Fort Sam Houston, TX for 68W

mizzoukid19

mizzoukid19

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For all you Whiskeys in the Army...

High and low points of Fort Sam Houston, TX? Please tell me it's not in the middle of nowhere...

~mizzoukid19
 
It's not in the middle of nowhere, it's in San Antonio and there's plenty of trouble waiting for you to get into if you're not careful. Honestly, I watched several people fail to graduate because they didn't have the discipline to focus on the task at hand while having a good time.

Reception is a real drag. I fast-tracked to the whiskey side and was lucky enough to only get stuck in reception for about 4 days. I've heard of people being there for months. If you have your NREMT-B already, make sure you TAKE COPIES of your EMT card and your current CPR card. Those will be required if you want to fast track. You will also need to talk to the NCOIC at reception and let them know you want to fast track.

The classes are easy, the tests are somewhere around the 8th grade level, and the PT is lame. At least, that's how it was for F Co while I was there. In my opinion, the best training was the 2 week FTX out at Camp Bullis. The NCOs and instructors at Bullis will treat you like a human and it's a nice break from the crappy bays back and Ft. Sam. It also lets you know that you are just about done.

Once you get some free time, Six Flags and Sea World are nearby. While I was there, Sea World was free for service members and their spouses.
 
Good to hear it's a mostly fun place to be. I'm not the type to allow a good time to deter me from studies, fortunately. Unfortunately, I don't have any prior training, so I guess I won't be able to fast track. Hopefully reception isn't as bad as you say it could get.

I've actually been to San Antonio once and enjoyed it. Visited the River Walk and the big mall. I'm excited to see more, like the Alamo, Sea World, Six Flags, an NBA game, etc.

While training, will I stay in barracks or do I have to find my own place? And is training full-time or part-time? I'm trying to see if I need to find a civilian job while out there.

Thanks for your reply.
~mizzoukid19
 
Agree that Ft. Sam is not in the middle of nowhere. Like apagea99 says, focus on the tasks on hand. Sure there have been changes to the system since I went through in 88, we were 91A then and you get your NREMT out of it now. Good luck.
 
mizzoukid19 said:
While training, will I stay in barracks or do I have to find my own place? And is training full-time or part-time? I'm trying to see if I need to find a civilian job while out there.
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Oh yeah, you'll be in barracks - 90 man bays were the standard. Some newer buildings have been going up, but I don't know if any of them are for AIT personnel. Training is full time and you'll get paid the same as in BCT. Don't expect to have a lot of free time for a while, but you will eventually get freedoms as long as your company isn't too screwed up. Until you can go off post, the main gym and PX are decent distractions.
 
Down town san antonio, weekend passes and a lot of females training at Ft Sam as well makes for some good times as well as soldiers over 21 lol.
 
Emtpche: Thanks for the advice. I will definitely try my hardest to stay focused.

Apagea99: Awesome, thanks so much for the clarifications. I really hope I don't get placed with a bunch of screw ups. I'm 24 - slightly older than most guys coming in, and I'm over my party phase. My military family, including my twin brother Marine, talk all the time about having to deal with the young immature types. Ugh. In any case, it's probably a good thing that training is full-time and we don't have a lot of free time for a while - keeps us focused and serious.

mc400: Hahahaha, sounds good! I look forward to it.

You know, if I had stayed with the Marines, I would have been training for Aviation Mechanic in Pensacola, FL. Talk about distractions... ^_^

~mizzoukid19
 
Alot of the medic trainees have been doing their field rides with our service. All have been very professional and I have yet to see any immature ones. I think most of them have been reserve or guard.

Send me a message when you get to SA or if you need anything while here. My family has current military and I'll help ya anyway I can.
 
shfd739 said:
Alot of the medic trainees have been doing their field rides with our service. All have been very professional and I have yet to see any immature ones. I think most of them have been reserve or guard.

Send me a message when you get to SA or if you need anything while here. My family has current military and I'll help ya anyway I can.
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Oh wow, awesome, thanks! That helps quite a bit. I will definitely do so once I get there.
 
mc400 said:
weekend passes
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Weekend passes. WTF when I was there we were lucky to get relesed by 1200 Saturday and Sunday. Had bay inspections every Saturday. Oh yea and 2200 Bed checks every night. Yay Bravo Company.

And whats this I hear about ride time. The entire time I was there we didn't have one real patient contact other than taking vitals on each other.
 
Combat_Medic said:
Weekend passes. WTF when I was there we were lucky to get relesed by 1200 Saturday and Sunday. Had bay inspections every Saturday. Oh yea and 2200 Bed checks every night. Yay Bravo Company.

And whats this I hear about ride time. The entire time I was there we didn't have one real patient contact other than taking vitals on each other.
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They get passes now. I know the guard and reserve guys have been doing ride outs with us. Not sure about the active duty ones.
 
I think this was mentioned earlier, but I just want to clarify: what is the pay for AIT? Someone said the same as BCT, which is active duty pay if I'm not mistaken...

And how long is the schooling? Some searching around online tells me somewhere between 15 and 17 weeks...

I'm glad to here there's a chance I'll have weekend passes as well as ride alongs. That should help to enrichen the experience quite a bit.
 
Wouldn't talking to your recruiter or MEPS give you most of your answers?
 
Yeah, but I'm kinda impatient and I won't see him again until next week probably. And I don't wanna keep bugging him with questions.
 
That's his job ;). Ask everything now!
 
Yeah, you'll get active pay plus BAH if you qualified for it.

Unless something has changed, it's a 17 week course unless you are there for Christmas. In that case, it's 19 weeks, but you get to fly home (on your dime) for those 2 extra weeks. You can get weekend passes, but you still have to be back in your bay at night. Overnight passes are forbidden unless you get special leave for some type of family emergency. During the week, we were pretty much on our own once classes were over and we had final formation (around 1700). Bed check was 2200 and was either out on the CTA (lame) or standing in front of your bunk. On the weekends (Fri & Sat), we had bed check/recall formations at 2300 and then a recall formation at 1700 on Sundays.

Passes and privileges go away quickly if your platoon/company gets out of line, and you will never see them if you have failing PT or course scores.

Oh, and if you are married when you leave for training, just stay married. Don't go chasing the insanity that goes on at Ft. Sam and end up screwing up your life. Nothing you see there will be worth the trouble in the end. I watched several people lose their minds over worthless pursuits.
 
apagea99 said:
Yeah, you'll get active pay plus BAH if you qualified for it.

Unless something has changed, it's a 17 week course unless you are there for Christmas. In that case, it's 19 weeks, but you get to fly home (on your dime) for those 2 extra weeks. You can get weekend passes, but you still have to be back in your bay at night. Overnight passes are forbidden unless you get special leave for some type of family emergency. During the week, we were pretty much on our own once classes were over and we had final formation (around 1700). Bed check was 2200 and was either out on the CTA (lame) or standing in front of your bunk. On the weekends (Fri & Sat), we had bed check/recall formations at 2300 and then a recall formation at 1700 on Sundays.

Passes and privileges go away quickly if your platoon/company gets out of line, and you will never see them if you have failing PT or course scores.

Oh, and if you are married when you leave for training, just stay married. Don't go chasing the insanity that goes on at Ft. Sam and end up screwing up your life. Nothing you see there will be worth the trouble in the end. I watched several people lose their minds over worthless pursuits.
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I greatly appreciate all the advice you've given, it's very helpful.

I'm not married, but I've never been the type to lose my mind over women. I'm excited about a career in the helping professions and I don't want to do anything to screw it up :)
 
remember to stay focus, have fun but with limits, keep your head up and hit the ground running is the best advice. E co TUCKER MEDICS
 
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