They Will Teach....

By John

AND YOU WILL LEARN!!!!

This is how Slab, Charlie, and I "met cadre" during our first week at VMI. Will have to ask Col P and Bullnav if they went through a similar ritual or if it was different back in '85.

The ceremony hasn't changed much, after all these years. I believe this particular video was shot this past August, with the only noticeable difference being that cadre "posted" at the end of each squad, instead of barreling directly into the rats upon the "MEET YOUR CADRE" command.

Oh and that slow march? Takes some serious drill precision and a line of drummers who know their business to pull off. Very, very tricky.

Thought my heart was going to beat through my chest, back when I suffered this rite in the fall of '99.

October 11, 2007 10:59 PM VMI

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Comments

When i came back as a cadre corpral, my favorite saying was from my cadre platoon sgt who said"don't call them maggott f*&^rs till their moms go home" profound. i made the same recommendation to my wife who started as a first grade teacher this fall.

Mike '80 · October 12, 2007 12:25 AM

Any of you ever read "The Lords of Discipline" by Pat Conroy?

Josh · October 12, 2007 12:38 AM

John, I heard that the cadre march in now holding plates of cookies and cups of milk for the rats. Didn't that start with your class?

Josh, I don't know a VMI alum who HASN'T read "Lords of Discipline".

Joel · October 12, 2007 04:57 AM

It goes back to 1986, but don't recall any milk and cookies. Must've been a post-90 thing.

DaveO · October 12, 2007 06:30 AM

Joel, I must have read that book in a week this past summer. Good read. Tough training what military cadets and midshipmen had to go through.

Josh · October 12, 2007 07:14 AM

Different. Same attitude, different delivery.

Our first day, the Cadre was rather subdued. Took us everywhere, picking up clothing, books, getting hair cuts, drawing weapons. Some yelling. Very firm. Nothing like this.

Put us to bed around 2200, maybe 2230.

All day long, we had been referred to as "campers," as if we were at summer camp.

Sometime later, around 2300-2315, the cadre kicked our doors in, threw trashcans around the room and told us to get in gym dyke. Same red shorts, but a yellow shirt.

They took us to JM Hall and had us all at attention.

The RDC President got up on stage with all the other members of the RDC and started talking about how things were going to be. We did not realize that the rest of the Cadre had lined the sides of JM Hall.

As he was speaking, he stopped and pointed at one of my BR's in the front row. He said something like, "GET HIM UP HERE NOW!!!!" and several RDC members flew off the stage and man-handled our BR up there.

The RDC president continued in his booming voice and explained, using my BR to demonstrate, how to strain.

Then he ordered us, "RATS, STRAIN!!!!!!!" and the RDC and Cadre set upon us. We were double-timed back into barracks, got lots of pushups on the way.

Not quite as ceremonious as the video above. Still sucked. Still got the same point across...

bullnav · October 12, 2007 08:29 AM

Slab and I were actually there for that this year, John. We took a weekend trip to the area on his pre-deployment leave and didn't even realize it was matriculation day until we went into town.

It's nice to see a full view instead of just the limited view outside the gate. Slab said those drums were one of the more ominous sounds of his life, probably above being shot at.

Slab's Wife · October 12, 2007 08:41 AM

That video is from this year. I was actually there taking pictures. It's definitely a whole helluva lot better watching the rats meet cadre than being on the receiving end. And there are absolutely no milk and cookies involved, at least not that I could see.

Andrew · October 12, 2007 11:23 AM

RDC pres says look to your left, look to your right, one of those rats wont be here at the end of the week, My recollction is a lot like Bullnavs, not nice, but not loud, moved the mass around face he wall while yu wait, get your gear issued, nose in rat bible. Then go to bed, fall asleep and thenthe cadre kicks in door, gets us to JM hall for the intro. When the Corps came back that was a doozie too. Night time in the Old Barracks sinks with the first class for a sweat party. mmmmmmmmm good times

Mike · October 12, 2007 04:48 PM

22-year olds teaching 18-year olds about the military. We took it all so seriously.

Lex · October 13, 2007 04:06 PM

Amen, Lex.
I routinely flip through my pictures from rat year and just laugh and laugh and laugh.

Thank god the education was good.

LaGee · October 16, 2007 09:49 AM

I can't resist. Caught up with this blog and looked you guys up, all alumni huh? Well, I hang out over at Armchair Generalist a lot, but I think I might have found my next favorite blog.

Class of '98

As for this cadre video, I can't believe they took away the part where they PLUNGE cadre into the rats. Just terrible.
But getting to Bulnav there, I can do one better, instead of SACRED JM hall they took us to cocke hall on the basketball courts. Hadn't been used all summer, dust all over the floor. Our RDC Pres, who sounded like Jack Nicholson in a Few Good Men, is up on the running track. Same deal, call a guy out. The cadre and Corps come running up from behind us. They had packed 409 of us nuts to buts into a square phalanx in the front part of the gym, except we didn't have swords and shields separating us, just the thin layers of gym dyke. August 16th, Cocke has NO AC, and the corps and Cadre come thundering up on that parkay floor, I think half the class ate it just spreading out for the sweat party and everyone was covered in dust and slipping in the corp frams. It was insane. Ahhh, the good old days...still not used to seeing females and female cadre...

NVH · November 2, 2007 05:10 PM