<p>I registered and for me it's been worth it to see the pictures of my daughter and her shipmates, and the daily schedule. It's only 19.95 to register and you can apply the registration fee to your first order. I don't think I will purchase too many pictures because they are pricey--18.95 for one high resolution photo. Also, remember parents get a DVD of Plebe Summer from the USNA Alumni Association.</p>
<p>I have been reading these posts with some amusement, especially the posts about how "progressive" the USNA is in dealing with its Midshipmen. First of all I want everyone to know that my comments have nothing to do with the outstanding young men and women of the USNA. Both my father and father in law were both in the Navy. I have a cousin who spent 25 years in the Navy (SEAL). I have a good friend who was a graduate. I have the utmost respect for these people.</p>
<p>I am just wondering if the "progressive" policies of the USNA had anything to do with what I saw at the 2004 Army/ Navy game. Take a look at the following link:</p>
<p>Click on the different thumb nails, specifically the pictures of the March On. The Corp of Cadets were extremely impressive. All their lines were straight. There was no fooling around. What I saw when the Midshipmen marched on was astonishing. Their lines were extremely sloppy. I saw Middies wearing signs on their backs and their heads. I observed two middies break ranks to toss a football. I saw another one throwing a frizzbee. And eveyone saw the middie fall flat on his face. </p>
<p>This is all just my opinion, but it makes you question if the "progressive" policies are the cause of this.</p>
<p>Okay cobia, you may be correct that the cadets are better at MARCHING, but the mids are better at FOOTBALL! Was this the third year in a row Navy BEAT Army!!!</p>
<p>Guess we will never know if "progressive" policies are the cause of disarrayed lines.
For one, I would rather trade some straight lines for the Navy's progressive policies. I think the end result is just as impressive and it makes for happier parents! [After all, how much marching can you do on a carrier?]</p>
<p>The lines weren't sloppy. It was due to one simple reason: The Navy boys were at-ease due to the fact that they knew they were going to win the day! The Army played like it had two hands tied behind it's back. </p>
<p>And their legs and thier feet...........</p>
<p>Oh, I almost forgot, since the Army men & women didn't attend a post-season BOWL game like THE EMERALD BOWL in San Francisco, where NAVY won AGAIN, Army cadets probably had even more time to practice MARCHING. NAVY does all their marching during Plebe Summer (or so it seems!). Jamzmom, you're too funny! :)</p>
<p>usna09mom - The march on is a very important part of the Army/ Navy game. What I saw that day showed a lack of discipline and pride that I am surprised the USNA allows to exist.
I know football is very important to the service academies. Ultimately who wins or loses means absolutely zero. I know the 8 Navy Seals and the 8 members of the Army that went down on that helicopter a few weeks ago in Afghanistan were on the same team.
Yes the USNA went to a bowl game last year. USMA was the subject of a 60 Minutes story and on the cover of a recent Time magazine....BLah, Blah, Blah, we could go back and forth like this all day. </p>
<p>Bill0510 - The purpose of any military academy is to produce career officers for their particular branch. Our sons and daughters need to prepare for what faces them in the very near future. If A/C in the rooms make them better officers I'm all for it. If a lollypop in the morning and 2 scoops of ice cream at night prepares them to become better officers I'm all for that also. My point being - it's not about them or you "being happy". It's about them learning to become officers and more importantly preparing them to lead the sons and daughters of this country that will be entrusted to them.
I'd also like to remind you, many graduates of the USNA are not just sitting on aircraft carriers. I'm sure the graduates who go on to become members of the USMC, Navy Seals and many other units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan would really appreciate that one. In fact a few months ago a young man (1st LT. USMC, USNA graduate and a USNA football player) from a few towns away was sadly KIA in Iraq. </p>
<p>This is a college admissions board. I have learned quite a lot about the admission process from very knowledgable people on this board. However, I think sometimes people on this board need to be reminded that we are not researching Princeton, Harvard, or even our local state school. This is a deadly serious business that our sons and daughters have signed up for. Some of you people seemed to have lost sight of the fact that it's not very far off when our Cadets and Midshipmen will most likely be in harms way.</p>
<p>And finally I just want to say - I don't want what's easiest for my son or what will make him happy for the moment (that will come with his different accomplishments at USMA and his Army career). I want him prepared.</p>
<p>cobia,</p>
<p>You are absolutely right - this is a very serious business and not just college. In Highland Falls the day before R-Day, I mentioned to an experienced WP parent that I thought the campus was beautiful. I was told, "this is not a campus. It's a post. Don't think that your daughter is going away to college. She is in the Army and her first assignment is to excel at the Academy." Our whole family heard this and it really sank in.</p>
<p>I don't think there is a single parent on the SA boards who takes the committments of any of these children lightly. We're impressed with their sense of duty and their willingness to serve - not to mention their GPA's, test scores, athletic accomplishments, and numerous ec's. They each had many outstanding opportunities and they chose a path that many of their parents would not have taken at the age of 18.</p>
<p>For those of us who have new cadets/plebes we have been through a very extended admissions process with several highs and lows, and a lot of discussion on these boards alone regarding so many issues. Just a few short weeks ago, we dropped our children off at the various academies with mixed feelings. We were bursting with pride while at the same time could not believe where we were leaving our children and what it meant to their lives and futures. These are shared experiences and we know how serious these experiences are.</p>
<p>I have the luxury of being able to compare the "normal" experience with my other daughter who leaves for her civilian college (and campus) in a few weeks. We're shopping for linens, laptops, clothes, cute storage containers, etc. The big question is whether she will go through rush or not. Her big stress is wondering who her roommate will be. Her sister threw a live grenade this week, is getting gassed next week and then rappelling down a mountain (for the first time as we don't have a lot of mountains for practice in Chicago). She hasn't been to any "college parties". The fraternity/sorority the SA kids have chosen has a life or death component that the cadets and all of us parents are well aware of.</p>
<p>So, with the joking that has been going on recently, a big part of it is the '09 parents letting off a little steam (just like our kids need to do) and having some fun. We truly understand how serious this path is. You're right the football score really doesn't matter. The kids do.</p>
<p>momoftwins - I went through the same thing last year. My son also has a twin brother who is at the University of Richmond. It will definitely be different dropping your daughter off. It won't be any easier.</p>
<p>cobia,</p>
<p>There have been a few discussion threads in the Parents' Forum on twins and having them go off in different directions. I know it will not be easy to leave the 2nd daughter at college and say good-bye, but at least no one will tell me I only have 90 seconds. And I'll be able to talk to her often (unless she checks her caller id). :)</p>
<p>We may need to start a new board just for the parents of multiples.</p>
<p>As happens from time to time, some take CC posts WAY too serious. [I suppose I should have said somethink like "how much marching can you do on a carrier, destroyer, cruiser, submarine, helicopter, jet, amphibious landing craft, YP craft, and any other place that Navy personnel might be assigned. What a shocking display of ignorance; I should have known better.]</p>
<p>This entire thread has been one of [relatively] light-hearted banter, i.e. essentially meaningless, between bored parents that are tired of looking for pictures of their child on parent's web-sites. Occassionally, there might be a comment that even attempts to make any sense; but, for the most part, I've always said that most of the comments, including my own, are worth what you pay for them.</p>
<p>For what its worth [see above], upon graduation, I think Mids are as prepared to do their jobs as Cadets are to do theirs.</p>
<p>Cobia210 and other members: </p>
<p>I know that I have probably been responsible for changing the tone of some of the message threads from mostly imformative to, I hope, somewhat entertaining. I'm fairly confident that Docfrance would have shut down several of our threads by now. </p>
<p>Please be forewarned that as John Paul Jones' lesser known brother (Keep-up-with-the ) said, "I have not yet begun to kid". It may be my method for dealing with stress or because, as my wife says: "You have grown older but you have not grown up."</p>
<p>Be assured that I take our son's commitment and the commitments made by all the members of our armed forces (and their families) very seriously. </p>
<p>I trust readers will take the inter-academy teasing for what it is intended. </p>
<p>It would be better if, as a Army Cadet parent, I could be dutifully humble about the relative rankings of the academies. However, sometimes humility has to be sacrificed for the sake of honesty.</p>
<p>I really have to pipe in here. A good doc could fix that broken funny bone! I've enjoyed the fun and laughs here. Please don't stop! I have to say one serious thing here so there is no mis-understanding. I hate it too because I'm gonna ruin my Steel Magnolia demeanor....... Everyone here has a shared goal and know its just a support role of seeing our young people through the most important beginnings of their lives. We know we can't do this for them and can just sit back and watch them fly. I for one have been looking at all academies photo pages of the events going on. Seeing ALL of these kids doing their best to claim their honor and their struggles getting there, is beyond my realm of emotion. My heart grows 50 times larger & I'm so proud of all of them, I could blow up! When you have that much packed into yourself on a minute to minute basis, to find a light moment is blissful! I cannot find one word where anyone has been disrespectful. Just playful. How much more serious can we get than to give up our child to his/her dream at being a leader in the great country of ours? To see poor momoftwins laughing here and there brightens my day. I sent one kid off. Can't imagine parting with two! IM STRESSED! See what you made me do!? I gotta go eat chocolate again........</p>
<p>Aspen. Come over, I have chocolate.</p>
<p>Jeez, now I'm all mushy again. I think I'll have to go read aspen's OFA just to cheer myself up.</p>
<p>Bill and Jamzmom, I can't believe how much I'm also scouring the Internet looking for pictures. R-Day was a bit surreal and I'm just glad to be laughing with the only folks who really understand.</p>
<p>wow...you guys are great. Don't worry the summer is almost over. ;)</p>
<p>My, my, my....... Just wait you guys! Wait till you get that phone at the end of Plebe Summer or Beast! Nothing you have experienced thus far will equal what you're about to get! All of that pride wrapped up into your child will overwhelm you. At first all I heard was my little boy, who had injuries, a cold and a hoarse voice. Then it began to seep in that none of that mattered to him. He said that he's never been involved with such a supreme caliber of people and that he was humbled to be one of them. He said its the most honorable place he's ever known. I smiled when he would stop his conversation and I'd hear him say, "Good evening Sir/Mam" to those who passed by. Academy life begins today and I know that he has found a new home and is considering all these guys and gals, his new family. It was amazing to hear. Now our countdown begins for the rest of the 54 days until we see them again. Don't know how I'll hold it together when I see those dress whites for the first time! :) Good luck to all of your kids although they won't need it from me. They are already in that "supreme caliber of people" catagory already!</p>
<p>Jamzmom-congrats to your mid- and to his parents that are no doubt busting with pride- can't wait - 10 months and counting! best of luck-</p>
<p>Jamzmom,</p>
<p>You are so right! I know exactly what you mean about the changes, the pride, the sense of belonging to something which challenges and stretches them. I really hope that all of the parents here get to attend the equivalent of Plebe Parent Weekend. It is really gratifying to see how confident and self-assured they are after making it through Plebe Summer (or the equivalent ;-) Sure, they are anxious about the AC year, the trials and tribulations are far from over, but it is a major hurdle they have made it over and they have that to cling to when the going gets rough. "If I can make it through..."</p>
<p>Enjoy the rollercoaster ride!</p>
<p>That rollercoaster ride is sure long too. 4 more years! There will be so many up and downs we won't know which way is up. </p>
<p>Navy2010 - Hang on tight. Welcome to the ride of your life. Proud for you too!</p>