Missed yall so much. Just did my last 12 mile ruck back from Camp Buckner to the main campus here at West Point. My 4 roommates and I were greeted with a 30-slice pizza which was promptly neutralized. Easy Co, my company- affiliated/trained by NCOs from the actual Easy Co, the 101st airborne division- received the award for best company during Beast 2016, which was cool.
A few of y'all wrote to me and didn't include a return address god damn it I will pm you as soon as I can.
Let me know if I missed anything big on the 'Ski! I received prohibited newspapers in the mail, so I was able to keep my platoon posted on the apocalyptic image of the world, as the NY Times clearly drools over every attack they can possibly report on.
Anyway, it's good to be back, I will have 0 time to post anything or be online but I will always be a Hubsquid. Beat Navy!
Also if anyone has questions about West Point or their basic training and fun stuff like that feel free to ask and I will answer asap.
Actually, what do you learn there? I've done some reading on West Point between you leaving and now, but it left me with an impression of a university (and I have to say, major selection is very impressive and above what I had expected) with a very extensive physical training. Perhaps you could answer by telling about your own plans? How does a day of a WP student/cadet looks like? :D Congratulations and keep it up!Also if anyone has questions about West Point or their basic training and fun stuff like that feel free to ask and I will answer asap.
My goals at the moment including maximizing work efficiency, which I'll judge by how much sleep I can get per week after finishing all tasks. Apart from 18 credit-hours in my 1st semester and an average of 20 in the future, there are a ridiculous amount of random annoying tasks, especially as plebes, including taking out trash, sweeping halls, and delivering laundry to all cadets in your company. These duties also include maintaining a room standard, which is stupidly detailed and fairly difficult to maintain while you're living in the room. Inspection can occur during weekday business hours at the risk of punishment-- the punishment here is called Hours. On that topic, hours means taking your parade rifle (an old wooden m14 we all keep in our room and use for drill/parades) and walking back and forth central area for x Hours. It blows. Also, you get your rank stripped away if the violation is bad enough, which adds a layer of ridicule when you're not actively completing your hours. As people get lazy and especially cynical, the risk of getting hours aggregates and the shit you eat is likely due to you by the time you receive it. I haven't answered your question yet, I'm just ranting. But to try to answer your question, we learn everything any other college does, along with a hefty emphasis on maintaining a physical standard and a standard of discipline, aka "military bearing." It's a lot better than it sounds, because everyone going through it with a mind-blowing sense of humor makes playing the game not only tolerable, but a lot of fun. I'd say the one thing I've learned so far is how far teamwork can go. Every second me or my buddies is out of the room or at a desk working, everyone else is behind them making sure they're covered and accounted for. I've been back on campus a few days and I've already had my ass saved by my roommates, and vice versa for sure. My short-term goals include deciding between Persian and Arabic and getting squared away to take on the semester on Monday. My long-term goals include reaching the standard maximum on the APFT (Army physical fitness test) which consists of 71 push-ups and 78 sit-ups in 2 minutes each, followed by a 2-mile run under 13 minutes, and getting my GPA high enough to finagle my way into Princeton by the end of my sophomore year, just in case I decide not to commit to the Army. The GPA is not just academic, it consists of 3 pillars: Athletic, Academic, and Military/Leadership. The 3rd is usually graded over the summer during military training and leadership details, the other 2 are accounted for during the school year. Your GPA dictates your class rank, which is critical at West Point. A high class rank means more opportunities, including travel and exchange programs (all-paid), but more importantly, being assigned the army branch of your choice, followed by the post of your choice. So, let's say I'm 300th in my class. I'll most likely be assigned Infantry if I choose that branch because they always need more infantry officers. However, I may not be assigned a post with the 25th infantry div in Hawaii, even though it was my 1st choice, cause that clearly awesome gig is already taken up by the top 50 infantry branching cadets before me. Otherwise, it's just college! edit: also especially as a plebe my day could start anywhere from 0500 like it was during basic training, to 0600. Classes don't start till 0730 the earliest though, to give you a scope of how much shit goes on that isn't directly a class here. edit2: Also it's like by far the most beautiful campus I've seen except for Amherst college but that's only because they have a cliff overlooking a crazy cool mountain. I'm right on the Hudson river in the Hudson river valley though so it's a close call. This place looks like fucking Hogwarts, straight-up. On morning runs, I'm usually greeted by a sunrise, a bright pink sky, and literal castle walls on my right with the Hudson river on my left.
This is amazing. Especially the part on teamwork and covering each other. I wish I was in something similar. I think I'm at 71 military push-ups in a minute, the sit-ups I'm not sure at all because I don't know the form (does someone hold down your legs?), and I'm at a 5:50 mile, but haven't timed a mile point five, and I know I'm pretty gassed after my mile so I'd probably come up short there. What are the odds of you not committing to the army?
71 in a minute is (edit: fucking) insane! My APFT score is currently at 280 (66 push in 2, 77 ups in 2, 13:30 mile) which is nowhere near satisfying for me. My goal of 300 (technical maximum) is close in sight, considering I somehow gained 60 points overall from my last one (a horrendous 220). After I hit 300 by maximizing all 3 events, you begin to supermax over 300 which is an ideal goal for me. Your physical grade at West Point doesn't hit the A+ mark until you reach over 300. Someone does hold our feet on the sit-ups, there are plenty of helpful methods on isolating obliques at a time to let your core rest and stuff like that, but if you try a shortcut and don't get all the way up then you just wasted a rep. The odds on my commission are completely unpredictable. I have no fucking clue, and I'm not sure when I'll find out :D Everything is baby steps at the moment. Right now, as you can tell by the quality of my writing, my #1 goal is a nap. Once you start running 2 miles, and then a nice 3-mile now and then, you will quickly feel the ability to take on longer distances. I used to never run more than a mile, now I'm signing up for 5Ks for the hell of it. It doesn't suck as much as you think, plan a fun route!
Woah, woops. I meant 71 push-ups in two minutes. Ha! That would be fucking insane. I edited the original. Right now I've relegated all weight lifting to a point in the future where I'm nearer a gym that I like. In the meantime it's been all soccer, school, and, of course, sleep. Amen to the sleep. I can't recommend enough power napping if you're the kind of person who can, which it sounds like you are. I set my phone alarm for 30 minutes, mute it, and in about 10 minutes I'm drifting, and I wake up superhumanly refreshed. The people who complain about feeling groggy after naps I find are generally doing it for more than 30 minutes. Hours in some cases. That's no bueno. By the way, that reading list is seriously awesome. I've read Kavalier and Clay and it's one of the top 10 best books I've ever read. And I'm a big fan of David McCullough. You have some great people looking out for you.
That's still fire, especially considering that they're military. Your triceps will thank you. Thanks for getting me hype about these books! I took leave this weekend to go home for labor day, hope to get started on the McCullough. I read the first pages of Kavalier and it seems cool but I will never get to read a book of that size this semester :(
Ayyy. Congrats! I feel compelled to call you slugger now but I feel you have one on me. No specific questions, but would love to hear about your experience. Though that may require an involved response... and it sounds like you're busy. What's next then? Edit: Holy shit. I can't believe it's been 6.5 weeks since you left.
Hoorah 101st! My brother in law was a paratrooper with them. I got to work a lot with the 1st, when I was in Kosovo. (The Big Red One!) Like others, I am curious to hear what the learning environment is like. Crawling around under barbed wire while under fire is what the movies always show, of course, but I'm more interested in the academic side of things. So any insight into the classroom side of the experience would be fascinating to hear about... Good work!
Hell yeah! Our Bravo company was the big red weenie. I can give you my schedule for this year to give you an idea! 1st semester: Calc Psychology for Leaders (kool-aid drinking 101?) Composition Adv History of the Middle East (because I chose to study Persian and validated US History) Fundamentals of Aquatics (aka Rock Swimming, I'm apparently a shitty swimmer) but by 2nd semester I'll be taking survival swimming, aka Plebe Drowning. Plebes are freshmen. Chem Semester 2: more english more math IT 105 Military Science (this is a very complicated, in-depth thing that I"m not sure about but I take it for 4 years. It covers everything from politics to individual unit tactics, field stuff, etc.) Plebe Boxing Military Movement (basically gymnastics) Physics 205 1 or 2 more things whose course codes i can't decode ---- My teachers are a combination of civilian professors (mostly PhD as if that matters) and active duty officers, Majors or above. They're all notably awesome while being absurdly challenging. I take 18 credit hours a semester to start, and I'm also supposed to be starting persian this semester. It's not on my schedule because I'm considering switching to Arabic, there's a legendary little old Arab man who teaches the class and I'd get an opportunity to chill in Morocco for a bit. There's an instructional system in place that is opposite any other college I've heard of so far. It's called the Thayer Method, and basically, we learn everything on our own before the class for which it's due, and the class time is solely to bounce questions and get further insight on the subject matter that we're already expected to know. Sounds pretty stupid in my opinion but I don't know anything yet so my opinion is invalid. We apparently have the "#1 most accessible instructors" in the US. Basically, teachers have been known to snowmobile from their nearby homes to their offices to meet cadets for additional instruction if the roads are snowed over during the wintertime. They're really there for us, and with a maximum class size (intro or otherwise) of 23, it's pretty cool shit. We have all sorts of uniforms that are all sorts of awkward and consist of all sorts of microscopic bits and pieces that are never where I left them and always crooked. It's part of the learning curve. But we look good! Each class is strictly divided and fraternization (befriending up or down a year) is a no-go. This is because throughout each year, cadets gain responsibility and rank as they transition from following to leading larger and larger groups. A plebe has no rank, a yearling is a corporal and is assigned a plebe to guide through their first year. A cow is a sergeant and can lead a squad or an entire platoon. A firstie can lead a company or take another executive company position, or be selected for regimental staff and take command of cadet life at West Point. The way this works is that every summer is dedicated to some sort of very very intense military training. Beast is this summer. Next year I'll either be selected for Airborne school, Air Assault school, and after a 2-week break I'll be going to Cadet Field Training (super-beast). The year afterwards, I will take Cadet Leadership Development Training and then become cadre (leadership) for the 1st or 2nd half of Beast, which is when I'll be selected to lead a squad or a platoon within the 8 beast companies. During the school year after Beast, I'll have the same job in my academic companies (think of them as tiny frats, 8 companies of 4 platoons to each of 4 regiments). It gets more complicated after that as they transition to firsties and start doing some much more real shit. It's a lot of stuff! Sorry for the giant block of writing, this was actually pretty nice to write out because I can see it all laid out for myself now too :D You should see how much I started writing on fucking paper during Beast. I've almost never written a personal letter before, let alone pages upon pages whenever I had time. What were you up to in Kosovo? If it's sneaky beaky stuff feel free to PM me, I definitely have top secret clearance., The rep that helped me on my applications served out of West Point in Kosovo in the Corps of Engineers. It's fucking awesome that your brother is with the 101st- there's a girl in my beast company that was attached to the 101st as a pashto interpreter.
good professors try to teach this way, and it usually lasts up until they meet their not-so-good studentsThere's an instructional system in place that is opposite any other college I've heard of so far. It's called the Thayer Method, and basically, we learn everything on our own before the class for which it's due, and the class time is solely to bounce questions and get further insight on the subject matter that we're already expected to know. Sounds pretty stupid in my opinion but I don't know anything yet so my opinion is invalid.
The Thayer Method makes a lot of sense to me... in war you are going to be thrown into situations with no map and no plan, and you are going to have to figure it the fuck out. So teaching you to try on your own first, and then get direction when you need it, makes a lot of sense to me. Survival 101: Figure this shit out now! :-) Thanks for the rundown. That was EXACTLY the kind of insight I was looking for into your experience. Gonna be amazing... what a personal journey! Oh... and my brother-in-law WAS 101st Airborne paratrooper. Now he's a chef. When I was in Kosovo I was a civilian contractor who made souvenirs for the PX stores on all the military bases. So I wasn't military, but I had a military ID (that was basically a get-out-of-jail-free card) and could come and go from all the bases in the area, as I wished. We basically made all the souvenirs there... t-shirts, coffee mugs, patches, engraved Zippos and pocket knives, etc. I got stuck in an artillery situation once. Driving along some road in Bosnia (probably), and there are some weird noises outside the truck, but the stereo is up and we are just driving along... when I notice these POOFS of dirt and smoke on the hill in front of us... and I slow a bit... more POOFS here and there, and I see the roof of a building collapse. So I come to a stop, roll down the windows, and listen. There is artillery firing somewhere, but I can't see it. And they are bombarding the hill in front of me. Which are small BOOMs followed by big POOFs of dirt and smoke. Not knowing what else to do, I park and watch. Eventually the shelling stops, so I start driving again. Never did see anybody military around...
That airborne tab he's rockin is a primary source of motivation for me. The sound of artillery is pretty wild. While we were qualifying with M4 rifles on a shooting range, upperclassmen were training on the mountain above us and were learning how to use artillery at the time. I didn't see the contact but I heard it loud and clear. I can't imagine what it's like to see something like that, knowing it's not a bunch of college kids doing a training exercise.
Fun fact, the 101st hasn't actually been an airborne unit since the early 1970's. They lost their airborne status and transferred over to an air assault division (main difference being infil method changed from jumping out of planes to fast-roping out of helicopters). The 82nd Airborne is the only non-SOF airborne division left. ....Basically the 101st is full of dirty dirty stink nasty legs (just like nowaypablo... for now)
Tru. But they got the patch thooo. On that note, one of our FTX's had a group of NCOs with straight-up tower of power, scrolls and tabs going all up their shit. They were responsible for sneaking into our camps (while we were supposed to be pulling security) and 'killing' each member of a total of 3 platoons, one patrol base at a time, with a red sharpie, from behind. One SF guy literally bumped his nose up against an m240b and the god damn new cadet on the other end of it didnt notice.
There is a certain charm to the kickin chicken. Maybe it's the history, maybe it just looks cool. Either way I've always liked that patch. Hah, classic. I bet that's the most fun those guys have had in a while.. Nothing like a little snoopin and poopin. To be fair to the cadet, 240's do make excellent pillows. Sleep deprivation is brutal. We had a guy fall asleep on an ambush line.. Cadre took the barrel off his saw and let him sleep. After the 240 wakeup poor guy assaulted through half the objective before realizing he was missing half his weapon. Great to hear you're enjoying West Point. Sounds like a blast man.
Good, thanks for holding it down. I had a dream about those chicken wings and beer at least once this summer.