Скачать или смотреть VMI Class of 2013 Breakout Day wake up

0500, VMI Barracks, 30 January 2010. This was the wake up that the Rat Mass of 2010 + 3 (now Class of 2013) received on their Breakout Day.

We had M14s and M16s firing blanks, along with VMI's cadet artillery piece "Little John" firing volleys in each barracks, kicked off by a recording of George C. Scott's version of General George S. Patton's speech to his 3rd Army. General Patton spent a year at VMI and even though he is not a graduate he is still remembered for his time in barracks.

Rat's start their journey at VMI not as Cadets with their own class, but as "Rats" in a Rat mass. The Rat mass does not have its own class distinction, it bears the name of its Dyke's class with three years added on (for example, the Rat Mass of 2010 + 3). Rats do not have the title of "Cadet" or their own class until the 1st Class (seniors) decide that the Rat mass is ready to "breakout" of the Ratline. This usually occurs at the end of January but it is not a guaranteed time frame.

Breakout Day consists of a whole day of constant physical activity and struggle. It is the last day that the Rats have to bond and unite as a class to survive the day. The Breakout activities have changed overtime, varying from climbing up "Breakout Hill" to fighting their way up to the fourth stoop amongst a melee of upperclassmen in their way. This year, the Rats were physically challenged all day, with the day culminating in a challenge to destroy sand bag barriers in place amongst upperclassmen blocking the way to the fourth stoop.