cadet blogs

For the 3/c, the week after finals marks the start of their cadre summer. While other classes go out to the fleet to experience the underway lifestyle, the third-class cadets stay onboard the Academy for at least one extra week, getting trained by the Cape May Company Commanders (CMCCs) on how to be effective cadre. This week marks the culmination of the months of preparation 2015 has done in advance of our cadre summer.

I’m not going to reveal too much, because it is one of those experiences that you want to experience firsthand. For a week, the CMCCs, who train the Coast Guard’s recruits at Training Center (TRACEN) Cape May, take charge of each company, like Swab Summer. We spent the first morning reorienting ourselves, and remembering what it was like to be a swab. Remedials suck—I really can empathize with the swabs now. After a few days of “reorientation” (aka IT, remedials, and stress), we really dig into the meat of 100th Week: leadership development.

Part of 100th Week involves meeting with the Leadership Development Center (LDC) staff, the CMCCs, and other such instructors to learn more about leadership and how to apply it to the task of training swabs. These classes have been lots of fun and very informative. Lastly, we have had several opportunities now to meet as cadre sections to develop our leadership and command philosophies. These are important, because they will guide us as we guide the Class of 2017 to success this summer. Working with multiple type-A personalities can be frustrating at times, but the lessons we are learning now will make Swab Summer a much better experience for all involved.

I don’t know what happened, but I wasn’t really nervous about being a 2/c cadre until this week! Before 100th Week, I assumed that I could do it: yes, it might be difficult at times, but I thought I was smart enough and confident enough to assume responsibility and get the job done. Now, having gone through just three days of training so far, I’m not so sure… There are so many things to do, and so much responsibility. This summer really will be a leadership challenge, both for me and my shipmates. I guess what my cadre told me is true, “If you think you’re ready, you aren’t. If you are seriously questioning yourself, you’ll be fine.”

I rapidly come to the conclusion that I cannot wait for 100th Week to be over, so my classmates and I can pin white shields on our shoulders. With these white shields come so many more privileges and responsibilities: civvies (civilian clothing for liberty) AND cadre. After 100th Week concludes, I depart for three weeks of leave and a Holocaust study program before returning to New London for the rest of my cadre summer. I’m really excited—I just can’t really describe the feeling. You would have to experience it for yourself to understand how I feel… Good luck to 2017, and see you all in just a few short weeks!

More about Peter.

Welp. As I look around at my half-packed up room inside Chase Hall, I can proudly say that I’ve made it through two years of academia at the Coast Guard Academy. In my time here, I’ve accomplished far more than I thought I could prior to arriving here. For instance, I’ve taken 75 credit hours of classes in only four semesters, which is an absurd amount that only service academies can give you the pleasure of taking in such a small amount of time. Although my GPA isn’t exactly where it was in high school (nowhere near it, actually…oops) the transition into collegiate-level academics has proved to be quite the experience, and finally with my foot in the door, I can see some good advancement in my GPA.

Athletically, I couldn’t be more proud of our lacrosse team. We finished a regular season best 10-1, beat Stonehill to get to the PCLL Tournament Final…and then lost to our rivals, Briarcliffe, 9-7. It was one of the most nerve-racking games I’ve ever been a part of. Despite the setback, we were still granted an at-large bid to Nationals, and the team will be heading down to South Carolina next week to play in the MCLA National Tournament!

Militarily, things only got better and better for me as I progressed here. Starting as a 4/c with demerits falling everywhere, I now have three semesters of no demerits, and will be getting my second silver star for military excellence for the past semester. On top of that, my roommate and I were selected as Masters-At-Arms for Echo Company, so we’ll be running our department-specific incoming 4/c as they progress from swab to cadet.

So overall, after two years here, things really have shaped up. Being halfway done with my time here at the Academy is a unnerving thought, as it feels like just a few days ago I was getting screamed at by 1/c Sykes to keep my eyes in the boat. Well, in just a few weeks, I’ll be yelling at some swab myself. 2/c summer is coming quick!

More about Sam.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for me 3/c year, which is completely unbelievable. Although time has gone by so fast that I still feel like a swab sometimes and I am almost halfway to graduating!

The spring semester was probably the most challenging academically for me, although I’m proud with how classes have worked out. As of this moment, I have completed my first navigation brief, written my first 30-page paper, finished two additional group projects, taken two tests, and finished another 14-page paper, all due, by the way, within four days of each other. I think of my only final (Physics) as a reward for finishing this past week with my sanity intact. To recover I am planning on (eventually) sleeping for approximately two full days when I go home for break.

After a couple of months of our spring season, the women’s soccer team pulled away with two wins (shutouts) in our tournament last weekend! It was nice to see how our hard work in the offseason paid off during both of our games.

Looking ahead to leave, I am excited to focus all of my energy toward mentally and physically preparing for Swab Summer. I feel that it is important to be able to do absolutely every exercise and more with the swabs in order to be a respected leader, and also be able to intrinsically motivate them. My classmates and I have already started preparing specific things for certain situations as well as funny things we can pull off when the time is right.

More about Lindsay.

3/c cadets in the Marine Geochemistry class visited Ocean Beach to make a profile of the bleach slope and observe the layers of sand and sediment along the beach. These cadets are part of the Marine and Environmental Science (MES) major. This trip was not only educational but lots of fun, too!

Justin's video blog

More about Justin.

It’s already the third week of April, and here I am just now writing my blog for March! I kept thinking "it’s only the beginning of April, I have time to write", and then WHAM! Here it is and we’re less than 2 weeks from the end of classes! Time has flown.

This blog is going to be shorter than normal because I’m switching over to video blogs! That’s right, I won’t be writing as often, but instead will be making short videos about Academy life and posting them to the website. I’m hoping to get an introductory video and maybe another one out before summer training starts (2nd week of May!). I may still write short blog entries from time to time, but I’m going to try to go completely digital. This is exciting—wish me luck! Hopefully you’ll see me soon!

More about Justin.