<p>I need to email some of this to my kid. He thinks the Coastie's have it easier than he does. He says you guys get to have hair but wait til I tell him that they are still eating their meals like robots. Hair or dribbling soup? Bet he'd do without the hair if he had to make the choice. Gotta love that service dress. You guys look sharp! Cadet T, I hate to say this but I really feel I must. Go KP beat CG. But I like ya anyways! Will you intership at any time over your summer as well?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, except for the few doing Ocean racing we still dont know our summer assignments. We wont find out until billet night on March second. This is the day where the 1/c find out where theyll be going as ensigns; the Professional Development center usually waits until then to releases the underclass assignments as well.</p>
<p>My main desire to be a member of the Eagle cadre, perhaps even a mast captain or Department head. Unlike most years the competition is very stiff; some 56 of my classmates applied for a total of 21 slots. Usually they have difficulty finding volunteers that would rather miss out on swab summer than go to Eagle. The competition is tough, but Im relatively confidant about my chances on getting the assignment; I did really well on my performance report from Eagle, Im on the Offshore sailing team so I can bring that experience along, and my class standing is pretty good. If I get chosen then instead of doing three weeks of swab summer Ill be sailing with the swabs from Newport, RI to Portsmouth, NH to Boston, MA and finally to Greenport, NY. The rest of the summer will be spent doing several short activities. Luders (sail training; essentially yachting around Long Island sound for two weeks.) Well also be going to the pistol range (And the rumor is swabs will be going as well, though neither of us will work on the M-16 qualification, only the handgun.) Another week will be spent at CATP (Cadet Aviation Training Program) where well get to go up in helicopters, jumping out of them, and learning about the aviation side of the Coast Guard. One week is also slated for Damage control training at the Sub Base across the river. They put us in a compartment and fill it with water and force you to patch a burst pipe, or fight a real fire. One of the most important weeks is when we have classroom time to study for our closed book Rules of the Road exam thats required to stand watch on a ship. The final week is spent on guided discussion with officers about how the summer went and how it changed us as leaders. Theres also time in the schedule where the 2/c are given cleaning responsibilities in Chase Hall. Last year they replaced all the ceiling tiles and painted rooms. Theres also a guaranteed three weeks of leave.</p>
<p>If I dont get chosen for Eagle cadre Ill be waterfront staff during swab summer, running the sailing done by both the swabs and AIM. Waterfront is a collateral duty though, Id still be living with the other Swab summer cadre in the barracks doing the drill instructor bit for the new swabs. Id also still go to all the same other programs, its just the three weeks that would be spent sailing would be in New London instead.</p>
<p>There arent really chances to do internships 2/c summer. Most of those are done by 1/c. They spend five weeks at an internship and five weeks underway on a cutter as opposed to a ten week cruise that other cadets do. The only assignments available for 2/c are Eagle Cadre, AIM cadre (For rising High school Seniors thinking about the academy; a one week mini-swab summer), Swab Summer Cadre, NAPS cadre (Naval Academy Preparatory school), CGRIT cadre (Coast Guard Recruiting Initative for Tomorrow? Its a minority centric recruiting program similar to NAPS) or Ocean Racing/Waterfront Cadre. This summer is all about leading a group of subordinates and they want everyone to have the Swab summer experience or something similar.</p>
<p>1/c can go to a cutter for ten weeks, or go to an internship part of the time. These can range from civilian science internships to working at Coast Guard headquarters giving intelligence briefings. I would say most internships are at Coast Guard bases working on some engineering project. 3/c will spend five weeks on their cutter and five weeks on Eagle. 1/c and 3/c can also spend the first six weeks Ocean Racing if theyre on the sailing team. Theyre doing the very cool Newport-Bermuda race this year which should be a blast. The 3/c will get off the Ocean racing boats in Bermuda and get on Eagle to finish their second phase transit. The 2/c ocean racers only get to be on for half the time, the rest will be spent doing Swab Summer Waterfront and all of the other programs except for the Luders.</p>
<p>Ok soccer now doesn't this sound more interesting and exciting than trudging up Mt. Curahee with a 50 pound ruck sack?</p>
<p>Quote from weski:</p>
<p>"WOW! I have only half an idea of what you just said so well, Cadet Tino! Boss, can you translate? I think it sounds like fun - after the 4c have been miserable. When do your 4/c get decent privileges - is that the purpose of 100 day?"</p>
<p>The 4/c don't get "full carry-on" until late April I believe...CT correct me if I'm wrong.</p>
<p>4/c at USCGA do get some privileges and probably more liberty than some of the other academies.</p>
<p>Boss, I like the sound of this a lot :) but I can't let go of USMA just yet! CadetTino-what exactly happens during Swab Summer? I know absolutley nothing about it really. Thank you so much for all the information!</p>
<p>What, and ruin the surprise? =)</p>
<p>Warning: I kind of jump around from topic to topic. Sorry about that.</p>
<p>The summer starts off with you forming a line with the other members of your company. The cadre will come out and start giving out orders right away. One minute to file alphabetically. Pick up your bags! Move! Put them down! etc. Theyll march you through the archways into the new quad where youll get the This is not Camp Coast Guard speech. You can imagine what happens for most of the first day; uniform issue, moving into rooms, haircuts, class photo, and your last chance to say goodbye to your parents. You wont be doing any PT until you take the Personal Fitness Test again and get checked out by medical on the second day. </p>
<p>Other than that, the summer kind of blurs together. Youll have lots of class time; refresher math in addition to Coast Guard rates and ranks, the Human Relations policies, Academy regulations, social training, honor training, and even computer training towards the end of the summer. Youll do calisthenics every morning and run, swim, or go to the weight room on certain days. Youll be going to the waterfront to sail on some of the Colgate-26s we have. Rumor is youll also be qualifying on the SigSaur P229 DAK pistol, a first for Swab Summer (And with the CGs new .40 cal gun to, as opposed to the 9mm). Towards the end youll do one of those teambuilding ropes courses. The O-course is MIA right now, theyre redoing the field that it sits on. It should be done be Spring, so hopefully theyll have the course back together for Swab summer. Some time everyday is also spent with intercompany sports competitions(Soccer, softball, flag football Frisbee). </p>
<p>A large portion of the summer is spent in hurry-up and wait mode. You can never do things fast enough, but then you have to stand at attention on the bulkhead and wait for the group ahead of you to be done. You use this time to study any indoc (required knowledge). Things like the rank structure, the names of the entire cadre (Though itll be interesting to see how thatll work this year given the changes to the system.), Coast Guard cutters and history, meals, and most importantly: the Mission of the Academy. </p>
<p>Youll constantly have cadre quizzing you and putting on the pressure. Uniform and room inspections are a daily event, with even the tiniest discrepancy resulting in a room that looks like a tornado went through it. Bigger company wide formal inspections are held once a week. You also learn how to march and drill, and basic rifle movements. Youre given time in the evening to study indoc, shine shoes, or write letters. The cadre will pick up your mail and deliver it to you that day. Youre also given Sunday mornings to go to church. I suggest, even if youre not overly religious. (Im not.) For one, they have doughnuts. More importantly, it gives you a chance to meet your classmates; you cant talk or look around at each other in the halls so its a rare chance to interact with them like you would as normal people. (Wednesday night vespers (prayer/youth groups) are another story. Use that time for study/uniform.)</p>
<p>Good job as always CT. The point is, all of the academies' summer training programs are tough. A lot of kids don't make it; in fact last year a young lady left on R-day. But the majority survive and are better for it. It's no "day at the beach" for the kids and the parents go through a lot of anxiety not hearing from their children for days or weeks at a time. Last year we didn't hear from our son for about 10 days and we were wondering what happened. Turns out one of his post cards got lost in the mail somewhere and finally arrived with a very upbeat message. Some of them are depressing as the cadet seeks to vent his/her frustrations, so the parents shouldn't panic if this happens.
Funny thing is, someday you'll look back at your first summer and laugh. Maybe sooner!</p>
<p>thanks cadettino, its good to have a cadet with tons of info to share</p>
<p>and thanks bossf51, its good to a mother's opinion in here.</p>
<p>ha ha good one Taffy girl!</p>
<p>CadetTino-
I'm trying to arrange an overnight visit, but its looking like the dates won't match up for me at all. Is it worth it to go for a daily visit? I just really want to talk to cadets and see what life is like, but do you know anything about the daily visits? I guess they are only 3 hours long, that's why I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it. Thanks</p>