Plebe Summer Q&A #1
Picture this: a graduated high school standout, the star athlete with a 3.9 GPA, College Credits to show for it, and accustomed to accolades and achievements. Now imagine that same individual, stripped of their laurels, standing in the crucible of Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy about to walk into those iron forged doors of the world's largest dormitory. I was that midshipman.
So you've stumbled across this article likely on your way to our nation's finest Service Academy for aspiring Naval Officers. Congratulations on your first steps of getting in and you're steps towards one of the most exciting careers on our ocean covered earth! Many people on their way to Bancroft Hall often have hundreds of questions they want answers before they raise their right hand and yell "I DO!" Though I was a plebe over 6 years ago, the questions asked remain consistent throughout the years.
Is Plebe summer basic training?
Yes... And also no. The first thing to delineate between plebe summer and basic training is what the final product of the training is. Within the Navy there is one source that creates our enlisted sailors, that is Navy Boot Camp located in Great Lakes, Illinois. If you opt not to start work immediately, go to college, and earn a commission as an Officer, then there are three clear avenues to do so: ROTC, OCS, and USNA. (Links provided to their websites) Though there are other ways to do so, these big three generate the vast majority of commissioned Officers of the Navy.
Plebe summer stands as it's own individual path towards commissioning and can only be described as the entryway to time at USNA and furthermore the Navy. Don't look at USNA's Plebe Summer and Basic Training as analogous because they produce very different end products.
What is plebe summer and how long does it last?
Plebe summer is a 6-week long training designed to plunge newly appointed 4/C (Forth Class) Midshipmen into life in the Military and furthermore the larger brigade of midshipmen. It will always start on the last Thursday of June. Each year approximately 1200 go into plebe summer and the vast majority will make it to graduation 4 years later. Each day the 4/C will wake up at 0500 to conduct physical training (Except for Sundays). The schedules will be pack to the gills with leadership lessons, lectures, weapon familiarization, introductory combative classes, yelling, and lots of pushups.
Alongside the physical aspect there is a mental honing that takes place as 4/C are asked to memorized mountains of poetry, speeches, laws of the navy, historical facts, the hometowns of each of their classmates, and even their favorite color. By the end 4/C will know their shipmates as well as a loved sibling. Each day a short paper will be written and turned in to verify the knowledge imparted and the experiences absorbed.
Communication with the outside world will be far and few between as there is only One phone call authorized every two weeks. Letters and packages however, can be sent and received daily.
The newly appointed 4/C were all stellar performers in high school. Perhaps star athletes, 4.0 GPA, or have awards for the volunteer work performed. Plebe summer is where these people will learn how to fail. To the 4/C who have never faced a day of adversity or real stress, they will experience a transformative personality shift towards something closer to performing better with others than to outperform like they had in high school.
How bad is plebe summer?
Not great (for me at least)... Though each person, depending on how well prepared will face, learn, and perform in plebe summer differently. My experience is an anecdote to how bad it can be:
Picture this: I, the self-assured midshipman with a penchant for underestimating the challenges ahead, found myself singled out by a no-nonsense detailer Midshipmen 1/C Babb. With a demeanor that exuded authority and a gaze that could cut through even the thickest bravado. She saw through my B.S. cocky attitude in the first week. There is a special place for low performers that need an attitude adjustment. Each detailer has their own name for it: Extra instruction, circus time, getting smoked, but for me it was punching a ticket. This ticket I got punched everyday was to the Pain Train. Where arrogance is shed, and humility is earned through the amount sweat and volume shouted. Every ticket was an extra 30 min a day of avoidable memory exercises, muscle pain, and sore vocal chords that couldn't muster much more than a dry cough.
The Pain Train wasn't enough and my detailers quickly gave me up to a Letter of Instruction to snuff out the remainder of my selfish attitude to swap it into a selfless one. I had to write only about the people around me and ask the question at every opportunity "what does selfless leadership mean to you?"
How can I prepare for plebe summer?
Just look at our mission statement:
"To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government."
Those 3 things in the Mission of USNA are the goal. The sooner you hone them, the more you will make plebe summer a exciting chapter rather than being like my treacherous gauntlet.
Mental- Come ready to learn, memorized, and apply what you learn.
Moral- Do what's right and embody USNA's Honor Concept
Physical- Run like there's a bear chasing you. Do pushups until you can't push up. Do sit-ups until you can't sit up. The reason is that during the 6-weeks of plebe summer you will run approximately 150+ miles and complete thousands of calisthenic reps. A foundation of training your muscles to failure will prepare you for the challenge ahead.