• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Passing Time in Plebe Summer/(I'd love to hear some of your creative ideas!)

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Wait, what?

Are we talking acyear or Plebe Summer?

My original post is asking strictly for ideas for Plebe Summer. A subsequent post was referring to 2/C Squad Leaders during the Ac year. It changed 2nd Semester of my youngster year (so spring 2008) and they make up some of the squad leaders of most companies now.
 

exhelodrvr

Well-Known Member
pilot
DanMa,
Our platoon leader had us listen to "Patton's speech" before every parade to get us psyched up.

Current events involving the USN and USMC in particular, and the military in general, would be good to go over - you could incorporate the award citations, etc. in there.
 

Flugelman

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Just curious, do the Plebes still get the 2 weeks firearms training? In the mid 70's we would get a class half days and qualify them with both 1911A1 and M-16. The instructors were selected from those who competed in the All-Navy matches and had progressed to the Navy team.

Sure was refreshing to have a youngster listen to every word you said and work hard to put them in practice. Fun summer stuff leading up to the Inter-service and National Matches.:)
 

Sky-Pig

Retired Cryptologic Warfare / Naval Flight Officer
None
Let's look at the situation:

You are taking over as 2nd set CC (which I did lo some 17 years ago).

That mean the plebes have already been scared and yelled at, urinated in their sinks to avoid going out of their rooms to use the head, enjoyed an incredibly mild July from a weather standpoint, and can probably make their beds now.

I'd focus on reinforcing the basics of military bearing, for one thing.

Second, try not yelling all the time. It's hard with a large group of folks, but after 3 weeks they've already learned to tune you out when you start screaming anyway. If you want to be a little evil with an individual, whispering in the right ear really works sometimes.

These kids will frustrate you to no end...but do not lose sight of the fact that they are already your shipmates. Sit them down and give them the gouge on how to succeed at the boat school...explain the dramatic shift from Plebe Summer to Ac year, available study resources, professor expectations, even liberty options.

Basically, as the summer winds down, train them as if you want them to succeed instead of attrite.

Speak to them as another midshipman trying to make it graduation...not the all-seeing, all-knowing god-like Plebe Summer cadre that you normally appear to be...sort of how the senior officers on AW interact with you mere midshipmen.:)

Pickle has some great ideas...but those should wait until much later and should not be taught by a fellow mid. These sort of topics are why the E advisor and the company officer exist...but by all means assist the ac year company command and company officer with setting up the training plan for all the company mids...4th class to Firstie.
 

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
Yeah a lot of that stuff is taught during your 4 years at school... interacting with Enlisted is certainly reviewed over plebe summer with detailers, Chiefs and Sr. Chiefs, and Gunnery Sergeants among others.

I'm looking more really for just ideas specific to plebe summer, as creative as they may be... rack and uniform races are really only good for so far. I was thinking maybe each night doing a MOH citation reading or something like that and other ways to motivate them and get them to take pride in Naval heritage.

As far as fitreps go, 2/C now write them (we're talking ac-year here folks) if they get to be a squad leader and then you write more as a firstie. I've gotta say I think my co. officer has done a good job trying to teach us what makes an effective fitrep.

Nah, you should read them a NAM citation to get them to fall asleep...
 

HH-60H

Manager
pilot
Contributor
I'd focus on reinforcing the basics of military bearing, for one thing.

Second, try not yelling all the time. It's hard with a large group of folks, but after 3 weeks they've already learned to tune you out when you start screaming anyway. If you want to be a little evil with an individual, whispering in the right ear really works sometimes.

These kids will frustrate you to no end...but do not lose sight of the fact that they are already your shipmates. Sit them down and give them the gouge on how to succeed at the boat school...explain the dramatic shift from Plebe Summer to Ac year, available study resources, professor expectations, even liberty options.

Basically, as the summer winds down, train them as if you want them to succeed instead of attrite.

Speak to them as another midshipman trying to make it graduation...not the all-seeing, all-knowing god-like Plebe Summer cadre that you normally appear to be...sort of how the senior officers on AW interact with you mere midshipmen.:)

This is exactly how my 2nd set detailers handled things and it was awesome.
 

C420sailor

Former Rhino Bro
pilot
Tell them they'll all get a week of carry-on if they can get back to their rooms in less than 15 seconds chopping properly, squaring corners, etc.

What they won't know is that you switched the name plates on the doors during noon meal. Then tell them they have 30 minutes to find their new room and move all of their shit. +1 for dickheadness if you throw in an alpha inspection after this.

I really hated that one.
 

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Tell them they'll all get a week of carry-on if they can get back to their rooms in less than 15 seconds chopping properly, squaring corners, etc.

What they won't know is that you switched the name plates on the doors during noon meal. Then tell them they have 30 minutes to find their new room and move all of their shit. +1 for dickheadness if you throw in an alpha inspection after this.

I really hated that one.

Hahah, something very similar happened to me like that.

Sky-Pig, thanks for the advice.
 

GroundPounder

Well-Known Member
Sometime between singing the new politically correct blue and gold and commending them for being the most diverse class in USNA's history, distribute a copy of this, and let them use it as one of their news articles the following day:

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/2182.html


It would be interesting to know what happened to the midshipmen referenced in the article. I can't imagine that given the tone of the article that the men that were quoted did not have some type of repercussions.
 

a2b2c3

Mmmm Poundcake
pilot
Contributor
I recommend teaching your plebes that swo's sucks and pilots (and nfo's too) are gods. That should hold them over for four years and serve them well.
 
Top