BCT Coverage Expectations
As you have probably figured out by now, this summer will be unlike any other summer here at USAFA. Due to the current pandemic many changes have been made and the same can be said for this year’s Basic Cadet Training (BCT). Our coverage this year will reflect the ongoing situation. The first part BCT 1, we will not have many chances to get pictures, as many of the usual events have been removed or changed. There will be more virtual aspects, indoors within smaller groups than in previous years. As of right now our coverage may become very spotty for the first few weeks. BCT2 also has changed this year. The groups will be broken in half when they enter Jacks Valley, at two different times for abbreviated sessions. The good news is that we should be able to cover each squad going through the major courses.
We would like to talk a bit more here about expectations. While we’d love to cover each squadron every day that is not always going to happen. Be prepared that you might have a day with no coverage and the next day have hundreds of pictures to sort through! For example, since each squadron has five flights who train separately, we may not be able to capture each cadet in that squadron on that particular day. Even though we may be covering for example Cobras, we may not get every flight, since they don't do things at the same time. Please don't keep score. We have no way to tell which flight is which, only the squadron color. Many factors including, but not limited to, security access, training schedule, legal rules, & weather are all limiting factors. We know not of you are new parents to WebGuy. Please keep in mind that year-to-year things change and no year of Basic Cadet Training is the same on any level, including pictures! We have worked hard to be sure that by the end of BCT, each squadron has approximately the same level of coverage. Our goal is always to tell the story of BCT as it unfolds that particular year. With that said, we are able to share as many pictures as possible and hopefully many of those are of your basic!
One of the aspects of WebGuy coverage that we are very proud of and our members have come to expect is our same day coverage. You get to see the photos generally the same day they are taken. That is our goal this year as well. Every year delays in processing do occur. They are generally beyond our control for one reason or another. When that occurs, we let you know and ask for your patience.
We will tell you here where you can look for new photos each day. The beginning of next week will have light coverage as the basics are going to be doing a lot of academic testing in classrooms. We can't cover that, but there will still be lots of content, and you can also catch up on what we will have posted to that time. We will get more into how things will work during BCT 2 and Jack's Valley as we roll along.
We know what the training schedule is for every day, but it can change for all the reasons already mentioned. Generally, we will be blogging about what has already happened. Since this is the Air Force and things always remain fluid, we don't want to promise coverage that we end up not being able to provide. We will be putting together informative blogs on off days, that will contain information from graduates with their past experiences that may help you understand what your appointee is going through, along with information pieces about USAFA. We look forward to our continuing WebGuy coverage and welcome the Class of 2024 along with all the cadre that will be working this summer. Good Luck to all!
If you are in town dropping off your appointee, Doolittle Hall will be open along with an expanded gift shop. You can also drop off your first letter to your son or daughter. Well have photographers there as well.
Finally, we spent time at the Colorado Springs Airport to catch some of the arrivals. Those photos are up in the In-Processing Day gallery. Here are a few of those. Here is the link to view them all. Day before I-Day. Or you can go to Classes > 2024 > Inprocessing .
Check back here tomorrow for all of our I-Day coverage and be sure to watch for updates on our WebGuy Facebook page.