<p>I just sat down today with soon to be yuk and she said you actually are allowed to receive packages, but no food. It can only be stuff like shampoo and conditioner and they open the packages or watch you open it to make sure that there is no food or other unallowed things in it.</p>
<p>Hey guys!</p>
<p>Since we're on the topic of letters, do our contacts really have to send everything in a white envelope with an american flag sticker, or is that just a rumor?</p>
<p>Any advice is welcome!</p>
<p>i heard that rumor too. whats the story with that?</p>
<p>I think they're just saying that anything out of the ordinary (i.e. a pink envelope with a betty boop stamp) would merit a hazing session because it's different, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>White envelopes, flag stamps. No first names. Other things will get you 10 pushups for each offense. My parents dropped me off at RDay and went on vacation....for a month....which meant, that since I have a hyphenated first name, I had to do 20 pushups per letter they sent me. Not so good. Someone else sent me mail with birds on the stamps...I sang the 12 days of Christmas for that one...there was a train on one letter, sang "I've been working on the rail road" Nothing big, but dang that was a lot of pushups...</p>
<p>You can get packages sent to your regular PO box. If you're UPSing them, UPS doesn't deliver to P.O. boxes, so use CGR's address, which is...</p>
<p>New Cadet x
Company ___
C/O Building 745C, Central Guard Room
West Point, NY 10996 </p>
<p>Yes, this zip code is different than your PO box. </p>
<p>There's no limit on the mail you can get...I did get packages during Beast, my parents mailed some paperwork to me and some personal care stuff. It's just hard getting packages because you'll get the package slip in your mailbox, then have to pick it up when the post office is actually open...which is next to never in the summer, I think it's open from 10-2 Tuesday-Friday.</p>
<p>Whoa!? So no first names at all? lol I'm glad I have a unique last name. I sure hope the people that write me don't mess up on that P.O. box!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information bzzt- you're a great help!</p>
<p>New Cadets are only authorized to receive mail thru the United States Postal Service. Do NOT send a package unless it is something that the New Cadet has checked with their chain of command and has asked you to send. </p>
<p>Sending shampoo? Shampoo will be provided. It may not be what a New Cadet prefers but ................... Do you see a pattern here? This is likely a bigger deal for female new cadets. The guys won't have enough hair for shampoo, a damp cloth will work just fine.</p>
<p>And that is correct, New Cadets do not have first names. Even if their last name is SMITH or JONES, if mail is addressed to their P.O. Box they will get their mail.</p>
<p>A friend told me that Plebe-net has just started subscribing parents of New Cadets. The link is <a href="http://www.west-point.org/parent/plebe-net/%5B/url%5D">http://www.west-point.org/parent/plebe-net/</a></p>
<p>We were members of Plebe-Net when our New Cadet entered USMA. Got very factual info there.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that doing all of those pushups is really good training for the APFT. It's not just "being mean".</p>
<p>I just got my address too, except I told my friends to be creative with the stamps and envelopes, I may regret it later, but it sounds hilarious now.</p>
<p>Um, the address USMA gave me is "New Cadet First Name Last Name etc"</p>
<p>So...has something changed or are they telling me that my mailing address includes my first and last names but I'm supposed to figure out for myself that thats not really the case by getting on a forum like this? That doesn't make any sense.</p>
<p>Welcome to the Academy. Very little makes sense. Think back to the rigamorole you went through to get low quarters...</p>
<p>Got this in an e-mail from a friend today...don't hate, West Point is sometimes not all that it's cracked up to be. He's going through a rough time right now. Remember, at SOME POINT in your cadet career, you're going to feel like this. This is also an excellent example of cadet humor.</p>
<p>Top 10 Reasons Hell is Better Than W.P.
10. You can't get thrown out of hell
9. You have a better shot at getting into hell
8. No one expects you to be perfect in hell
7. You know why you have to suffer in hell
6. If you are in hell, God hates you; if you are at the Point...he has just forgotten about you
5. If you are in hell, you have wasted your life; if you are at the Point....you never had one
4. You wouldn't tell your friend to go to West Point
3. There are more women in hell
2. Hell is forever, West Point just seems like it
1. Everyone has heard of hell </p>
<p>The last is bitterly, achingly true. I've told people (not Army people) I went to West Point/the Military Academy, and they look at me blankly. I tell them I went to the South Hudson Institute of Technology, they say, oh, I didn't realize they had an ROTC program. (think about the acronym there)</p>
<p>Other names for USMA
Hudson Home for Wayward Boys
Woo Poo Uuu
Castle Grayskull
Hudson High
Hell on the Hudson</p>
<p>Don't forget to pack your sense of humor, guys!</p>
<p>I would rather not think about the rigamorole I went through to get low quarters lol. Like spectrez, I have a really unique last name, so, not like it really matters, but I just wanted some sort of verification that, depiste what they mailed me, my mailing address in fact does not include my first name. This has the potential to be a very, very long year. TWO WEEKS BABY!! w00t!! Thanks bzzzt.</p>
<p>I will repeat this one more time for anyone who still doesn't understand.</p>
<p>From R-Day thru Plebe year ........................ you have NO first name. This is not a problem during CBT because you will spend almost all of your time with your platoon. If there would happen to be 2 SMITH'S or JONES" etc. in the same platoon? Don't worry the cadre will either 'let' you use a first initial or give you a number of some other identifier. It will be up to them.</p>
<p>ok i'm a rising yuk, and personally, if theres one piece of advice that I wish i knew coming in and seems like it would benefit a lot of people here is just to relax and realize that nearly everything (during beast, re-orgy week and the school year) is not as big a deal as many people make it out to be. I'm not trying to rag on people who are trying to help out the incoming NCs with mail details etc, because a lot of the same people gave me good advice when i was coming in last year, but stuff like that will seriously be the least of your worries. If your mail isnt properly addressed, you might have to do 10 pushups, but if the guy next to you has a pink envelope he's going to be doing ten pushups, and even if your mail is perfect, you'll be doing ten pushups with him because he's part of your squad. I know this might sound like an odd message to give, but most stuff is much less strict than you're probably expecting. They have very distinct rules about how much and when the cadre can PT you, if you happen to forget to leave a pair of civvilian clothes in the trunkroom and the cadre find them, you might end up dancing down the hallway in them, but thats it. And, although bzzzt may have had an unfortunate 12 days of x-mas incident, if you mess up, all thats probably going to happen is you get yelled at for a little bit and might end up doing 20 pushups. The last bit of advice i have is that the best way to have a bad beast is by messing up the same thing over and over and over. If you make a mistake, own up to it, take your punishment (seriously, its just yelling) and dont do it again. The repeat offenders are the ones who become the all-stars and they're the ones who are most likely to be singled out by the cadre. Sorry for the longwinded, pretty nonsensical, grammar and spelling error laden message(i'm on leave, i didnt want to use my brain too much) but i hope it helps. good luck and i hope to see some of you in the fall.</p>