<p>I’ve heard many things ranging from “Don’t be associated with them” to “Just don’t do anything stupid”. I was hoping the appointees to 2013 could get some expert advice on how best to protect ourselves from a little extra attention during BCT.</p>
<p>I’m an admin/officer for an unspecified USAFA related group and my real name is on the net so is that a guarantee for extra attention? I’ve never done anything stupid to anger possible cadre to my knowledge so how worried should I be?</p>
<p>Ya i'm with my fellow appointee on this one. I heard the upperclassmen check Facebooks? hmmmmm i might want to get the Full Metal Jacket and American Pie quotes off of there.... ;)</p>
<ol>
<li>Don't associate with groups that bash the academy or upperclassmen.<br></li>
<li>Don't bost about yourself, your experiences, or your goals. You are probably not unique and probably don't know as much as you think you do.</li>
<li>Don't try to make yourself look like "all that." You might be God's gift to South Bend HS, but you are about to go from being the big fish in the small pond to the tiny fish in a BIG ocean.</li>
</ol>
<p>ramius says it well. i'll be one of those cadre this summer, and may peruse some groups. however, unless someone starts bashing me and my classmates, i don't give two hoots about what you say or that you want to meet other ppl entering your class. just don't pretend your a cadet cause you aren't, and don't disrespect your future upperclassmen</p>
<p>Just use common sense?</p>
<p>(my expert advice ;))</p>
<p>i think you have to say something you know would be wrong to say in order to be called out during basic.</p>
<p>during the year, anyone who wants to find you will, regardless of facebook :)</p>
<p>as always, common sense prevails.</p>
<p>Alrighty then. That helps me out too. :) Good to know, thanks.
Course, its not like i was planning on starting some new blog or whatever that bashes the upperclassmen but still, good to know haha</p>
<p>F22- As long as you have your profile security set so that random people (non-friends) cannot see your profile (or quotes), you shouldn't have to worry. Unless you have a connection to the academy that may find it's way to a cadre. I think we have to be a little more worried about the publicly available information that is shown in the groups.</p>
<p>Question to cadets- In one of the groups on facebook, there appeared to be a cadet candidate from the prep school who was almost intimidating people saying "i'm the honor officer and i'll be taking names" when it says "Air Force Academy '13" for his network. He seemed to have threatened a girl who basically said "let them take names if they want, but this is almost a support group to help all of us survive BCT." So I guess my question is, is this guy legitimate or his he going on a power trip and trying to make himself look big before we get there? I understand that there is a bunch of sarcastic cynicism by cadets and preps but this just threw up a red flag for me.</p>
<p>in his case: preppy on a power trip. he's not even at the academy yet. he wont have a "position" at the academy until he's at least a 3 degree, and those positions arent very high. maybe he's honor officer at the prep school.. but it'll have no bearing whatsoever when he gets up on the hill.</p>
<p>just for another quick note... if you do go to the prep school, dont get too full of yourself. i've seen many a preppy in my class and here visiting for NCLS that think they're God's gift to USAFA. while they have good experiences and knowledge when it comes to military, you shouldnt flaunt it to make yourself seem better. especially those that watch us run on the strips while and mock us.. that's not good for them, nor is it respectful to us.</p>
<p>off the soap box :) just dont think you're better than anyone else when you get here, if you've had any prior experience. </p>
<p>facebook/myspace are good places to get to know classmates. use them. just make sure no one bashes cadre or lifts themselves above anyone else. and i'd recommend NOT having the "Air Force Academy '13" network on your profile til after basic. it'll be here soon enough, meanwhile, pleeeeeease enjoy high school and dont worry about this place. i promise, it's worth it</p>
<p>So that big picture of me in front of the F-22 poster, wearing a t-shirt with the words "FUTURE ACE" should be taken down?</p>
<p>i don't think you can have that for a network until you have a valid email address anyway.</p>
<p>hahahaha, luigi</p>
<p>or how about me riding a MK-84? (actually no joke have a picture of that!)</p>
<p>-especially those that watch us run on the strips while and mock us..
DOn't let that get you down. We're almost done with the fourth class experiance- they haven't even begun.
For 2013- Don't insult the classes already here on facebook. That's just stupid and incredibly disrespectful, especially if they recognize you on the first day of BCT. As for posting a picture of you riding a plane- no, that shouldn't be too bad. A caption next to it saying "I'm so blankity-blank bad, I will break 2010 and 2011", however, is very bad. Don't do that.</p>
<p>quick correction pss, it's a 1 ton bomb!</p>
<p>As long as we're on the lines of keeping anonymity online, is that kinda what the orientation dinner is for? To provide faces and <em>gulp</em> names to the people on here?</p>
<p>You're in good hands with us, no worries.</p>
<p>Personally I find that whole 'honor office' preppie to be rather funny. If that is who I think it is (because he had that stuff up a while ago) he is not even here anymore. He got out on a military/honor hit.</p>
<p>On the flip side HNeedle, don't discount ALL of our expirences with the military so easily. I realize, and will have to humble myself to the fact, that we are not cadets and you know the cadet life much better than we do. However, we do know the military better than most of you will for a few years after you leave the academy and our experiences as enlisted folks could prove invaluable, at the very least for how to lead troops that are older and have more experience in their field than you will as a fresh LT.</p>
<p>starvinmarvin, the people on here have been nothing but helpful all year. great support group when i need it. recognition may (and probably will) be different, but it will definitely have been worth it.</p>
<p>bluesuiter, some of the priors are excellent role models, and know how to distinguish between when it's time to have fun and when it's time to crack down and work. our wing commander is a prior/preppie that i know the vast majority of my squad, at least, respects greatly.</p>
<p>a lot of the preppies here though, seem to have an attitude that they don't need to follow the rules. this is definitely a generalization, and i've told you there are extreme exceptions. there are also others who feel they don't have to follow the rules who are not preppies. it's just easier to notice the preppies because they fall into a group (do you know what i'm saying?)</p>
<p>i think all hneedle is saying is that, although preppies have indeed been in a year longer than we, we're all 4 degs.</p>
<p>in my experience, priors are never the issue though.</p>
<p>Well I know I have had my own growing pains to this place, even the P school, so I can understand why it would appear that we priors/preppies don't care. A lot of us don't and so the generalization gets realized far too often.</p>
<p>I think a large part of it for us priors is that a lot of the upperclassmen (my turn to generalize) gun for us since we do know what to expect and they don't want us to jade the 'new guys' before they can train them to be cadets. I can understand why that would be frustrating, and also the fact that a lot us (myself included) view the training very differently than they would like. I view it as cadet training, they view it as AF training... fundamental leadership differences aside that is a big split.</p>
<p>The only hope I have to come to a happy medium is that we, as preppies, can learn to be humble and learn to be cadets while the upperclassmen use us to learn about leading enlisted guys. There is NOTHING more upsetting to me personally than knowing that a cadet is about to graduate that I wouldn't follow to Wal-Mart - let alone a battle. Use us, we know a lot more about leadership than we are given credit for.</p>
<p>absolutely, i agree.</p>
<p>i also agree. it's not ALL preppies, they just seem to get put into "that group" far more often.. i ask the priors in my squad alot of questions, because they actually know what goes on out there, and we dont. i respect them for that</p>