Don't worry about food for cadets. There are people constantly watching what is going on with them, especially concerning their weight and eating.

It's expected that a New Cadet might lose some weight, and then gain some back but in a different part of the body. They are exercising, in some form, every day during their New Cadet experience. This is, for most, quite a departure from their former civilian existance. Even though they might have been in relatively good shape physically before coming to West Point the routine in Beast Barracks will stress most of them physically. Some call it being "Smoked".

As far as eating is concerned there is a professional nutritionist on staff at the cadet dining facility (polite language for the cadet mess hall) who is responsible for insuring that cadets have a varied, but fully nutritional, meal. Getting them to eat it is something else but, when there is nothing else to eat, i.e., no snacks, they will certainly eat what is provided. Taking to the nutritionist a few years ago I learned that cadets are provided approximately 4,000 calories per day in the food given to them at USMA.

Think about that number. How many of you can eat 4,000 calories daily, day after day? Or even want to do so? That's not an issue with cadets, however, as they are extremely active physically and burn off lots of calories in the process.

When I was a New Cadet (summer of 1958) it was much harder eating. There was plenty of just plain harrassment. Sometimes that involved passing out your plate and not eating anything at all. Just sitting there and spouting off New Cadet knowledge (Plebe Poop) through the entire meal. That's when your classmates came in handy. They figured out a way to sneak some food to you in the barracks. This is, thankfully, no longer allowed at USMA and is not practiced today. Good leadership does not flow from needlessly harrassing your subordinates and West Point recognizes this point.

Anyway, there is plenty of food available and all cadets, including New Cadets, are given the opportunity to indulge in eating. If there is a severe weight loss of some sort it will be noticed by the cadre, tactical officers, and medical personnel. No one is going to starve your son or daughter.

And, oh yes, the ladies can pack in the food as fast as the guys. Living in the cadet environment certainly encourages eating everything in sight.

What I remember most from my cadet days were 1) sleeping at every opportunity I had, and 2) eating everything that appeared in front of me. I learned to appreciate many different foods that I had never eaten before entering the military at West Point. And even some (but not all) of the C-Rations (now it's MRE's) that we ate were appealing. There were, however, a couple of C-Ration menu's (Ham and Lima Beans - UGH!) that seemed to have been invented by Martians as I don't think humans wanted the stuff. There was one MRE main course called "Country Captain Chicken" (or something like that) that was the universal worst a few years ago. Fortunately, the army is constantly changing the different meal entree's and this one disappeared somewhere in the past decade, much to the delight of the entire US Army.

Don't worry, your kids will come out in fantastic shape appreciating lots of food that you never thought they would every eat.

On the other hand, if you show up on Acceptance Day and provide them Hot Dogs', Hamburgers, Oreo's, Doritos, Potato Chips, Cookies, and soda, it will vanish like nothing you have ever seen.

Larry D. Smith