Information for Parents

Encampments are designed to be challenging for cadets, week-long ones especially so.  Cadets will have to learn how to live, eat, sleep, and function among a large group of other cadets, most of whom they have never met before.  They will meet cadets from different areas of the nation, with different backgrounds, experiences, and opinions.  It will not be like a weekend at Grandma’s. 

Encampments are designed to be similar to military basic training, although not as long or as intense.  They give cadets a taste of what military training is like and can help a cadet determine if they are sturdy enough to handle basic training and military service in the future.  The important thing to remember is, is your cadet mature enough to handle encampment?  Waking up at 6:00 am every day and being on the go until 8:30 in the evening can be stressful to many, but can also be too stressful for some.

Before having your cadet sign up for encampment, discuss it with them, as well as with other cadets and/or senior members from their unit that have attended encampment to ensure that they have no questions about what to expect when they arrive and proceed through the week of encampment.

Be sure to review the photographs from previous encampments (at the bottom on the main page) as well as the information about the Cadet Encampment Assistance Program (CEAP), which is a program that can help pay for encampment.