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And Now For Something Completely Different…

(The Cadet Experience, Class of 2012) Permanent link All Posts

At the Coast Guard Academy, there are a variety of opportunities that are intended to allow cadets to step outside their comfort zones and experience all the facets of military life. One of those opportunities is the Cadet Exchange Program, which allows Coast Guard cadets to go to Annapolis, West Point, or the Air Force Academy for a semester. I am currently at the Air Force Academy in beautiful (and currently very cold) Colorado Springs, Colorado. There are two other Coasties with me on exchange, as well as a handful of Navy midshipmen and a sum of West Point cadets. Of course the main questions I have been getting is, “Have you seen "The Guardian"?” and “How different is USAFA from CGA?” As far as The Guardian goes, yes, I have seen it, and no, I don’t want to be like Kutcher when I grow up. Demi and I would never work.

With regard to the differences between USAFA and the Coast Guard Academy, we are very similar, save for a few different perks and a few different regulations. Here in the land of the airmen, floors are called floors, not decks. Walls are walls, not bulkheads, stairs are stairs not ladder wells, and bathrooms are called bathrooms, not heads. Aside from a lack of nautical terminology, the academic culture is the same. Here, you still have to work with one another to survive difficult classes. Like CGA, the teachers here are very accessible and want to see you succeed. They invest their time in you not only to make sure you absorb the information for the exams, but to ensure that you are also developing the tools necessary to lead and take care of your people out in the fleet. Between the academics, athletics, and military components of both academies, the end goals are the same – to produce competent, confident officers who utilize a core values system to serve our fine country and ensure that there will be a tomorrow.

More about Katy.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/8/2012 4:14 PM