Questions about cadet life (PART 2)

<p>water haze is just a 8 lesson water survival class. It's not too bad if you don't mind holding your breath for awhile or jumping off the 10 meter. If you have never been a lifeguard or taken any life saving classes you can learn a little bit too.</p>

<p>The Air Force Academy has a water polo team.</p>

<p>yes they do, a mens team and a girls team.</p>

<p>Can you play water polo as a club team? I love it we play during my swim practices. It rocks! lol</p>

<p>I don't know if I am a masochist or something but that water survival class sounds kinda fun and ten meters are really fun to jump from! ;)</p>

<p>Does anyone know anything about RATTEX or Blue Bards?</p>

<p>Would it be a good idea to buy low quarters and break them in before arriving in addition to boots?</p>

<p>"Would it be a good idea to buy low quarters and break them in before arriving in addition to boots?"</p>

<p>Completely unnecessary</p>

<p>Uncynical, does the zoo have an indoor soccer facility/teams?</p>

<p>I know they have outdoor soccer for intramurals, but I was wondering about the indoor aspect.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>I was just there this weekend, and from what I saw on my tour of the Athletic facilities, I'm not sure that they have anything devoted to indoor soccer. On the indoor track, it kindof looked like artificial turf, but I'm pretty sure the indoor track stuff (jumping, pole vault stuff, throwing areas) took up the entire field.</p>

<p>how'd the trip go Patriot?</p>

<p>It was awesome. It really did reinforce to me that the reasons why I want to go there are dead on the right ones. I liked everything about it, the academics, the athletics, the military aspect, the campus, the social aspect. All in all it was an awesome 3 days and I had a great time.</p>

<p>Hey I was just wondering if the Academy had a Ski team and if there is any recruiting or what it would take to be able to be on it... Also, how is the Academy's boxing and wreslting teams? Is anyone on them?</p>

<p>I'm going to the AFA this June. Is there anything I can do right now to prepare me for the "knowledge tests"? Recommend any books/websites?</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure there are indoor places, that are, if not soccer fields, able to be turned into one.</p>

<p>Soccer can be played indoor on the inside of the track area in the field house. I took soccer for a P.E. class and some days when there was too much snow we played inside.</p>

<p>There is a ski club here. It's just like any other club - no requirements to speak of, although I'm not a part of it so I can't speak of specifics.</p>

<p>Solormax, when you speak of coming this June, you mean inprocessing or for something else? The best thing you can do to prepare is run and do pushups. The knowledge aspect will come when you get here and trying to get ahead of your classmates will do nobody much good. Spend your time between now and then enjoying civilian life; you'll have plenty of time to be a cadet once you're here.</p>

<p>I meant that this June. I'm gonna be a cadet...or doolie (if you must).</p>

<p>A BASIC cadet at that:)</p>

<p>"The knowledge aspect will come when you get here and trying to get ahead of your classmates will do nobody much good." -- UNcynical</p>

<p>I'd like to comment on this. One of my surprises in Basic was the emphasis on team work. I know it sounds obvious, but the style of team work demanded in BCT is different than what you might expect. </p>

<p>Enlisted basic training is centered around personal performance. “Trainees” are rewarded and punished on an individual basis, and unless they suck at something, they don’t really need anyone’s help. Your flight doesn't really matter, and your sole objective is to get through by yourself without getting "recycled" (having to repeat weeks of training and extending your stay in Lackland.) This is the formula most people have lived by their entire lives, especially the competitive types applying to the Academy: you do well, you get recognized and rewarded.</p>

<p>The reality here is much different. For example, since I was prior enlisted, I knew how to polish my shoes and march better than my classmates--in fact, I knew how to march a flight better than my cadre too. But none of this helped me at all. I would have the best boots, but they would only get me in trouble: "why do your boots look better than everyone's! You should be teaching them to shine theirs as good as yours!" At first this seemed </p>

<p>At first, I didn't understand it and it really just annoyed me. I was frustrated that I was not being recognized for my performance. But after a while I began to get it. You will hear over and over again that “the sooner you learn to work together, the better it will be.” What this means is that you need to stop caring about your own performance and start thinking about how you can make the entire flight look better. It is better to be wrong with your entire flight than to be right but alone and make the rest look bad. I remember once in Jack’s Valley, my entire flight had just finished blackening our boots as we were told to, except for one of us who forgot. When he was called out by a cadre, we all started kicking dirt over our own boots.</p>

<p>Your cadre will begin immediately looking for signs that you are beginning to become a team. They will want you to learn each other’s home states and other information. Of course, knowing facts about each other really doesn’t mean anything. But when you look around the faces in your tent, as I did one day in Jack’s, and it suddenly occurs to you that you can’t imagine going through basic with any other group of people, you’ll know what they meant. Haha, I hope I don’t spoil that moment for you…</p>

<p>So, would you recommend helping a cadet out (wisper the answer into his ear) when he's questioned for knowledge and doesn't know the answer?</p>