<p>Boss, never apologize for a long post when your giving us news of your Coastie. That's one of the main reasons we're here. Sounds like he's doing great and making you proud. I couldn't be happier for you!</p>
<p>Let me add my congratulations to the new cadets, mids, coasties, swabs and whatever.</p>
<p>They should take pride in knowing that only a few are invited to participate in summer training at the academies and even fewer complete the training.</p>
<p>I returned yesterday from A-Day at West Point. My return was delayed a day due to weather, but that's another story. I had a terrific vist with my son.</p>
<p>Here's a couple of observations/recollections that stick in my mind.</p>
<p>The plebes are beaming with pride - and so are their parents.</p>
<p>The time-tested choreography that has the formations of New Cadets cross the hallowed Plain and blend into their respective Regiments is still a symbolic masterpiece. The parade starts at 10am with the new cadets marching with bayoneted rifles and forming into 32 company units on the East side of the Plain. The remainder of the Corps of Cadets forms by regiment on the West side of the Plain. After a brief ceremony, the new cadets march across the Plain and join their new companies/regiments - no longer new cadets but Cadets. To the sound of the Corps Band, the entire Corps of Cadets then parades past the viewing area and returns to their respective barracks. The entire parade takes about 45-60 minutes. Not many dry eyes in the place.</p>
<p>The cadets were released with "walking privileges" about noon and were free to roam the Highland Falls area. Cadets without visiting parents were adopted for the weekend.</p>
<p>I met up with my son and a couple of his company cohorts and headed out to lunch. My son could not wait to share his basic training stories with me and the other cadets( this was a pleasant surprise since he is normally pretty reserved in his parental conversations). </p>
<p>His first request was to find a place to eat and just sit down. He says sitting was a scarce commodity during CBT. We had a leisurely 2-3 hour lunch during which I mostly listened. Finally one of the cadets asked, What's been happening during the last 6 weeks. The only news the cadets had heard about was the London bombing. They were uniformly appalled at the price of gas. This surprised me since they weren't likely to buy gas anytime soon.</p>
<p>The cadets proudly strode though Highlands Falls wearing their "white over grey" uniforms and their new white hats. Don't know why but they love their new white hats. It may have to do with being a symbol of completing CBT. As I walked, it struck me that the local and visiting young men in their drooping pants/shorts looked out of place.</p>
<p>It was impressive watching the cadets uniformly take off their hats when entering a building. I heard a mantra of "Yes, Sir or Yes, Mam" to the inquiries of parents and waiters.</p>
<p>Hardly any cadets wore the army-issue glasses. A-Day was the day of freedom when the cadets could choose their own eyewear and underwear. Our son said a couple of guys in his company didn't recognize him without the glasses. You may not want to know it, but a lot of new cadets had been "going comando" rather than wear the whitey-tighties.</p>
<p>I asked the cadets about their summer and they all agreed that high school graduation day seems like a distant memory. They commented that "the days are long but the weeks are short" at West Point.</p>
<p>I could sense the camaraderie between the Cadets as they took turns sharing their "stories" about CBT and their new company assignments. The tight bonds that will connect the cadets throughout their lives are already forming. All the cadets were given new roommates during the previous week and most are sharing the room with 2 other cadets. </p>
<p>Each company has a reputation. Some for being harsh on plebes, others more lenient. H3 is regarded as the harshest company in the Corps for plebes. It is nicknamed "Hitler's 3rd Reich" and "Haze 3". Plebes assigned this company were universally pitied by the other cadets.</p>
<p>Cadets were allowed to sleep in as long as they wanted on Sunday. My son was looking forward to a long slumber. However, when I met him for lunch Sunday, he dejectedly admitted that he had awaken early and couldn't sleep in. He was genuinely concerned that he had lost his "gift" for sleeping 12-14 hours. He blamed the hot barracks and promised to prove he still had the gift when he visits at Thanksgiving. The term "visit" was his. Most of the cadets rightfully view West Point as home and that trips "home" are truly visits. It hurt to hear it, but that's the way it is.</p>
<p>When I left my son and his fellow cadets Sunday, all were headed back to the barracks to get their rooms "squared away" after receiving the barrage of packages over the weekend. Space is a scarce commodity in the cadets' rooms and everything has to be in its proper spot. Although classes started on Monday, the cadets didn't seem too concerned about them. Hope they're not in for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>The cadets think their new computers are "sweet" and have already found ways to pick up TV via the computers. Although they aren't allowed to watch TV or listen to music as Plebes, they are hoping some exceptions will be given and they plan to be ready to exploit the opportunity.</p>
<p>I left West Point teary-eyed but with a sense that CBT has helped transform my son and his fellow cadets into a corps of very special young men and women.</p>
<p>My thanks and prayers go out to all those people at West Point who have devoted themselves to making this year's CBT a success.</p>
<p>One word. PERFECT! You and Boss have given us the best glimpse into your kid's beginnings. All was so well written and I enjoyed them so much that I've read both accounts twice. Thank you so so much for sharing. It just gave me goose-bumps! So happy for you that you were able to witness those great events. I am currently cherishing the one & only photo I have of my Plebe Candidate in uniform. Can't wait to see the real thing and all of our ceremonies, especially now. Don't you know how very great these kids feel about themselves having accomplished such a great feat? PERFECT! </p>
<p>Best wishes for the upcoming academics! On to bigger & better things!</p>
<p>Great account written by Aspen...and thanks to all for the kind words. Here is a link to some pics from shoulder board ceremony. Not the ones I took...still haven't computer problems but they should be up soon. These were taken by another parent but give you the general idea.
<a href="http://community.webshots.com/album/424374870FdHgvn%5B/url%5D">http://community.webshots.com/album/424374870FdHgvn</a></p>
<p>Bossf51 and Aspen~ thank you, both, for sharing. Having just answered another post on "convincing parents" it's stories like these that give the rest of us hope that "all's well that ends well"....</p>
<p>and how wonderful it is to live in an age of technology that pics appear "magically" and we can IM....life is good!</p>
<p>aspen,</p>
<p>I couldn't say it any better! And I found my experience this weekend to be nearly identical.</p>
<p>Congrats momoftwins! Ya gotta love it!</p>
<p>Here's a nice pic of several exchange students from the other academies who spent some time on the USCGC Eagle this summer.
<a href="http://www.cga.edu/eagle/dailyposition/images/08172005/XchangeCadet.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.cga.edu/eagle/dailyposition/images/08172005/XchangeCadet.htm</a></p>
<p>Aspen's 16 AUG 05 piece on Acceptance Day was wonderfully evocative. For an additional perspective, from the Association of Graduates, see the latest Gray Matter newsletter below (the newsletter contains permission for distribution). It covers this year's parade and places it in the context of Affirmation and the Graduation Parade. It also discusses the traditional fifty-year link between classes and the newly forged ten-year link. Information on how to subscribe to this free newsletter is at the end.</p>
<p>It was hot at West Point on Saturday, 13 August 2005, there was no doubt about that. The temperature hit 98 degrees and the humidity was stifling as the new cadets of the Class of 2009 were accepted into the Corps of Cadets as bona fide members and passed in review with their regular lettered companies for the first time. The sun blazed down as the three upper classes took their normal positions facing the reviewing stand across The Plain. It continued as the Brigade Sergeant Major marched the new cadets, in white short-sleeved shirts over gray trousers, under arms, to positions in front of the reviewing stand and facing the remainder of the Corps. </p>
<p>The band countermarched and sounded off to begin what is the second most significant parade in the life of a cadet. After an exchange of salutes between the Corps and the new cadets, the command was given for the new cadets to join their companies. In two waves, the new cadets marched forward into positions to the rear of the companies that they would call home for the remainder of their plebe year and beyond. The first classmen in each of the rear ranks already had been repositioned to provide space for the newly accepted class. </p>
<p>As the reviewing party moved into position, it was announced that the presidents of four West Point classes were included: the presidents of the Classes of '56, '57, '58 and '59. These men represented the 50-year classes affiliated with the four cadet classes about to pass in review. The ties between these classes separated by 50 years will reach a zenith on Graduation Day, when representatives of the older class present second lieutenant bars to those members of the younger class as they become the next generation of leaders of our Army. Graduation itself would be preceded by the most important parade in the life of a cadet: Graduation Parade. During that ceremony, the sequence is reversed somewhat, with the graduating class marching out with the Corps of Cadets, but then being called forward to positions on the reviewing line to take the review of the Corps, as command of the Corps passes to the next class in the Long Gray Line.</p>
<p>All of these aforementioned class presidents and many more class officers, plus presidents and representatives from the more than 100 West Point Societies across the country and around the world, were present for an annual Leaders Conference that had concluded just an hour before the ceremony. During the conference, the graduate leaders were briefed by LTG William Lennox '71, the Superintendent; LTG Franklin Hagenbeck '71, the Army G-1 (Personnel); Geoffrey Prosch '69, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations & Environment; and others. Among the matters briefed were the need for mentorship of young graduates by older graduates, both active duty and retired, and new incentives to retain graduates on active duty. Among these, a guarantee of graduate schooling for both West Point and ROTC graduates committing to additional years on active duty, plus similar programs for cadets who wish to commit to additional active duty in return for assignment to selected branches or different initial duty stations. </p>
<p>Another program discussed establishes an affiliation between more recent graduating classes, a ten-year affiliation. Since a number of graduates return to the Academy to teach about eight to ten years after graduation, these will join attendees at their ten-year reunion (at Homecoming) in a scheduled visit to their former cadet company barracks to linkup with cadets assigned to their former companies. Cadets will be encouraged to link up with graduates in the same branch, and it is anticipated that these two groups will maintain contact via email and meet again at their respective fifteen and five year reunions (traditionally held at Homecoming as well).</p>
<p>In the afternoon, while most of the plebes were granted privileges to join their families for picnics across Trophy Point and elsewhere, many of the leaders congregated in the heat for the official dedication and ribbon cutting in front of the refurbished and vastly expanded Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center. The highlights of the new facility, besides the necessary Class of '62 strength and cardio rooms, and boxing, wrestling and combative rooms, are the combat water survival lab, with wave and smoke generators, and the Class of '79 rock climbing center. The building also includes an intramural pool, nine basketball and eight volleyball courts, six racquetball courts, an indoor track, a sports medicine facility, a physical development research laboratory, and office space. In accordance with Army regulations, however, most of the facility is not air conditioned, and the DCA juice bar planned on the second floor was not yet open, so the building offered little respite from the heat. Even less respite was available on Daly Field, where the women's soccer team was practicing in the sun and humidity.</p>
<p>On Sunday evening, another significant ceremony in the life of a cadet was held in Robinson Auditorium in Thayer Hall. There, the members of the Class of 2007 gathered for their Affirmation Ceremony. This ceremony marks their commitment to continue on to graduation and a career as a commissioned officer on active duty. If for any reason they should be unable to continue, they acknowledge their commitment to serve on active duty in the enlisted ranks. As part of the ceremony, each member of the class receives a Class of 2007 coin provided by the Association of Graduates. Thus the Long Gray Line continues to stiffen and straighten across the years.</p>
<p>Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, Esquire</p>
<p>Please forward guest articles, comments and suggestions for future topics to <a href="mailto:JPhoenix@aogusma.org">JPhoenix@aogusma.org</a>. </p>
<p>Did you receive this Gray Matter from a friend? If so, you may sign up
to receive all future issues directly at: <a href="http://www.aogusma.org/CONTACT/signup.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.aogusma.org/CONTACT/signup.htm</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>If you liked this news letter, you may also enjoy ASSEMBLY magazine, the Voice of the Long Gray Line. For additional information, visit <a href="http://www.aogusma.org/sd/pubs/site/index.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.aogusma.org/sd/pubs/site/index.cfm</a>.</p>