<p>Reception Day, or R Day, for the Class of 2011 was different from those in the recent past. For one thing, Monday, 2 July 2007, dawned cool and breezy, with temperatures headed for comfortable highs in the mid-seventies accompanied by azure blue skies and fleecy white clouds. Secondly, there was a large contingent (about a dozen) of representatives of the 50-Year Affiliate Class, the Class of 1961, on hand. Thirdly, this R Day was in July; most recently have been in late June. Ironically, the Class of 1961 reported to Beast Barracks exactly 50 years ago to the day, although 2 July 1957 was a Tuesday, not a Monday. In that era, new cadets reported on the first Tuesday of July. Another change was the Parents Lounge established in the Class of 1963 Lounge (formerly Bennys Lounge) in Eisenhower Hall.</p>
<p>This year, the West Point Association of Graduates joined with the Director of Cadet Activities to sponsor this place where parents, family and friends of new cadets could stop by after having endured the announcement, You have 90 seconds to say your goodbyes in the main auditorium. Coffee, orange juice, donuts, advice and sympathetic ears were provided by members of the Class of 1961 and the AOG staff, along with Proud Parent of the Class of 2011 bumper stickers, key chains and fans. Under the 50-Year Affiliation Program, cadets receive their Class flag during Yearling summer at Camp Buckner , a Class coin at the beginning of second class year, First Brass at Branch Night during first class year, and second lieutenants bars upon Graduation from representatives of the class that graduated 50 years earlier. Members of the 50-Year Class also accompany the new cadets on their march back from Camp Buckner at the end of Beas Barracks for Reorganization Week, and attend the Acceptance Day parade at the end of that week.</p>
<p>Some things remained the same. Hundreds of new cadets and their respective entourages assembled by 6:00 a.m. on the steps leading to the lower levels of Ike Hall. The Prep School candidates were first, entering at 6:00 a.m., but those scheduled for later times, by social security number, often arrived up to an hour earlier. This year, they were entertained by a mysterious cowboy version of Uncle Sam, dressed in red, white and blue with a white cowboy hat and stilts! All told, about 1,310 potential new cadets arrived that day, with a few last-minute replacements for those who demurred the previous day or so. Among these were about 225 young women, the largest female contingent, at 17%, since women first were admitted (119) in 1976. After the candidates said their goodbyes, they were marched off by members of the First Beast Detail for necessary administrative processing, uniform issue and training in the fundamentals of marching in preparation for the late afternoon oath ceremony at Battle Monument . For many, the most stressful event was the mandatory visit to the Cadet Barber Shop, there to have their hair cut to the scalp, with some leaving ten or twelve inches of locks on the shop floor. </p>
<p>All this, of course, took place under the constant scrutiny of The Cadet in the Red Sash and other members of the cadre. Step up to my line. Not on it, over it, or behind it, but up to my line. Others ran afoul of reporting requirements: Sir, New Cadet Doe reports to the first sergeant of Alpha Company for the third time, as ordered. For yet others, the intricacies of facing movements were their downfall. Still others staggered under the weight of new duffel bags packed with many pounds of new cadet issue while attempting to memorize Fourth Class Knowledge. Meanwhile, back at Ike Hall, their parents and friends were suffering another form of information overload.</p>
<p>As parents, grandparents, siblings and girlfriends departed the auditorium, many entered the ballroom where various Parents Clubs had set up tables, surrounded on all sides by various vendors. The Daughters of the United States Army, known as DUSA, offered a number of West Point items but featured the remaining 79 copies of the book, Bringing Up the Brass, as told to COL (Ret.) Red Reeder and his sister, Nardi Reeder Campion, by the legendary Marty Maher. This book was the basis for the John Ford movie of the fifties, The Long Gray Line. Reprinted for the USMA Bicentennial, only these few copies were left. Across the way, the West Point Womens Club offered reproductions of old New York Central posters promoting the Academy as a tourist destination, BDU aprons, and a lace West Point table cloth. They even had reproductions of a cigar box label from Adrian Cigars of Highland Falls, NY, for West Pointer cigars, guaranteed 30% Havana blend. The Post Exchange offered a large Teddy bear dressed in full dress gray over white with white hat, while Academy Photos presented cadet portraits, the Hotel Thayer offered reservations for future events up to and including Graduation in 2011, and ODIA representatives sold season tickets for football. USAA meanwhile passed out hundreds of logo-emblazoned canvas totes, but the star of the hour had to be the tote bags and T-shirts offered by the gift shop of the Office of Intercollegiate Activities. They contained all of the names of the 1,310 members of the Class of 2011 (less last-minute additions).</p>
<p>Then the families had to decide where to have lunch, what tours to take and what places at West Point to visit before it was time to form in the vicinity of Battle Monument for the oath ceremony, with hopes of catching one last glimpse of their son or daughter. At the appointed hour, the new cadets, dressed uniformly in gray trousers and white, short sleeved shirts with blank shoulder boards, and white gloves marched out, led by the cadre in all whites. Raising their right hands, the new cadets, led by the Commandant of Cadets, repeated the oath they earlier had signed during in-processing. Officially they had been new cadets for several hours, but now they became new cadets in a public ceremony. Then, they silently marched back to their barracks to continue the 47-month process that produces the finest second lieutenants in the world for the defense of our Nation while many parents wept.</p>
<p>Your humble servant, J. Phoenix, Esquire</p>
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