WEST POINT - Friends and family of over 1,300 new cadets at West Point watched their loved ones go through an intense first day training regiment on campus Monday on a day known to many cadets as one with the most challenging mental and psychological tasks during the transition from civilian to military.

R-Day, short for Reception Day, represents the first day West Point candidates receive the full military treatment, including close crop haircuts, initial issue of military clothing, and lessons on marching and military etiquette.

“Today is mental, today is all mental,” said Cadet Captain Sarah Scarlato.  “If you can make it through this day, then you’ve made it through the hardest day of Beast Barracks.”

Beast Barracks is the nickname given to the grueling six-week summer training the cadets are embarking on, also known as Cadet Basic Training.

As the stress levels of each training station increased throughout R-Day for each new cadet, so did the decibel levels of the higher-ranking cadets verbally reprimanding them with each slightly flawed move- whether it was an improper military greeting, or a missed command.

Friends and family could do nothing more than watch from afar as their loved ones were shown the discipline of the military, something that is the start of their journey toward one day becoming officers in the United States Army.

“Coming from high school to West Point is a pretty significant change, especially today,” said Scarlato, known to cadets as the “Queen of Beast” due to her post.   “They’re separated from the parents, you get new uniforms, new haircuts, so the culture shock is definitely something that is going to be hard for them, but we’re here to help them with that transition.”

At the end of the day, the Class of 2012 stood with Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Michael Linnington, as he administered to them the official Oath of Allegiance to the United States Military Academy.

The new cadets will spend the next six weeks going through Cadet Basic Training, where they will learn tactical training, painstaking physical training, and rifle marksmanship.

This year’s makeup consists of candidates from every state in the country, 14 international students, and 28 combat veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both.  Of the 1,300 new cadets, 192 are women, and minorities, mostly Hispanic Americans, make up 22 percent of the class. 

The Acceptance Day Parade, marking the end of Cadet Basic Training, and their official entrance into the Corps of Cadets, is schedule for Saturday, August 23rd.