cadet blogs

It seems as if the sun never stops shining here in California! I am in Marina Del Rey for my first half of the summer on CGC Halibut to familiarize myself with the fleet and gain some knowledge of the Coast Guard. This is my last cadet summer experiencing time in the fleet and I have taken more of a leadership role. I am shadowing junior officers in the Coast Guard to discover what exactly I will be doing when I graduate from the Academy. I am diligently working on qualifications so that I can eventually become a fully qualified member of the crew by the time I am due to leave Marina Del Rey. It is convenient to be sent to such an amazing location too. Marina Del Rey always has perfect weather and it is just a short distance from downtown Los Angeles.

Once I complete my five weeks on the Halibut, I will be traveling with the CGC Eagle for six weeks as a cadre for the 3/c cadets. I am greatly anticipating my time on Eagle because there are so many great opportunities for me there. We will be visiting amazing ports such as Bermuda and St. Pierre, France! I also will be able to have an ample amount of leadership opportunities on Eagle, which will bode well for my development into being a 1/c cadet. I am very excited for what the summer has to offer and I am even more excited to complete my last year at the Coast Guard Academy!

More about Brianna.

As this week comes to an end we are all even closer to the end of another semester at the Coast Guard Academy. At times it seems as if the world speeds up its rotation because this semester had flown by and everyone is starting to reminisce about another school year coming to an end. The first class cadets just received their billets for their first assignments afloat and all of the second and fourth classes are anxiously awaiting our summer assignment billets. The summer is always a training period for all classes so that we can continue to learn and grow even when we are not in school. Your first training summer is Swab Summer where, for most people, it is their first experience in a military environment and they have to learn and adapt to this lifestyle. Then you move on to 3/c summer where you have your first involvement in the Coast Guard fleet. The majority of 3/c go on CGC Eagle for half of the summer and then to another CG unit for the rest of the summer. During 2/c summer you are cadre for the incoming class, and it is your job to train the swabs to ensure that they are able to become part of the corps once the fall semester starts.

This coming summer I will be experiencing my 1/c summer, where I will learn valuable leadership traits that I hope to apply during my 1/c school year and when I become an ensign. I will go out to the fleet again to experience more hands-on missions of the Coast Guard and to decide what I want to do for my future in the Coast Guard. I hope to go to CGC Eagle again for half of the summer because of the exceptional leadership opportunities that are offered and then I hope to go to a buoy tender on the West Coast for the rest of the summer.

More about Brianna.

It is so exciting to get past the halfway mark and having the end of the semester in sight. Everyone had a refreshing and relaxing spring break and the cadets are impatiently waiting for the warm weather to come and permanently stay at the Academy. The winter has been rough and typically has the reputation as being the “Dark Ages” here, but with the sun coming out and the temperature slowly picking up, I am excited to get back into shape! I had been suffering a minor knee injury that has kept me from regularly exercising and running, but I am slowly getting back into the swing of things and the nice weather recently has tempted me to take some nice runs outside. Running off base are truly a blessing in disguise at the Academy; it is a great stress reliever to get out of Chase Hall and explore New London or Groton! Any time you have something on your mind, whether it is school or for personal reasons, a run off base usually does the job of clearing your mind and unbundling the nerves built up.

The nice weather around the corner also reminds me of a very exciting summer ahead; how it is often on my mind that my classmates and I will soon embark on leadership roles this summer. It is very interesting to be on the other side of Swab Summer this time and seeing everything come together. We have multiple trainings in the morning on how the summer is going to be and the Summer Regimental Staff have been working endlessly to organize and plan. It is amazing how much we have to do this summer and how it is not just Swab Summer for us, but a whole summer full of different leadership opportunities. We also have a lot of duty to sign up for and I never realized how Chase Hall is basically run by 2/c during the summer. We have recently been signing up for different duty slots and also determining our roles as a certain cadre. It is exciting to see how the summer is just around the corner and my classmates and I are getting ready to lead individuals whether it is through Swab Summer, CGAS, or the AIM program. Aside from being cadre, I am very excited for the rest of my summer and very exciting to get everything set up for my semester at the Air Force Academy. Their semester is actually starting really early, on August 4th and I hope I will not be missing out on a lot of the summer programs we have here at the Academy. I am sure all the puzzle pieces will fall into place when the time comes! Until then, I am just taking the semester one day at a time and keeping my head above water to get to the end of the semester and through finals week!

More about Ellie.

Memory is a perplexing thing; it’s beloved, it’s life changing, it’s sweet, and it’s deceptive all at once. For all the time we spend recounting our experiences and looking back at days-gone-by, it’s vital to note that oftentimes our memories are as much the synthesis of the outside world with our own dreams, fantasies, and illusions as they are accurate depictions of the past. And this is precisely what makes them so important. Our memories are not just a reflection of what has happened to us to make us who we are; they are the very manifestation of who we are, showing, through our own interpretations of and selections of our memorable moments, how we view and define our world. I remember the things that I remember how I remember them because of who I am, and the way those events have changed me. They show how my existence is very much different than yours – perhaps we don’t even exist in the same reality, when it comes down to it. So, I say again, memory is a perplexing thing.

I’m nearing the end of my 2/c spring semester; a few more months, and I’ll have been at the Academy for a full three years. So what, then, has my experience been here so far? What are the memories that my mind has chosen to form, and how has it created them? What is my Academy reality? Accurate or not, in the absolute sense, I’ve considered my “Final Four:” the top four memorable moments without which my Academy experience would be a very different story.

Memory 1: The Challenge

When I arrived on R-Day, physically, I was not cut out for Swab Summer. About 15 lbs too skinny, with a moderate background running and swimming being about the extent of my athletics skills, I spent most of my summer feeling like “the weak link in the chain.” In many ways it was good for me; I was used to being independent, strong academically, taking care of myself and rarely having to go to others for any sort of assistance. My lack of brute strength taught me humility, and it taught me to trust my shipmates to pick me up off the ground when I needed it, and trust them not to begrudge me for having to do so. But, in other ways, my deficiency took a toll on me mentally. Even as my strength improved, I hated feeling like a failure, feeling like I still hadn’t earned the respect and admiration of my shipmates. I wanted to prove myself if the area where I knew I was weakest.

I got my chance. One blissful night toward the end of the summer the cadre were clearly getting bored with the typical IT session, so they decided to mix things up. Our company was broken into five teams, and in turn a representative from each team would challenge the others to an exercise; whichever team’s representative won the round scored a point for their team. Part of me was dreading my turn; how could I stand it if I picked the exercise challenge, and then failed? But, there was one thing I knew I could do…I could hold a plank forever. If only that exercise didn’t get taken by another team before I got up…

What is Memory? (Continued)   

More about Jessie.

It’s Sunday night, and instead of doing my Heat Transfer homework, I’m writing this blog.

Now, you as the reader must be like, “Whoa! This guy is a slacker, not doing his homework.”

You’d be partially right.

Let me provide some insight into exactly why I am ignoring my Heat Transfer homework.

I do not understand it! This is seemingly self-explanatory, however, this is my blog, and I will expound upon it as I see fit. You see, the week prior to spring break, I left on Wednesday, flying to Los Angeles for the Harbor Cup.

Commencing Harbor Cup tangent. Hosted by the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Yacht Club, the Harbor Cup is the West Coast’s premiere intercollegiate offshore regatta. They provide us with Catalina 37 yachts and entrust us to race them among the giant cargo ships in San Pedro Bay and Los Angeles Harbor. Needless to say, it was a great time. Unfortunately, we didn’t sail as well as we’d hoped, but the experience was a great one.

Getting back on track, I missed two days of Heat Transfer class to attend the regatta. When I returned, terms like “Prandtl number” and “Average convection coefficient for mixed flow over a flat plate” were being thrown around.

In addition, I’m simply too tired to care. Typically, I use the weekends to recharge and refresh. This weekend, however, I spent about 16 hours on the River Thames (pronounced “thāmez” here in Connecticut, unlike across the pond) running a regatta that Coast Guard hosts. It was cold. And windy. And cold. And it snowed. Did I mention it was cold?

The good news is that I attend the Coast Guard Academy and my professors really care about my success. Tomorrow morning, I will go to my Heat Transfer professor, show him my futile attempts at solving the problem, and explain to him my difficulties. Then, he will invite me to stop by his office later so we can discuss where I’m struggling and help me work toward a solution, maybe even granting me an extension to finish it up.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must stare at this blank paper for a couple more hours.

UPDATE: Our professor realized some people were really struggling with the assignment, so he extended the deadline by six hours and took over a classroom for an hour to answer questions and provide assistance.

More about Nick.