1. Get in the best physical shape possible. Train hard every day to prepare! You will be doing a lot of push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups; you will be running up to three miles at a time. The fitter you are on I Day, the easier you will manage this physically demanding summer.

2. Spend some time in the sun (within safe limits) to avoid sunburn later

3. You may want to get a regulation haircut now. For males, this will make it easier to adjust to the I-Day buzz cut. For females, you can ensure that your hair will be well cut in a style you can manage in the limited time you will have each day.

4. Get acclimated to the new time schedule – 5:00 am – 10:30 pm.

5. Get a copy of Reef Points (available from the USNA Visitor Center Gift Shop 800-778-4260 or Naval Institute 800-233-8764). Although some entries will change from year to year, you can begin to familiarize yourself with all of the items (called “rates”) you will need to memorize over the summer. This can be an advantage—getting a head start, or a disadvantage—you will be responsible to ensure that your shipmates reach the same level of understanding.

6. Write a letter to yourself. While you are still experiencing “the high” of having reached your goal of attending the US Naval Academy, write down why you want to be there and what an Academy education will mean to you. Seal it in an envelope for “The Box” (see below). If you have doubts about your commitment during the summer or at anytime during plebe year, you will have this letter to remind you of why you made this choice. Just looking at the sealed envelope may be enough to refocus your attention on your goal.

7. Spend time with your family and friends. You probably won’t get home for five months so appreciate what you are leaving behind.

FOR THE PARENTS:

1. Get a copy of Brief Points: An Almanac for Parents and Friends of the US Naval Academy Midshipmen (available at the locations and numbers listed above)

2. If possible, get a computer and sign up for email service. This will be your lifeline to your mid, especially during plebe year. You will also want to get signed on to the USNA Parents Net   

3. Either obtain telephone calling cards for your mid or even better, establish a toll free number so that your mid can call you easily from anywhere.

4. Book all of your reservations NOW! Annapolis is always busy and although there are many hotels, they are often all booked, particularly for football weekends and other special event weekends. Hotel prices can be high – if this is a concern, prices are lower in the outlying areas such as Bowie and New Carrolton.
    

THINGS TO BRING

The Academy issues most, if not all, necessities. You will receive a list from them specifying a few basic things to bring with you. You will be told to bring a small bag in which to deposit your civilian clothes after you are issued uniforms. This bag is then stored away and returned to you during Plebe Parents Weekend. In some cases, the items you are told to bring with you end up stored away until that time as well. Therefore , items you need should be packed in a separate box and left with your parents to leave at the Main Office. Count on only being allowed to keep your watch (which should be an inexpensive shock resistant one) and wallet after you are issued your uniforms.
 

THE BOX

There are some things you need as well as some things you may want to have  during the summer. Since you cannot be sure that what you bring will not be stored away with your civilian clothes in your small bag, you should put all of these items in a sealed box to be mailed. On I-Day, if not before, parents will be able to obtain their mid’s address information.

The box can then be labeled and mailed via US Mail from home or from Annapolis on I Day. Dropping off packages at the Main Office for delivery is no longer allowed. The box should not be too large or it may look suspicious enough to be searched  and/or confiscated. Mail distribution systems have varied over recent summers so it is difficult to know which delivery method will cause the fewest problems for your mid. In some cases, upperclassmen accompany plebes to pick up packages or deliver it themselves. Do not send anything that would be embarrassing to your plebe and keep the outside of the package as plain as possible.

Some items you should consider for the box include:

1. Soft cloths to polish shoes, boots and brass (or you may have to sacrifice one of your newly issued tee shirts for this purpose)

2. Personal toiletries including a small bottle pain reliever, cough drops, blister pads, and medicated powder (Annapolis is EXTREMELY humid during the summer)

3. Male mids should take extra cotton boxers, NOT briefs

4. Female mids may want to bring additional white cotton underwear, sports bras, and their preferred brand of feminine hygiene products

5. Extra white crew socks – you can never have too many

6. A small number of unframed photographs to go under the plastic blotter on the mid’s desk. Framed photos are not allowed

7. The motivational letter you wrote to yourself as described above.

LAST MINUTE ADVICE TO THE UNWARY, UNSUSPECTING, INNOCENTS ENTERING PLEBE YEAR”

1. Prepare yourself for the greatest shock in your life! You will be yelled at, ordered about, hustled here and there, awakened before you even thought you had gone to sleep, put through rigorous exercise before your body is awake, eat under the close scrutiny of the upperclass, and forced to answer questions and remember details that will seem absolutely idiotic to you.

2. Look upon the whole thing as a GAME…a very serious one mind you…but a game nonetheless. REMEMBER: NOTHING WILL LAST FOREVER!

3. Know why the Academy has Plebe Summer. It’s Boot Camp. Period. The objective of the training is to break you down and then build you back up in the image that the Navy has decided is best for a Naval Officer.

4. Plebe Summer is more MENTAL than physical training!

5. Look upon the Upperclass as demigods. Do everything they order you to do, however stupid, and don’t underestimate them! Look upon your classmates as the only friends you have because THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE!

6. Don’t laugh in anyone’s face…but don’t lose your sense of humor either.

7. Don’t take it personally! You are a face in the crowd. If you believe that the detailers are out to get you – you are right. The mid who is standing next to you also thinks they are out to get him – and he is right. It is your detailer’s JOB to get in your face. It isn’t personal. It’s tradition.

8. It’s about team work. Offer help to classmates and seek help when needed.

9. Don’t party the night before I-Day – it will be the longest day of your life!

10. When you are really down and out…REMEMBER…the Brigade is about 4000 men and women strong, and they all lived through Plebe Year!

11. Stay focused! Nothing can get in the way of a successful plebe summer more than a loss of personal focus. It opens the floodgates of confusion, self-doubt and frustration. Managing the stress of each moment comes with a clear understanding of what is required, how to do it, and why you are doing it. You are doing it because you want to! You are the best of the best. You wouldn’t be here if the entire Academy Admissions Board didn’t think you were the best. No one is admitted to the Academy without every officer on the Board voting to accept. They thought you could do it, so go out there every day and prove them right!

12. During the year, KEEP UP ON YOUR STUDIES, particularly Chemistry and Calculus. If you start to slip, get immediate help before you get so far behind that you can’t catch up. Be prepared for grades that are lower than you are used to receiving. Although you were a star in your high school, you are now among a galaxy of stars. You will have to maintain a minimum of 2.0, which is not as easy as it sounds with the many other activities and requirements you will have during Plebe Year.

13. ABOVE ALL…DON’T GIVE UP ON YOURSELF! You will be exhausted, homesick, ready to cry at the mere thought of home. You will miss your dog, your girlfriend or boyfriend, your bed, your Mom’s cooking, BUT despite all of this, you will have the BEST though hardest TIME OF YOUR LIFE!

There will never be another four years like these!