Wings of Blue

<p>Is anyone currently at the Academy in the Wings of Blue? Is it very difficult to get into? Thanks.</p>

<p>I don't think any CCers are on the WoB. It is fairly difficult to get into and requires you to be on the Wings of Green for a year first.</p>

<p>What makes one competetive for the WoB or the WoG?</p>

<p>How you do in jump the summer after 4 dig year.</p>

<p>I dont know alot about jumping at this point, so can you explain to me how your jumps are evaluated; how it is ranked as a 'good' or 'bad' jump? By the way, assuming you've already done yours after your 4 degree year, is it totally awesome?</p>

<p>It's evaluated from the ground as to how you land I believe. (I'm not terribly knowledgable on it myself) Also, the 3 days of training I'm sure you are somehow graded. </p>

<p>I am a 4 dig, so I can't say how it is, BUT everyone I've talked to has said it is amazing. On a side note, a 3 dig in my squad broke his arm and had some flesh torn out when he got his arm caught in the parachute bundle. So, you have to be careful! He has a NASTY long, gib scar on his upper arm.</p>

<p>O and, I will be doing jump this summer. yay!</p>

<p>A cadet I know told me that only 2 females tried out for jump team this year, and both made it. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Although, the girl I was talking to is someone who consistently maxes out the PFT, so I guess I have some work to do. ;) She said that tryouts consist of lots of running and pushups and situps and yelling, and that you are watched and judged throughout the day. I didn't realize that they would take into account how well you do on the first jump after 4 dig year. How do you even practice something like that, or do some people just get lucky?</p>

<p>So to be competetive, your best bet is to just work on personal fitness and doing well on PFTs?</p>

<p>Yes. The guy in my squad on the WoB maxed the last PFT.</p>

<p>I am a member of the wings of blue, and there are actually a lot of things that make up the tryouts for wings of blue. The first and foremost thing that is needed is a bare MINIMUM GPA of 2.6. that is a hard line and there are no exceptions, in fact GPA is probably the largest factor. How you do in jump duing the summer has very little effect on your selection. As long as you get your wings you have a chance, because anyone can become a good skydiver. I would say that you dont have to be able to max the PFT but you need to be in decent shape and you must be mentally tough. If you break down and give up at any part of the physical portion of the tryouts you will definately not be selected, but as long as you are not a slob and you dont give up you can be fine. Do you have any other questions about jump, WoG or WoB?</p>

<p>When you are on the WoB, how much time do you dedicate to it? How many jumps do you do per week/month? What kind of training is involved besides actually doing jumps? Thanks.</p>

<p>And what all do the tryouts include? How many cadets go to tryouts, and how many get in?</p>

<p>The tryouts and numbers of candidates each year vary quite a bit, but i would say that somewhere between 100 - 200 people show up for tryouts and exactly 25 are selected for the wings of green upgraders. once on the wings of green, your sophomore year will become much more demanding. Every saturday will be dedicated at the airfield. We get there (both WOB and wog members) at 620 on saturdays and we usually leave by about 4 in the afternoon. Those long days to become draining. But if you are worried about not having enough time to ski/snowboard i wouldnt worry too much. you can request time off (not too often however) and i think i went skiing on 14 separate occations my sophomore year. You also have a scheduled class period for 3 hours twice per week. either from 620 until 9 or from 920 until just before 5th period. during that time, as a wog member you will just undergo jump training for the fall semester, which includes AFF (accelerated free fall) a program that certifies you as a skydiver and licenses you to jump by yourself. In the spring semester you will learn about how to teach others to jump and you will learn about and be tested on becoming a certified jumpmaster in charge of the safe exit of all 490 students.</p>

<p>As far as the jump numbers, it all depends on weather, classes, motivation, and availability. But i have gotten 10 jumps in a single saturday, and the most i have ever gotten in a week has been 16. However, i have not had a single jump since the day after thanksgiving, so the jumps are not always perfectly consistent.</p>

<p>How many jumps does the average cadet do (one not in WoB or WoG)?</p>

<p>If you do jump over the summer you will do 5.</p>

<p>well, the idea is that you will get 5 because that is the number that is required for you to receive your jump wings. However, due to poor performance, any large deviations from what you were taught, or just fear itself keeps some cadets from getting all 5. However, most people do get all five and receive their wings.</p>

<p>Also, getting back to a previous question by dauntless, the jumps are evaluated on multiple areas, Exit, freefall, time, pull sequence, landing, and safety. You get either a Q1 Q2 or Q3. Q1 is the best and Q3 is the worst. There is more to it but this is the general idea.</p>

<p>How do your leave periods get affected? Do you ever have training or competitions that keep you from going home?</p>

<p>The competition team has training/competitions for thanksgiving, most of christmas and spring breaks. The Demonstration team only has training for spring break but usually over the new years holiday they go to perform a demo at a few bowl games. Other than that the demo team gets most of christmas and all of thanksgiving. Both teams get all of their summer leave off.</p>