort Bragg AAFES store the shoe department said that my son would need issue boots and told us that they only had commercial boots in stock. Since the letter makes no mention of this, my son phoned WP, and Staff Sargeant Larry McCoy (the contact listed on the letter) to confirm. They confirmed that 2010 candidate cadets are only authorized to buy the issue boots not the commercial boots. </p>
<p>yomtvraps - Thanks for the tip, we will go down and check them out.</p>
<p>8izEnuff, you're not allowed to have desert boots. They're different than the ACU boots, and the difference is pretty obvious when you see them side by side.</p>
<p>thats probably why they gave me them then. gotta love the military.</p>
<p>"Too much worrying about it going on here, worry about getting in shape and enjoying your last months of freedom..."</p>
<p>Never fear, the prom, senior class trip and summer vacation have not been forgotten in this household - I'm hoping that the AP exams have not been forgotten either...</p>
<p>Our daughter went to the PX at West Point during her overnight visit to buy the low-quarters.</p>
<p>She encountered an exceptionally hostile and unhelpful clerk in the shoe section. The cadet who accompanied her offered to buy the shoes because the clerk wouldn't sell them unless my daughter had her acceptance letter on her person. It turned out they didn't have her size in stock anyway. (no women's 7 or 7 1/2)</p>
<p>Welcome to the post civilian employees who believe it is part of their job to add to cadet anxiety!</p>
<p>Having had a son at West Point several years ago, I have come to believe the whole "boot and shoe" run-around each year for Cadet Candidates is a planned haze. <vbg></vbg></p>
<p>Same son, just back from a deployment, is still having difficulty with blistering on his feet as a result of the abuse his feet took in poorly fitted and un-broken-in footwear in Beast. Bad enought that they took pictures of his feet at the clinic. Had never had a problem prior to that. (Boy Scout High Adventures and long distance running included)</p>
<p>And so it goes ...</p>
<p>Eh, you know how it works 8izEnuff. It's stupid like that.</p>
<p>I have heard good things, until now, about the folks in the shoe department at the WP exchange. Sorry your daughter had a bad experience. Insisting civilian customers have the authorization letter is one thing, but being rude about it shouldn't be necessary.</p>
<p>Tend to agree about the candidate shoe/boot thing...same questions, same stress every year prior to R Day. </p>
<p>We know a number of cadets who have been on a soft shoe profile since Beast (and some are Cows) thanks to problems started during that first summer.</p>
<p>Hopefully the new boot will help...but those low quarters are the source of all evil.</p>
<p>you find yourself arguing with the s4. "no- i wont sign for this. this medkit has holes in it. the ruck has no kidney pad. the bladder has holes."</p>
<p>who cares about the APs, they don't count at WP anyway, (except a 5 is US hist.) the class experience is the importent stuff.</p>
<p>Also, anyone here get bellevilles too big. Mine were like a size off the #.</p>
<p>Not sure what AP's have to do with boot size, but.....you'll be happy to have those AP and IB classes to help you validate anything you can possibly validate. Going into a higher chemisty, skipping American history, and a more advanced English class (if you validate) can make a huge difference in a couple ways. One, you won't be bored. Two, you'll have more room in your schedule once you declare your major.</p>
<p>My Cow daughter's advise to high school kids thinking about a service academy when she comes home is to take the AP and IB exams seriously. Those scores do make a huge difference.</p>
<p>I would second Nova07"s comments on the AP's. Our daughter told us she was sooo glad she took the classes and the tests---They helped her validate some courses and more importantly they helped lay the groundwork for her success in her plebe classes.</p>
<p>nova, check a few post up...</p>
<p>as i said, the classes are importent, but the 3,4,5 etc means nothing.</p>
<p>I guess I don't understand what you mean by "the classes are importent [sic], but the 3,4,5 etc means nothing". You need a certain score on the exam to validate. If the classes are important and you do well in them and on the exams, then you can validate out. Why say the classes are important but the exam scores are not?</p>
<p>My point is, certainly the knowledge gained from an AP or IB class will help a student in college, but sometimes, due to senioritis or whatever, students dismiss the importance of trying to get the highest score possible on the exams. I know a number of cadets who arrived for Beast with a pocket full of AP/IB courses, classes they had obviously done well in but ended up wishing they'd tried a bit harder on those final exams as the exam score is what kept them from validating. As they suffered through Plebe History during the academic year...they wished it even more.</p>
<p>Yesterday, my dad and I drove down to Fort Knox, Kentucky from Columbus, Ohio to buy some boots, well they didn't have my size. So, we pretty much drove 8 hours for nothing. So, I called Ms. Brigitte Brown (from the cadet boot letter) this morning and ordered two pairs of boots and the low quarters. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell me what brand I had ordered (lol I was desperate), she just said that I was getting what the other candidates are getting. Does anyone know what I just ordered? I'm sure they'll be nice, but I'd just like to know.</p>