I got 6 days before I ship off to Army Basic Training, any tips?

reply to post by CeeRZ


Guess that adds a whole new meaning to what doesn't kill you makes you stronger ... huh? lol I don't know but out of boredom one night I watched a few episodes of Navy Seals and Ranger "hell week" LOVED that SH&*.... anyway coming from a single mom who was abandoned by a weak ass loser several times while I had two kids on my hips and paid bills plus worked 40 plus hours a week.. I'd say there are a FEW GOOD MEN out there that could do better and seeing what these guys were able to endure and survive made me WANT one for myself lol.. maybe every man in America outta have to go through basic before impregnating ANYONE and or getting married.. just a thought.

My advice to you is finish. Its an accomplishment that will benefit you greatly.

Stay mentally strong and build your confidence.

Remember why you decided to join and why it matters most to you. That will get you through the times when you feel the most vulnerable and mentally weak.

Ignore the mental games they are going to play if you can. Remember they are trying to undo all the softness society has put in your mind. This matters the most to them because they need to know when times get tough you are going to be able to be counted on by your squad. Those guys are your brothers and everyone has to be able to count on the the guy next to them no matter what.

You will learn who around you can be trusted and who to stay clear of really fast. That will save you a ton of issues.

Make friends, those relationships are importaint and they will last you a lifetime.

no comment .. my advise would be censored by the mods..
Just remember - whiskey is good in large amounts.
always tip bargirls good and use condoms.

reply to post by CeeRZ


So, what's wrong with that? Men go into basic to learn how to survive, not to be medicated and pampered with every scrape and boo-boo that they get. Personally, I wound up with double pneumonia in AIT and it was so bad that the military actually flew some of my relatives in to be with me because they thought I wasn't going to make it. As soon as the fever passed, though, I was back out in the desert lugging hand grenades at targets and crawling through the sand. Those were the days and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

I miss the Army. Although I kick my self all the time for not holding out to go into Para Rescue like I wanted.

That would have been a blast.

Instead I got shoved in a Track plotting fire missions for the gun bunnies.. Not fun.

Wow I got a lot of advice from a ton of people. about 50/50 on the dont go and good actually tips. I promise to all ATS member that I will report any wrong doing to any human being. I'm not interested in just mass murdering people, that's not why I joined. I joined because I wanted to get involved. No different than the protesters in the world. I come from a family of mostly sailors, so I figured I'd handle the air and ground.

You made a really good choice. That's a good group of guys.

Keep your head down and your eyes open.

Like all the others on here said, remember who you're fighting for - America and your soon to be brothers and sisters, not the chain of command.

That said...

I was in basic training in Ft. Sill, OK for most of it untill I shredded my ACL and was medically discharged. But I learned a lot.

Pantyhose. Bring panty hose and hide it in your shoes. Ask others on here and they'll tell you why.

When you're out in the field for 3-5 days straight, wrap a string around your wrist to your weapon. If a drill gets a hold of it while you're sleeping it will be the end of you.

You will be making you bed over and over and over. Just get used to it.

You will never have anything clean. Even if you've cleaned it.

I'm not going to say don't volunteer, but pick and choose what you're volunteering for. If it gets you away from the barracks, go for it.

If you leave soon, you will be at basic until Christmas. You will get to go home for X-mas break. DO NOT DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL -Drugs, violence, Etc. You will be piss tested the second you get back to basic.

Get to know your battle buddy. If he messes up, you mess up. Deal with it.

The first week of basic will be SUPER BORING. You won't be able to do PT (untill lights go out). Then you should do as many push up and sit ups as you can. Just remember, your will have fire guard for an hour at night.

Hide. Be in the middle of everything. Don't be at the front of the line, don't be in the back of the line. Don't let the drill sergent know your last name until after red stage.

When you get to the stage where there's squad leaders, let someone else volunteer. They will pick on those first ones like no tommorrow.

Be a subtle leader. When you are at the commisary, buy some cough drops and vitamin drops. Hand them out to your squad in the morning when you line up. They will respect you for it.

Shine some boots for extra money! Shine someone else's boots for 5-10 bucks. When I left, I had made over $700!

Just remember that the drills are there to do their job, and that is to make you a better soldier so you don't get yourself or your brothers killed.

And remember, when SHTF, get out. There will be too much going on for them to look for you!

Good luck man, and enjoy it. It will be the most "fun" you'll have while in the military, cause when you get stationed you're at the bottom of the totem pole.

it's not so bad man. you'll think they are out to kill you, but they are just training you and getting their jollies. though there is always one batcrap crazy drill around, don't get singled out by them if you can avoid it.

and pretty much accept you're gonna have to run 2 miles in around 13 mins, if you can already great, if not get to it.

take any all offers to trade for KP duty. the crazy georgia folks in the kitchen are awesome and it'll be the only soda you can get your hands on for along time.

at certain times they will allow you to go to PX. don't buy ANYTHING!! they let us buy a whole bunch of ish only to take it from us and laugh.

you'll meet alot of cool people and then you'll meet the "buddy effers", they are brown-nosing scum and will screw you and your platoon over in a heart beat.

keep your bed and locker up to par at all times, they will check this ALOT.

and like others said, go to sunday mass if you can. though when I was in, a drill accused catholics and christians of being deceptive smokers. he made us take our clothes off and lay on our face. he lost his job for that, but it made us nervous to go back.

and PRAY you don't get 11c mos. just go ahead right now and get on your knees and beg the lord to not make you a charlie. if you become a mortar, you will be an infantryman plus indirectfireman, plus battalion bitch, plus buff and wax squad numeral uno!!!!!!

HOOAH!!

It's mental, like the others said. NEVER QUIT, no matter what. Friggin grunt, I was aviation. Best of luck to you.

reply to post by wingsfan

at certain times they will allow you to go to PX. don't buy ANYTHING!! they let us buy a whole bunch of ish only to take it from us and laugh

Oh yeah! I forgot about that, it's been a while. We went for haircuts once after the platoon was lookin like chia pets and the barber would throw a playboy in your lap the DS right by and say "i dare you"....ha good times man.

Yea here's a tip, don't join the army

I wouldnt recomend joining the war machine right now.

Your not really "in" until you get to basic and take your oath.

You could still just walk and have no consequences.

But if you must go in than all that I have to say is.

Make the most of basic traninng and the airborne stuff that was fun. I never went for ranger school.

It got me in the best shape of my life and pretty much made me feel invincable.

It was hard at times but after a while it is just your everyday routine.

Perminent party sucked but then again I was stateside and bored outa my friggin skull.

I guess if you are deployed and trying to keep your ass in one peice it could be more exciting.

I was an 82 airborne vehicle & heavy equipment mechanic, for an airborne artillary unit.

Jumping was awesome, but you dont get to do it very often and its not sky diving so the trip dosent last very long.

good luck,

dont say anything, dont volunteer for # and youll be fine.. The least amount of attention they pay to you the better.

reply to post by MKultraVideos


Just remember. You are a soldier now. You cannot have a conscience for your time on this site has armed you with knowledge of the crimes they continually commit. Crimes you too will share a hand in.

Just remember. You are nothing. You are now an extension of the World Bankers and are merely a mercenary who will be trained to carry out the plans of evil men.

Just remember. The looks on the faces of the civilians of your own country that you will herd in to compounds for execution or slave labour.

Just remember. You were once human.

Never ever put your hands in your pockets while outside the building's, its a sure fire way to be made to do push ups or a lap of the building. that includes digging for a lighter in your pocket!

And if your given an order by a NCO to complete a task and a full screw tells you it doesent matter, never listen to them becuase they wont get your back when the NCO comes looking for you and you have to explain that you where told by the full screw not to do it.

leant that the hard way I was signals in with infantry for training , my colour sgt told me to report @ 0900 the next morning to withdraw my weapon for training the night before, my full screw came in I told him, he said that I dident need it for the day as we where doing our BFT's so I missed the 0900 pick up and got chewed out!

Also skip breakfast if you can and buy a cerial bar, you will thank me when the sgts decided to take you out for a 2 mile run and everyone around you is chucking up beans sausages and eggs.

O and block partys, dont be a nonce and not go to them , stay till around 1am then leave, last time I was at one I left at 0300 and was up at 0600 for another BFT, I was one of the lucky ones, most people in my dorm where only coming back at 0500 two sheets to the wind and dident even get 30 minutes sleep before a grueling day!

Most of all have fun! and enjoy your self.

I got out medical discharge (chrons) but I still served 3 years to her majesty the queen

O forgot these nuggets of wisdom

Forgot to mention NEVER EVER tell anyone your birthday date! you dont want to know why!

Also be sure to keep your self clean and I mean shower and bush your teeth everyday because if your regiment thinks your a dirty B****** they will trail you outside, strip you naked and clean you with brooms and bleach in the freezing cold while everyone is laughing at your tiny p****.

(that could just be over here)

So remember good luck and have fun!

I have 3 tips:

1. Be safe. We want you and all our soldiers to come back home.
2. Remember you're defending the Constitution even though we're in the Middle East defending oil fields.
3. Wake up your fellow soldiers.

God Bless you brother and know you will be in my prayers!

Hey brother.. I'm not here to sway you either way, instead give you my outlook on joining and this thread. First of all, the members on here that are telling you not to join, or they don't understand why you would join.. well believe it or not only 2% of the US population has enough testical fortitude to make this type of commitment. The others want to complain about the atrocities of this country, but don't love it enough to join and put a stop to the so called "murderers" and "baby killers".. I just think some people are scared

Those who say "don't join, or that's a death sentence" are living in a plastic bubble. I did 5 years, got out as an NCO (5 months ago) had my good times, but a lot of bad. It is different for every one, and depending on how much you put out, and how good you are at intelligently thinking out your moves throughout your Army career you can do almost anything.. if you half ass your way through then you will have a half ass experience.. then again the douchebags seem to get punished by being rewarded (if you go you will understand that later).

Don't listen to the people telling you to go or not go.. think for yourself! Filter out the b.s.

Stay out of the Drill SGT's radar.. make sure you shave the minute you leave replacement to your basic training CO., and NEVER NEVER NEVER call an NCO 'sir'.. all SGT'S are addressed as 'sargeant' unless they are sergeant majors DON'T VOLUNTEER YOURSELF. Good luck!

ETA: An upside out of all of this anyway.. is you learn a TON of survival skills.. so when ELEnin and the UFO ship behind it hits Earth and the aliens invade.. you will have an edge

Ok.. maybe not all of that but you will just have some awesome survival skills

Hello. Ex-Army National Guard soldier here. If I could give you a few pieces of advice to heed it would be....

1. NEVER EVER EVER EVER call your drill sergeants "sir"....you wanna see a DS go ballistic very quickly then go ahead and call him sir lol. You address them as "drill sergeant"

2. Never look your DS in the eyes. This will also get you an earful.

3. If you haven't already, you need to promptly learn things like your general orders, rank structure, etc. The quicker you learn these the less you and your platoon will be smoked.

4. I do not know how old you are or what rank you are going in with...but be MATURE. The more mature you are and the more serious you take it, the more respect you will earn from your superiors and your fellow soldiers. Respect will get you places. Just by not jacking around and acting childish I earned respect from my DS's and was appointed a team leader of half my platoon which is normally granted to soldiers a rank or two ahead of me.

5. I know there are people on here telling you to "wake up" other soldiers. Please DO NOT do this. You will draw unwanted attention and possibly problems. You are going in with the possibility of ranger school in your packet and you eventually will need a security clearance. If you are caught spouting off about conspiracy theories I can guarantee you that you will have issues down the road. Keep these things to yourself at least until out of training.

6. The most important thing I can tell you...the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING is......pay attention to details. Listen. If you are given an order, it is not a broad order that is open for interpretation.....listen to exactly what the order is and do it exactly how it was told. They will pound this into your head literally the SECOND you get off that bus. They will have everyone fall into formation off the bus and tell you to arrange your bags and personal belongings in a certain way and those who do not do it exactly the way they are told will learn VERY fast.


There will be some stressful times and it can get challenging, but please enjoy it and take it in. BCT can be one of the funnest experiences of your entire military career if you soak it in, pay attention, and get along with everyone. Good luck and stay safe soldier. HOOAH!