The Final Day of Recognition

Recognition ended smoothly and it certainly was great. The upperclassmen really kicked it up a notch in intensity but also kept it safe. The four degrees gave it their all and were exhausted but all relieved to finally be worth more than a pile of dirt. There are smiles all around.

The "Run to the Rock" begins as the seniors and freshmen march passed the chapel.

 
 The doolies begin the search for their charge up by the rock. The charge is a heavy railroad tie used during training and is painted by the freshmen before recognition. The upperclassmen hide it and the four degrees have to find it before running back up to the hill.

The freshmen begin their journey back to the hill where they will meet up with their squadrons.

CS-12's C4C Price is recognized and has his prop and wings pinned on. The pin on ceremony concludes recognition weekend with the four degrees earning the right to be upperclassmen. They choose an upperclassman who has made an impact on their life through four degree year.

To conclude recognition, the wing sits down for dinner Saturday night. The Commandant of Cadets, Brig. Gen. Clark grants them recognition privileges and they are now considered an equal part of the wing. It is tradition to have the four degrees sit at the head of the table for this dinner.

Recognition is now over and the freshmen now have less restrictions and rules to abide by. They are allowed to walk freely, they do not have to be at attention in the squadron or on the Terrazzo. They can wear their backpacks now and they are authorized to wear civilian clothes.

Congratulations once again to the class of 2015.

Recognition Day Two

Check out the first day if you haven't already: Day One

(0640) It's day two of recognition. The day began early with a basic wake up which includes surprising the four degrees by banging on their doors until they are dressed and out in the hallway. We had a reveille formation at 0530 and then breakfast followed. Currently, the four degrees are being marched back from Mitchell Hall to their squadrons and are preparing for the courses.

I'll still be taking photos all day so check back later to see the doolies in action.

Update (1120): The first half of the courses are done for the day and everyone is headed off to lunch. The two courses I was at today were the Academy Tour and the Leadership Reaction Course (LRC). The Tour is one of the most strenuous and physically challenging courses during recognition but the freshmen took it in stride.

The day began before sunrise.

During the Academy Tour, the doolies go to several monuments on the Terrazzo and meet upperclassmen who explain the significance while performing some exercises. Here, the cadre (berets) and the freshmen perform pushups in front of the class crests.

A doolie low crawls with her rifle and classmates.

Four degrees wait at the base of the Core Values Ramp to begin another station of the Academy Tour.

An upperclassman from Squadron 12 leads his freshmen in exercises before the start of the LRC.

 The LRC gives the freshmen a chance to use teamwork to solve different tasks. It's not strenuous and allows for them to have some rest and fun for once.

A classmate lends C4C Staab a hand in completing an obstacle.

Course Cadre C2C Mitchell debriefs the doolies on their obstacle.

Blindfolded, the doolies were tasked to take a rope and create a square within a time limit.

Update (2100): The second day is slowly winding down. Today included 3 tough courses along with training sessions between the courses. The freshmen looked pretty tired and are certainly ready to have recognition end. Below are the two other course. The first is "Chutes and Ladders," a circuit type course based on knowledge. If they are good with knowledge, the four degrees can rest but if they get a question wrong, they  will get to do exercises. The cool thing about this course is that everyone is paired up with someone from another squadron, so none of your friends are there to support you. You have to rely on your new teammates.

A doolie fireman carries his teammate.

A little pre-workout motivation by the upperclassmen.

A freshman low crawls through a push up tunnel created by her classmates.

After "Chutes and Ladders," we have the Assault Course. Based off the course during Basic Cadet Training, the A-Course is a difficult physical test of the freshmen's strength, will, and stamina. While the Academy Tour is usually the hardest course, I believe that this year, the A-Course takes the gold. The upperclassmen certainly put on a tough challenge for the freshmen.

A doolie displays his warrior ethos.

One of the exercises used throughout the course, a freshman bear crawls with his rifle to the next station.

A freshman with his rifle sprints alongside a cadre member during the Assault Course.

After the conclusion of the A-Course, the doolies were led to dinner and then back to the squad. Currently, they are experiencing "Theme Rooms." This is a secret held close to recognition so I won't be posting any photos.

Tomorrow is their last day. The run to the rock and prop and wings ceremony concludes recognition and begins a whole new life for the freshmen. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Recognition

The first night of Recognition is currently under way. Unfortunately, I cannot release any photos that I have taken. I can give you updates, however.

Recognition began at approximately 1645 (4:45 pm for you non-military types). A wing wide retreat formation was held and after the flag was lowered, the freshmen sprinted off and took spirit hill, a sign of disrespect to the upperclasses. The first dinner, perhaps the hardest, involved non-stop yelling and stress induced by several upperclassmen yelling at once. It was so loud that you couldn't hear yourself think. There, the Wing Commander announced that because of the stunt pulled, this would be the hardest recognition to date.

After dinner, stand-ups (uniform and knowledge inspection) were held and now the freshmen are enjoying a training session. More updates will come throughout the night and rest of the weekend.

Update (2233): I have permission to post some photos so I'll get those up as soon as possible. Recognition is done for the night and the four degrees are in bed (or making their beds depending on the squadron). It was an intense first day and it's only going to tougher tomorrow.

Update (2330): A couple photos from today:

One of the freshmen gets caught alone on the strips. It's tradition that the whole freshman squadron gets together and runs to the squadron as one. That way, there aren't any four degrees alone and everyone can help each other out.

C3C Hopkins awaits the arrival of his four degrees.

The first glimpse of recognition for the freshman is dinner, where they recite knowledge while getting yelled at by the upperclassmen. And that would be me in the background. I thought meals were the worst part because it was so loud you couldn't think straight and you would mess up. And upperclassmen feed on mistakes.

"Stand-ups" are an intense uniform inspection and knowledge test for the freshmen. Here, two upperclassmen closely inspect a four-degree's uniform.

I took down the last two. Basically a training session is where the upperclassmen lead the freshmen through exercises in order to put them under stress. During this time, the 4* have to recite knowledge and can be yelled at for making mistakes. While this may be difficult, it gives the freshmen a chance to prove that although they may be tired or broken, they can still prevail. Teamwork is essential. Also, the upperclassmen take great measures to ensure that nobody is injured or too physically exhausted to continue. Safety is always the main goal.

Day two: Recognition Day Two