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.

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.

So here I am, another typical Saturday morning at the USCGA for a 4/c. Avoiding the long list of homework I have to tackle over the next 48 hours, I decided to clean up my room (I promise this is totally normal!). In cleaning my room, I found a box of letters I received over Swab Summer. It was so weird to read them all and realize how quickly time flies. I mean, in about a week I will be on my 3/c summer assignment. I felt like I would never become a 3/c and I would be squaring and yelling at clocks forever! My 4/c year is quickly coming to an end – THANK GOODNESS…I mean, oh darn – how sad! Just kidding, 4/c year can really be a bummer. But honestly, as long as you take everything with a grain of salt you should be fine. I decided to dedicate this blog to giving some of advice from what I learned from my past summer for all of those out there anxiously awaiting your own Swab Summer 2013. So, here it goes:

1. Do NOT take anything too seriously. Respect your cadre and learn from them, but don’t overanalyze the comments they may make. They’re there to point out everything wrong you’re doing, but that’s only to make you a better 4/c. Do not think you are a bad person for doing something wrong because at some point you WILL make a mistake. Learn from them, and grow from them. Most importantly, don’t let it get you down.
2. If you feel like you want to quit, just remember everything that made you want to come here in the first place. Keep in mind how proud everyone is of you back home, and never lose sight of the goals that you have.
3. Learn to be flexible. Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned and be ready for that. This one may not make much sense right now, but once you’re here, you’ll get it!
4. Please, only bring what is required on the packing list…really…take this one to heart. Don’t be lugging around unnecessary things on R-Day.
5. If you ever feel like you want to up and leave and just “be normal” or go to “normal college,” please re-think that. Give this place a shot and never quit. Yeah sure, other college kids get to sleep in and wear what they want to class (if they feel like going), but how many of them get to be on the fast track to leadership within the Coast Guard? How many spend their summer training to save lives and make a difference in the world? Swab Summer may feel very inconsequential to your overall officer career, and it might be in the whole scheme of things, but it’s where we (cadets) all have our start, so I think that’s pretty darn significant! Just keep in mind the impact you will have one day within the USCG while you’re doing your pushups because you looked down for 1/5 of a second. :)

As always, if you have any questions about cadet life or Swab Summer (because that was me just a short year ago!) feel free to ask at Allyson.J.Roesch@uscga.edu.

Good luck to all the future swabs and AIMsters this summer!

More about Allie.

A lot of people have been emailing me asking what cadets do on the weekends. Besides catching up on homework, sleeping, movies at the Waterford 9, and Walmart, most of the cadets are involved with the sponsor family program. For those who have never heard of the program, families in the surrounding New London area, including active duty officers and civilians, “adopt” cadets and become our home away from home. I know I speak for the majority of the corps when I say that for us cadets that now live far away from home, we more than appreciate these families for taking us in. My current sponsor family happens to be two instructors here at the Academy. They try to help out as much as possible. Whether it be a ride to the airport for leave, spending the night to escape the walls of the Academy, or even a simple breakfast after church on Sunday they are more than happy to accommodate my needs. Currently, I am the only cadet that is assigned to the “family.” Normally, families can consist of 4 to 5 cadets providing relationships out of Chase Hall, which fourth class are more than happy to have with some of the upperclassman. With finals quickly approaching, I cannot wait to go over to their house, change into civilian clothes and try to study for the exams.

And for my summer I will be on Eagle going to the Caribbean and then sailing the Coast Guard Cutter Chase Hall for summer school. ¼ of the way done…..1,118 days…

Got a question? Email me Nathan.D.Belanger@uscga.edu!

More about Nate.

It’s crazy to think that freshman year is almost over. It seems like just yesterday that I drove in the front gate with my parents and began this journey. I’m glad freshman year is over, though, it was definitely tough but I know this place well enough to know that it’s not going to get any easier.

There are a lot of exciting things coming my way in these next few months starting with tomorrow when we find out our new companies. Since Reporting-In day I have been with the same group of 28 freshmen and they have become some of my best friends, but I don’t know my other classmates too well. When we switch companies we will remain in those companies until we graduate the Academy. I’m pretty nervous to see where I end up but it’s also pretty exciting. Then, next week is finals week and within no time I’ll be on Eagle for five weeks with my 121 classmates, sailing the Caribbean. I can’t wait! The first two weeks we will be underway with no stops! I m hoping that I don’t get too seasick; when we get to our first port call in Aruba I’m pretty sure we will all be more than excited to see land again. Then we sail to Guantanamo Bay and finally St. Petersburg, Florida where the rest of my classmates will get on Eagle and I will head to the Academy for summer school. Since I am majoring in engineering and started in Introduction to Calculus I’ll be taking Calc II in summer school. I’ll be back at the Academy for six weeks with about 40 of my classmates and from what I have heard, we have a pretty good time. We are here when the class of 2017 reports in so we will be sure to get some good video footage of that. Finally to wrap up my summer I have three weeks of leave and during that time I’ll be attending the Oshkosh Air show in Wisconsin! Before coming to the Academy I attended the air show every summer, and with missing last year due to Swab Summer I’m ecstatic to join my family there this year. Then, back home to Texas for some good ol’ Texas heat before starting my second year back at the Academy.

I’m ready for a change of pace after my first year and there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. I have learned a lot this year and if there was any advice I could give to incoming freshman, as cliché as it sounds, I would say rely on your friends to get through it. There are a lot of overwhelming times here, especially during 4/c year, and it’s impossible to get through on your own. I know that the people I have gone through this year with are the ones that are going to be in my life for years to come, well beyond our Academy years.

So have a great summer! And good luck class of 2017!

More about Jessica.