During the Academic Year, a typical day begins with plebe wake-up at 0530, well over an hour before the upperclass. Plebes need to read and be knowledgeable about newspaper articles, memorize menus, professional topics, and “chow calls”. At around 0630, they have their “comearound” of the day. On Monday and Tuesday, they meet with a 3/C who will go over their professional topics; on Wednesday and Thursday, it is with a 2/C; Friday with a 1/C. Morning quarters formation is at 0700 for the entire company: breakfast is shortly afterwards, and the first academic class starts at 0755. There are four class periods in the morning, with the last one ending at 1145. After a ten-minute grilling period, they may have a chow call, which means standing in a prearranged spot in the company area and yelling at the top of their lungs:

“Sir, you now have seven minutes until noon meal formation. Noon meal formation goes outside. The uniform for noon meal formation is winter working blues. Stripers carry swords. The menu for the noon meal is:

[plebe recites the specific menu]

The officers of the watch are: the Officer of the Watch is Lt. (name), 1^st Company Officer; the Midshipman Officer of the Watch is Midshipman Lt. (name), Brigade Assistant Operations Officer. The professional topic of the week is naval aviation. The major events of the Yard are:

0800 Blood Drive on Deck 4-0

1600 Men’s water polo vs. Army, Lejeune Hall

1900 Dant’s Call, Alumni Hall

You now have six minutes, Sir!”

As the plebe loudly yells this, he is typically surrounded by several 2/C mids who wait for him to make an error. Following this chow call, they “chop” to formation in the center of the passageway, eyes straight ahead, squaring all corners, and greeting all upperclass with a loud “GO NAVY, SIR!” or “BEAT ARMY, SIR!” Do not be alarmed at your plebe’s hoarse voice when he calls home! In fact, plebes sound as if they are catching a cold for the summer and the better part of the year.

Throughout lunch, the plebe keeps his “eyes in the boat,” serves the upperclass, responds to all their questions, sits at attention, speaks only when spoken to. Each table is set for twelve mids in the squad. After serving seconds, the plebe can request permission to “shove off” and if granted, can return to his room.

After the noon meal, there are two more classes which end at 1520. Non-varsity athletes march in parades and play intramural sports. Varsity athletes practice every day and are exempt from marching in the parades.

Evening meal is served buffet-style between 1700 and 1900. There is open seating during the evening meal and mids can eat at their convenience between the prescribed times. Evening meal is followed by study hour at 1930. Plebe taps are 2300 and upperclass taps are 2400, with a muster each night. Plebe rooms are usually inspected daily, and formal inspections (white glove and black sock) are conducted approximately twice each semester.

For the plebes, the hassles continue all the way through the first and second semesters. If Navy beats Army in football, “carry on” is usually granted until Christmas leave. This means that many of the restrictions are eliminated; for example, plebes can sleep when they want to, even during the day!