ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Thursday was I-Day, or Induction Day, at the U.S. Naval Academy here. That meant that more than 1,200 newbies showed up at the august school to begin their officer training. It also meant the beginning of four years of discipline and being yelled at when doing things wrong.
CNET Road Trip 2010 stopped in on I-Day to see how the Naval Academy's version compared to that of the U.S. Air Force Academy. And while there's yelling at both schools--as seen here--the Air Force Academy might have just a little bit more energy in the way they break in the newcomers.
Each of the new plebes brought a suitcase or a big backpack. But they won't see those bags again until the end of summer. Instead, they have a bag full of new clothes and shoes, and that's it for now.
This plebe required three tries to draw blood from the medical corpsman who tends each newcomer. That fact left several senior members laughing riotously.
Each plebe candidate is given a copy of the Reef Points, a small blue book with the rules, regulations, and mores of the Navy and the Naval Academy. They are required to memorize the book as quickly as possible.
After picking up two new pairs of shoes, the plebes must stuff the boxes they came in into their white sacks, along with everything else they've been given on I-Day.
The plebes are told the covers go on in a very specific way and with exactly two fingers' worth of room between their eyebrows and the brim. Here, a plebe tries to place the cover properly on his head.
Later in the day, the nearly 1,300 new plebe candidates emerge from the Naval Academy dormitory and file into their seats to take their oath of office.
