Questions

<p>I am currently a Cadet Fourth Class and also attended the Summer seminar, if anyone has questions please feel free to ask. I am more than willing to do my best to get the best answer for you. Thanks and have a good day!</p>

<p>USAFA09 -- thanks for the kind offer. I guess I would really be interested in your experience. Is the Academy a lot different than what you expected? Are there things you wish you had known before going there? Any do's and don'ts from your perspective? UNcynical has commented on these things on other threads and it has been a big help. Would love to have another opinion on these kinds of questions. Thanks!</p>

<p>One thing that I can think of right now would be, before I came to the academy all I heard from Cadets was that you never want to come back to your squadron during the day. What I found, at least with my squadron, was that it was better to come back. Our upperclassmen treated us like normal people as long as we followed the rules we were supposed too. What I would recommend would be not to worry too much about what people say about certain things, because you never know how your squadron will be like. So go into it with an open mind.</p>

<p>Great advice, thanks!</p>

<p>Another thing that I would recommend, would be to try hard not to take things personally during basic. It makes things much harder and everyone will make mistakes and there is no way to go through basic training without getting yelled at, so it makes it easier if you brush aside to a point what they are saying. Remember the Cadre are just doing their job, many of them are really cool people outside of basic training.</p>

<p>This is a Summer Seminar question. Were there any courses that seemed to exceed the expectations of the participants? Any that were disappointments?</p>

<p>When I went lots of people like the political science one, I was in that class and I thought that it was a lot of fun. Quite a few people were disappointed with the glider class, because it takes up so much time that they didn't get to experience as many different classes as they wanted too. I was not in the glider class, but you get to design and build gliders your first year here, so it worked out. There didn't seem to be any classes that people felt were big disappointments, because they take the best/most fun lab or project from classes that you take at the academy, so everything seemed to be pretty interesting, even the ones that seem like they would be boring. I know that I had the chemistry class (black and white photography), computer science, satellites, rockets, and I believe some biology class. Can't remember everything that I did, but I know that all the ones that I took were very interesting and exceeded my expectations. I hope this answered your question.</p>

<p>The political science class is definately fantastic, I recommend it to everyone...and the Eagles Peak hike...it drains you of all your energy, but its worth it at the top</p>

<p>USAFA09...just curious about some of the training rules for BCT. One I've been told is no training for a half hour after eating and such. I was just wondering what some others are because they seem kind of odd to me. Also once you were there, was the physical portion of BCT easier than expected, as you expected, or harder than expected? Finally any other tips for us RTBs other than not taking anything personally? </p>

<p>As far as summer seminar goes I went this past year and took the glider, rocket, biology, basic cadet drill training, and airfield courses. I liked those courses but definitely heard great things about the political science course. Also, Cave of the Winds wasn't so great in my opinion. Walking around looking at weirdly shaped rocks isn't my kind of fun, but...that's just me.</p>

<p>aforce06, you are correct about the no training after you eat. We always enjoyed this, because it is a nice break. I am not sure on what your training restrictions will be like, because we had quite a few this year. During second basic there was a kid who broke his femur so there was about a period of 3 or 4 days where we were not allowed to be trained. Also we had some weird rules where we could only do the same training exercise (push ups, flutter kicks, diamond pushups) for like a min or two, then we had to switch, and they could do that for like a total of 6 min then had to have a break. It was really weird. I am not completely sure what will happen during your basic, because I know that they are changing some things.
Some advice from my roommates and I are: Get to know your squad mates really well, it is very important and many cadre will ask you questions about people in your squad. Also getting to know them will help you throughout basic training. If you want to remember what you did during your time in basic training, write it down because you will not remember everything. Don't give up and say you are broken or anything like that, even if you are at least trying somewhat that is what they are looking for. Try really hard not to gaze, you seem to always get caught. Try not to make yourself stand out and stand by your team. If it gets hard, try to live meal by meal. Just keep saying "just make it to lunch" then when lunch comes say that about dinner. The days will be long, but the weeks went fast. I'll ask around my squad and see if they have any other advice.</p>

<p>I sure hope they change that exercise rule. Sure would be lame to be treated like some sort of pansy.</p>

<p>Don't worry, most likely you will be very tired and even the simple exercises will become quite hard. There is so much that you do, that sometimes you don't even realize that you haven't been trained in a while, they keep you very busy with a lot of different things.</p>

<p>Glad to hear it.</p>

<p>Question:</p>

<p>In the appointee handbook it said to bring molded cleats for intramural activities. Is this correct? And if so, do they care if they're high-tops, colored, whatnot? Would you recommend a soccer cleat, mid-height football or full high-top football? I was going to go with mid-height football for the ankle support unless you think otherwise.</p>

<p>Question:</p>

<p>I understand they do the blood draw. In terms of the other vaccines, do they do them old-fashioned needle style or do they use the big gun thing? And do they give you the vaccines en-masse or one at a time?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>First question, I brought my softball cleats and have still not used them, but I played basketball so there was no need. I do not believe that there are any restrictions on what type and color and everything of that sort, I have seen many different pairs and I know that no one has said that they were not the right kind. The cleats you have sound just fine, I can't see any problem with them, and if by chance they say that you can't use them, that isn't a big deal quite a few people never brought them and they were just fine in regular shoes. Second question: In our basic they did it the old-fashioned needle style and they did them all that day, right after another. It's not too bad, they do it pretty quick. I remember the only shot that wasn't fun was the tetanus shot, because it makes your arm pretty sore for the next couple of days, all the other ones weren't too bad really.</p>

<p>What about wrestling gear (shoes,knee pads, head gear)? Are these items issued at some point, should send with our son or mail to him at a later date?</p>

<p>momof3boyz, I am not a 100% sure about this. I will ask some of the guys in my squadron to get you a better answer. You can send them with him when he goes for improcessing and if they don't need it, they will put it in a storage room and he will get it after basic, the only thing is the risk of it getting misplaced. I don't know of any of our items getting misplaced, but I am sure that it has happened before. During the year, the male cadets take either boxing or wrestling. I do not know if the issue the gear or not, but I will ask around and get you a better answer. Hope this helps some.</p>

<p>Thanks, I just happened to speak to our Addmissions counselor today. I asked her if wrestling gear should be brought to I-day. She suggested that we wait till the school year starts.</p>

<p>Another question: As far as physical preparation, what's the best advice you can give?</p>

<p>Prepare as much as you can, but realize that your probably not going to prepare enough. Everyone will get tired and things that are normally easy become more difficult. I don't know too many people that didn't have a hard time at one point during the entire basic. So just continue to prepare, because nothing will hurt.</p>

<p>USAFA09 : #1 - Is it true that the Academy summer seminar is harder to get accepted into than the actual academy?
#2 - How hard is it to get accepted into sumer seminar?</p>