Students at service academies learn leadership during first summer

The summer before incoming freshmen begin their studies at one of the nation’s service academies, they don’t decide when to sleep, eat or speak. Upperclassmen and officers do that for them.

A regimented schedule is one of the many components that separates the summer experience of students attending the Naval, Military, Air Force and Coast Guard academies from those of their peers.

At the academies -- located in Maryland, New York, Colorado and Connecticut -- students gather roughly five to seven weeks before classes begin to participate in Plebe Summer, Cadet Basic Training, Basic Cadet Training and Indoctrination Summer respectively.

The summer experience is designed to transform civilians and break them of any habits that don't coincide with the military lifestyle, such as sleeping late and talking back, said Coast Guard Academy Cadet Training Officer Cmdr. Jeffrey Haukom.

"We teach them discipline. We teach them about the chain of command, so we start at the basic building blocks, the very foundations of becoming a military member," Haukom said.

After four years, students from these academies will graduate as officers in their respective branches of the military.

At West Point, the summer is a step in building “a leader of character for our army and our nation,” said Col. Glenn Goldman, director of military instruction at the academy. The students may march, navigate, sail, handle firearms and throw live grenades during this summer, depending on the academy.

“I can assure you that our students, or cadets as we call them, have an entirely different summer experience than anybody attending a traditional college,” Goldman said.

One year ago on July 21, Cadet Jacob Bower died participating in the Military Academy’s summer training. Heat played a factor in his death.

“We’re very, very concerned about executing out training in a safe manner. We want it to be effective and challenging, but it’s got to be done safely,” Goldman said.

While intense physical activity plays a major role in the training, the exercises also provide an opportunity to develop time, communication and leadership skills, said 2nd Class Coast Guard Cadet Treston Taylor.

“We want them to be able to move, shoot, communicate and function as a productive member of the core of cadets,” Goldman said.

The training builds camaraderie through the challenges and tasks designed to encourage teamwork.

“The first summer allows you to establish yourself as part of a family and part of a team,” Taylor said.

Learning selflessness is a crucial component of that first summer in training exercises and interactions with peers.

Midshipman 3rd Class Jeramy Triplett experienced this lesson firsthand at a meal with his squad when he took a large helping of eggs. After everyone was served, there weren’t enough to feed the last person at the table.

“They say that human beings are naturally egocentric-thinking. I learned probably the most important lesson that summer, that we have to learn to put these egocentric thoughts aside and think about others," Triplett wrote in a message to USA TODAY College. "Ship, shipmate, self. 'Yourself' is always the last priority. Till [sic] this day I make sure all the people at my table have enough to eat before I even think about taking seconds.”

Through the examples set by upperclassmen during the summer, the cadets and midshipmen grow as leaders, said 2nd Class Cadet Kristin Euchler of the Coast Guard Academy.

First-years at the Naval Academy are like clay, molded by the 1st class trainers during Plebe Summer, said Midshipman 1st Class Jacqueline Penichet.

“They are teaching them what it means to be a midshipman, what it means to be an officer, what it means to be part of a team so that in the end we don’t think about ourselves, we think about others."

Emily Genco is a senior at the University of Wisconsin majoring in journalism and is a summer 2012 intern for USA TODAY College. Learn more about her here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.