Army Basic Training Tips/Suggestions

MonkeySquasher

MonkeySquasher

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Hey all, long time-no post. In the months I've been absent, I've joined the NY ARNG as a 68W and finished my NREMT-P. I ship to Ft Jackson for BCT on 07JAN13, with AIT at Ft Sam Houston afterward (and fast-tracking through the 'death by powerpoint' segment).

Anyone have any helpful packing suggestions or tips? I've been told to pack extremely light, with only my clothes, toiletries and a change of socks/underwear, since they lock everything up and issue all new uniforms and buy underwear. And I was told to always have a good supply of coughdrops (both for sore throats and for giving out) and Q-tips are handy for cleaning rifles and gear. Any other advice?
 
Postage stamps, plain stationary that colmes in a shallow cardboard box (to sttash letters, pens and paper), pens, any cash they will allow you in small bills or change, and books to let them pack away but you might need to keep sane once they are done with you and you are awaiting rides or orders. A small camera with flash. Cell phone (they will pack it, but you might need to call for a ride once you get home again or something in between). You will likely have a locker or security drawer you are tasked with keepng strak, so mostly use what you are issued since "less is more" in those circumstances. Oh, and a nylon sock or stocking to use for shoe polishing once you leave Basic (final shine, not a dauber) plus baggie to keep it in once it has picked up polish.
Keep positive, listen up, help each other.
 
If Army Basic is anything like Marine bootcamp, the only thing you need to bring are the clothes on your back, whatever paperwork MEPS required, and I think a photo ID(this was a long time ago).

Once you arrive at the recruit depot, any personal items, including the clothes you are wearing, will be taken from you and you wont see them again until the day you graduate(or wash out).
 
hogwiley said:
If Army Basic is anything like Marine bootcamp, the only thing you need to bring are the clothes on your back, whatever paperwork MEPS required, and I think a photo ID(this was a long time ago).

Once you arrive at the recruit depot, any personal items, including the clothes you are wearing, will be taken from you and you wont see them again until the day you graduate(or wash out).
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Or that!
 
I should add that my experience might not be valid. Army basic, especially at Fort Jackson, is considerably more laid back than Parris Island was was when I went through recruit training, and I think the Army provides wall lockers for their recruits.

We only had a small foot locker to keep everything in, which had no room for any personal items. The foot lockers were so frequently dumped and the contents kicked around by our DIs that even if we could have kept personal items in them, it wouldnt have been a good idea. Everyones stuff would get mixed up during one of the frequent DI tornados that blew through the squad bay, and we would have to sort out whos was what later on when time permitted, which is why we marked EVERYTHING, even skivvies.

As for Q tips and such. That should be provided for you, and as a general rule everything is about team work, so if you brought them only for yourself, youd be expected to share them with everyone else, again assuming Army training is similiar to the Marines.
 
Make sure the DI doesn't know your name.

No matter how smart or able you are, be anonymous.
 
Veneficus said:
Make sure the DI doesn't know your name.

No matter how smart or able you are, be anonymous.
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This. This is totally the best advice you can get.
 
Yea, just keep a low profile for sure. Hope your last name doesn't start with A, B, or C.

Realize and remind yourself every day that it won't last forever. Make the most of every day. Those several months can be the absolute worst days of your life if you let them. Or if you so decide, they can be some of the best.

Oh and remember the whole DI screaming on your face thing it's a huge game to try to get inside your head and rattle you. That's all. And have fun!
 
Veneficus said:
Make sure the DI doesn't know your name.

No matter how smart or able you are, be anonymous.
Click to expand...

Good advice, and the best way to remain anonymous is NEVER BE THE LAST ONE DONE. This even includes eating in the chowhall. Dont be one of the recruits sitting there enjoying your cornflakes while everyone else is standing in formation.

DIs instinctively target the last recruit done, or the recruit whos still struggling with something well after everyone else is finished.
 
hogwiley said:
Good advice, and the best way to remain anonymous is NEVER BE THE LAST ONE DONE. This even includes eating in the chowhall. Dont be one of the recruits sitting there enjoying your cornflakes while everyone else is standing in formation.

DIs instinctively target the last recruit done, or the recruit whos still struggling with something well after everyone else is finished.
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By the same token, being the first one done doesn't always go well for you.

As has been stated before, basic training is more about teaching you teamwork and attention to detail than anything else.
 
Personally, I loved BCT. I disagree with the "never volunteer for anything" mentality. Sure, you get smoked for stupid stuff every now and then, especially during Red Phase, but once your DSs and fellow recruits see that you're willing to step up and be a team player, it pays off. Also, the phone(with a charger) and books are a good idea but again, you most likely won't see them until after training. Be prepared to "Embrace the suck" so to speak, IMHO Basic was a lot of fun. You get paid to work out, shoot, learn about the military, make new friends, etc.

Where you may have trouble is AIT. I too am a 68W and as a paramedic, you are more qualified than most of the instructors you'll have, even on the Whiskey side. You may learn a decent amount about trauma depending on how progressive your medic school was but thats about it. You'll spend about 12 hours on pharmacology, 0 time on cardiology or anything non-trauma, really. Depending on your attitude and how much you're enjoying your time in IET, this would be where you would either start tearing your hair out or you could be a HUGE asset to your fellow soldiers and help them unfu** themselves.

In any case, good luck and pay attention. It'll be the most fun you'll never want to repeat again.

p.s. not sure how old you are but is VERY easy to get in trouble in San Antonio, so be careful, lol...
 
Veneficus said:
Make sure the DI doesn't know your name.

No matter how smart or able you are, be anonymous.
Click to expand...

Great sage advice here :rofl:

Was in your shoes not too long ago now, but as a EMT-B (just recently got my P). Jackson for basic is not too bad, compared to the other BCT locations. It really depends where they send you once they cycle yall through reception. Reception is terrible - worse couple days of your life because everything is so slow.

Be prepared to deal with 95% of the people you come into contact with as morons, not that is really different than from street EMS lol but like Veneficus said - do what you need to dont but don't "oversell" yourself or under for that matter. If they see leadership potential, guess who will be in charge. Pro's and con's for that, but in BCT, mostly cons - because you will have people in your platoon who just screw it up for everyone and you'll be "held" responsible, aka getting smoked. Your choice, but I just remained in the shadows. When I graduated, my DI's asked "Who are you?" lol

BCT is not bad at all man - for me, it was just annoying to deal with all the retards fresh out of the minivan who think they're SF or something from playing call of duty. When you're there, you may hate it. I loved and hated it. Looking back, probably other than the 4-man team I work on now, they were some of the closest times I had with some pretty cool dudes.

AIT in San Antonio - well, especially since you're a P already, prepare to learn absolutely nothing other than tourniquet this and tourniquet that. I was still a EMT-B when I fast-tracked through to the Whiskey portion, hoping to learn so new awesome trauma skills. Not exactly - pretty much just rapid-trauma assess, IV, give fluids always wide-open, etc. They teach and push a lot of people who should never make patient contact ever through that place - they teach skills but rarely teach why you're doing something. Only meds you're going to "push": narcan and morphine and fentanyl lollipops.

San Antonio is fun, but it gets old fast. Take the time to rent a car and go to Dallas or Austin, preferable Austin. Great city, and by that time, you'll be sick of seeing every dude with a military haircut and just want to see "normal" people again bro lol

For those of us who had prior EMS experience (in my class, about 12 EMT-B and P's combined), it was kinda boring and still annoying to deal with retards who think since they passed BCT, they are Rambo or SEAL Team 6 or some crap. But have fun, enjoy the ride, and it'll be over before you know it. They'll try to recruit you, especially since you're a P, into maybe flight medic or some special ops gig (I took the later). Both are great follow-on ASI and can get some great training (before we were sent to P school, we did veterinary training, dentistry, and preventive medicine).

Good luck, relax, and pack light - they're going to lock it away after reception at Jackson. Bring a cell phone because you'll have that in reception, and depending what battalion and platoon you're in, you may get it on the weekends. Our sister platoon got 45 mins every sunday after week 3. We got 3.5 mins for 2.5 months lol just depends. Just be prepared to deal with a lot of BS and just take one day at a time brotha - it's not bad, just can be boring and annoying at times. You're dealing with Big Army which LOVES the hurry up and wait aspect and not using common sense haha
 
Im actually In whiskey phase of Fort sam Houston 68W School AIT As we speak, Heres a Few Updates (from A Co at least)

You CANT Rent a car, only take taxi cabs, very strict on this, you cannot drive yourself ANYWHERE while in training status for some reason.

ZERO Tobacco products at all times no matter the phase

After LPC, whiskey phase gets Real easy, just pay attention in class and your basicly good. i hear they've shortened the FTX to 10 days (used to be 2 weeks) and apparently you spend 3 days of that with zero sleep. So we'll see the quality of care im giving at Hour 60 or 70....

Overall 68W course IS tough, and we HAVE had a fair amount of failures / recycles etc but it was the kind of people that you could tell wernt going to make it in any mos. any questions feel free to ask!
 
Is our OP out of The Grind and into The Suck yet?
 
You are a P so you obviously know your stuff, and i am.gonna assume you are in reasonably good shape. basic and AIT are nothing in the grand scheme of things, just a couple months that will sorta suck. listen to what the others said, and kick ***. If you can get Jump school or Air Assault out of basic, take it. Focus on preparing for the role you want. take classes between drill that will help you better perform as a Soldier (NOLS, remote medicine).
 
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