I am leaving for Basic Military Training May 13th, the military branch I enlisted in is the Air Force. My basic training will be held at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I have been getting myself physically and mentally ready for basic training for the past few months.
With only a week left I am starting to get nervous. Any tips and advice I can receive from the MTG Salvation community will be much appreciated.
I am leaving for Basic Military Training May 13th, the military branch I enlisted in is the Air Force. My basic training will be held at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I have been getting myself physically and mentally ready for basic training for the past few months.
With only a week left I am starting to get nervous. Any tips and advice I can receive from the MTG Salvation community will be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
Pork.
From my own experiences with boot camp-style training and from what my military friends have told me, here is some general advice:
Understand that the training is designed to break you down and then build you back up again. Accept that now, and it will go a lot easier on you.
More importantly though, remember that despite what it may seem, don't take anything the drill instructors say personally. It's their job to make sure you can handle the stresses you need to.
Finally, remember that you aren't in it alone, and help or get help from your fellow trainees as you need it.
Yo Pork, fellow AF DEPr here. Which AFSC are you going for?
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Don't worry - Air Force boot camp is all exercise bikes and training videos.
I'm just jaggin' ya. I was in the Navy. Here's what it was like for me:
First day the - well in the Navy we called them RDCs or "recruit drill instructors" - those jerks will be yelling and trying to pick on you as much as possible. They're going to do whatever they can to assert control. It's not personal. They've got 50-70 recruits to train and some of the guys in your division may have behavorial issues or come from a bad environment. They will jump all over you if you give them a reason to make an example out of you.
The exercise isn't all that bad. If you do the push-ups right then you'll get strong quickly. If you slack off then you won't get strong and it's just going to make your life harder than it has to be. Push yourself as hard as you can.
I have a few stories to share.
About 4 weeks in the RDCs lined up half the division on one side of the compartment and half the division on the other side. I was next to a guy who was bigger (more muscular) than I was. I was pretty skinny at that time. They had one side do a sit-up together with everyone's arms linked and scream "TEAM!" and then the other side would come up and scream "WORK!".
Well the guy next to me got tired and started to quit a little bit. I started pulling him up with me. It was tough work but I knew we'd just have more exercise if we didn't do this right the first time.
Afterward he came to me in private and he started telling me how grateful he was and how he was surprised at how much the experience affected him. He seemed ashamed but he also seemed to finally understand that we hold each other up.
That's the secret to boot camp btw.
Later - week 6 or so - a new group of recruits moved into the compartment downstairs. They must have done something wrong because they were getting ready to get 'cycled'. That's the word the RDCs used for exercise as punishment. If too many people screwed up in a day (and by too many I mean like maybe 2) then the entire division does push-ups, sit-ups, squats etc... until the entire room is damp with perspiration. Well that division was getting cycled and their RDC asked our RDC to bring us downstairs as an example for the new guys. I was exempted from this task due to being on watch. When our division came back upstairs they were hootin' and hollerin'. They were all extremely excited because the exercise had seemed so easy. The new guys - in their second week perhaps? - were pushed about as hard as they could go but for our guys it was a light workout.
I think that the lesson went two ways on that one. It showed the new guys how far they had to go but it also showed us how far we'd come. It's really amazing what you're capable of after 6 weeks in boot camp.
At the end - the second to last week of boot camp - we had an event called Battlestations.
We went to bed at the normal time. 10 pm. At about midnight the RDCs came in and woke everyone up. Then we started running and drilling. I don't remember much about that night. There was one particular drill where we were tasked with pulling a man on a stretcher through a war zone. The war zone was an obstacle course in a dark hangar. There were strobe lights and fake fires and there was tremendously loud explosions and gunfire played everywhere. I think I got shocked a little bit because I vaguely remember one of the other recruits grabbing my hand and pulling me along a few times. It was intense. Later there was shooting drills and a jump into the swimming pool from the high diving board. Eventually we went into an auditorium and some higher up guy congratulated us. Then we weren't allowed to sleep until our normal bed time. I was unfortunate enough to have been on watch when battlestations started and then I had the first watch again the night after. i was so tired that I fell asleep while I was walking. I remember being ten feet away from a wall - walking toward it - and the next thing I knew I had jammed my toe into the base of the wall. Then I got a whole 4 hours of sleep. Yay.
From my own experiences with boot camp-style training and from what my military friends have told me, here is some general advice:
Understand that the training is designed to break you down and then build you back up again. Accept that now, and it will go a lot easier on you.
More importantly though, remember that despite what it may seem, don't take anything the drill instructors say personally. It's their job to make sure you can handle the stresses you need to.
Finally, remember that you aren't in it alone, and help or get help from your fellow trainees as you need it.
But what if he can't trust his trainees? My dad was in the army and was physically abused for having a bedwetting disorder. What does the army do to protect their trainees from each other?
Cool, I'm looking at 1A8X2, Airborne Cryptologic Linguist
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Quote from CherryBoom! »
It mostly consists of a napalm filled trench around my house and a stack of 1994 pornography in my basement.
Quote from HandwrittenHero »
As much as I'm against the OTT view that this card is going to solo tournaments, cure cancer and make Susan Boyle attractive I'm not really a fan of the opposing camp who think it slaughters puppies and sired Justin Bieber.
But what if he can't trust his trainees? My dad was in the army and was physically abused for having a bedwetting disorder. What does the army do to protect their trainees from each other?
Physically abusing someone in the army is just as illegal as abusing someone in civilian world.
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I can't speak for air force entry training specifically, but I am in the Army so I have some experience in the matter.
Be prepared to be tired and hungry for the next 4 weeks. The will deprive you of sleep. Lights out at 2200 hours, wakeup generally at 0400, with 1 hour fireguard shift inbetween.
You will have approximately 30-60 seconds to eat your food. Get food that you can swallow without chewing, if it's dry swallow water with it so you can eat faster. You WILL lose weight, that is their goal.
They will find the weak link, and they will punish everyone for this person's mistakes. I cannot speak to the psychology behind it, perhaps it's to build a team mentality, perhaps to instill the doctrine of uniformity. Just realize that it is not personal, and don't let things get out of hand.
You will get into shape, you'll learn new things, and you will grow as a person and become more capable. Just try to have fun, don't take it too seriously, and remember it doesn't last forever.
Physically abusing someone in the army is just as illegal as abusing someone in civilian world.
Now it is. This wasn't true in the past. But even now they have creative ways of "physically" abusing you. For example they can force you too drink canteens of water and exercise until you puke.
"I have no idea what it's like not to be a straight white male, and the experiences of others are irrelevant." -Conservative Motto
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
I spent nine years in the USAF.They have changed basic training quite a bit since I was in the only advice I can give you is
1. Shut up if T.I. or if anyone asks a question shut your mouth unless they have already singled you out then give your reporting statement and answer the question with out volunteering any other information
2. Be as invisible as possible try not to be noticed they have you wear camouflage for a reason to blend in
Last thing I can tell you is if you have a choice pick a different AFSC being a Air Force cop is about as cool as being a A mall cop only SF tend to eat there own young so be careful
Scott Adams... Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion
I don't know anything about actual service (being ineligible myself), but I did live in San Antonio for 4 years and knew a lot of people who were stationed at Lackland and Randolph; so if you have any questions about the city, I'm your guy.
One upside is that you get a military discount for pretty much everything around there, and have access to some of the best insurance in the business through USAA, whose headquarters (which is freaking MASSIVE) were a short walk from my old apartment.
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Cheeseburger, french fries, chocolate shake, somebody's mind I's about to take!
I don't know anything about actual service (being ineligible myself), but I did live in San Antonio for 4 years and knew a lot of people who were stationed at Lackland and Randolph; so if you have any questions about the city, I'm your guy.
One upside is that you get a military discount for pretty much everything around there, and have access to some of the best insurance in the business through USAA, whose headquarters (which is freaking MASSIVE) were a short walk from my old apartment.
After basic I will be stationed in the same base for tech school in Lackland. I might be asking you some questions about the surrounding area when I get some free time at tech school!
A few thoughts (my experience was Army, not AF; I also did this a while ago):
1) Everyone passes basic training. It costs a considerable amount to recruit and train each enlistee; the training team is responsible for ensuring that you pass and their success (attrition rates) is closely monitored. Unless you get injured or are so mentally unstable that they don't want you to go through weapons training, you will pass too.
2) As mentioned above, the physical exercise is designed to make you stronger. If someone else is assigned pushups, you might as well drop down and join them - it's good practice if you want to max the test.
3) Being away from family/GF wasn't fun. Phone cards for the limited time we were able to use the public phones to dial home were a big deal. Pen/paper/stamps were useful. Access to outside information is limited, so you might want to see if you can convince one of your buddies to mail you articles or other stuff to read every few days.
4) Physical and verbal abuse is prohibited.
EDIT: You'll likely be assigned a book like this one and be expected to memorize ranks, song, motto, vocabulary, etc. I'm not sure if this is the right one, but if you have some of this stuff memorized going it things will be that much easier. You can peruse the other AF publications here. Your specialized training manual should also be out there somewhere.
With only a week left I am starting to get nervous. Any tips and advice I can receive from the MTG Salvation community will be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
Pork.
From my own experiences with boot camp-style training and from what my military friends have told me, here is some general advice:
Understand that the training is designed to break you down and then build you back up again. Accept that now, and it will go a lot easier on you.
More importantly though, remember that despite what it may seem, don't take anything the drill instructors say personally. It's their job to make sure you can handle the stresses you need to.
Finally, remember that you aren't in it alone, and help or get help from your fellow trainees as you need it.
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Many thanks to ChibiSwan of The Ugly Swan for the great banner!
I'm just jaggin' ya. I was in the Navy. Here's what it was like for me:
First day the - well in the Navy we called them RDCs or "recruit drill instructors" - those jerks will be yelling and trying to pick on you as much as possible. They're going to do whatever they can to assert control. It's not personal. They've got 50-70 recruits to train and some of the guys in your division may have behavorial issues or come from a bad environment. They will jump all over you if you give them a reason to make an example out of you.
The exercise isn't all that bad. If you do the push-ups right then you'll get strong quickly. If you slack off then you won't get strong and it's just going to make your life harder than it has to be. Push yourself as hard as you can.
I have a few stories to share.
About 4 weeks in the RDCs lined up half the division on one side of the compartment and half the division on the other side. I was next to a guy who was bigger (more muscular) than I was. I was pretty skinny at that time. They had one side do a sit-up together with everyone's arms linked and scream "TEAM!" and then the other side would come up and scream "WORK!".
Well the guy next to me got tired and started to quit a little bit. I started pulling him up with me. It was tough work but I knew we'd just have more exercise if we didn't do this right the first time.
Afterward he came to me in private and he started telling me how grateful he was and how he was surprised at how much the experience affected him. He seemed ashamed but he also seemed to finally understand that we hold each other up.
That's the secret to boot camp btw.
Later - week 6 or so - a new group of recruits moved into the compartment downstairs. They must have done something wrong because they were getting ready to get 'cycled'. That's the word the RDCs used for exercise as punishment. If too many people screwed up in a day (and by too many I mean like maybe 2) then the entire division does push-ups, sit-ups, squats etc... until the entire room is damp with perspiration. Well that division was getting cycled and their RDC asked our RDC to bring us downstairs as an example for the new guys. I was exempted from this task due to being on watch. When our division came back upstairs they were hootin' and hollerin'. They were all extremely excited because the exercise had seemed so easy. The new guys - in their second week perhaps? - were pushed about as hard as they could go but for our guys it was a light workout.
I think that the lesson went two ways on that one. It showed the new guys how far they had to go but it also showed us how far we'd come. It's really amazing what you're capable of after 6 weeks in boot camp.
At the end - the second to last week of boot camp - we had an event called Battlestations.
We went to bed at the normal time. 10 pm. At about midnight the RDCs came in and woke everyone up. Then we started running and drilling. I don't remember much about that night. There was one particular drill where we were tasked with pulling a man on a stretcher through a war zone. The war zone was an obstacle course in a dark hangar. There were strobe lights and fake fires and there was tremendously loud explosions and gunfire played everywhere. I think I got shocked a little bit because I vaguely remember one of the other recruits grabbing my hand and pulling me along a few times. It was intense. Later there was shooting drills and a jump into the swimming pool from the high diving board. Eventually we went into an auditorium and some higher up guy congratulated us. Then we weren't allowed to sleep until our normal bed time. I was unfortunate enough to have been on watch when battlestations started and then I had the first watch again the night after. i was so tired that I fell asleep while I was walking. I remember being ten feet away from a wall - walking toward it - and the next thing I knew I had jammed my toe into the base of the wall. Then I got a whole 4 hours of sleep. Yay.
But what if he can't trust his trainees? My dad was in the army and was physically abused for having a bedwetting disorder. What does the army do to protect their trainees from each other?
3P051 - Security Forces
Many thanks to ChibiSwan of The Ugly Swan for the great banner!
Physically abusing someone in the army is just as illegal as abusing someone in civilian world.
Be prepared to be tired and hungry for the next 4 weeks. The will deprive you of sleep. Lights out at 2200 hours, wakeup generally at 0400, with 1 hour fireguard shift inbetween.
You will have approximately 30-60 seconds to eat your food. Get food that you can swallow without chewing, if it's dry swallow water with it so you can eat faster. You WILL lose weight, that is their goal.
They will find the weak link, and they will punish everyone for this person's mistakes. I cannot speak to the psychology behind it, perhaps it's to build a team mentality, perhaps to instill the doctrine of uniformity. Just realize that it is not personal, and don't let things get out of hand.
You will get into shape, you'll learn new things, and you will grow as a person and become more capable. Just try to have fun, don't take it too seriously, and remember it doesn't last forever.
Now it is. This wasn't true in the past. But even now they have creative ways of "physically" abusing you. For example they can force you too drink canteens of water and exercise until you puke.
Flame infraction. - Blinking Spirit
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
1. Shut up if T.I. or if anyone asks a question shut your mouth unless they have already singled you out then give your reporting statement and answer the question with out volunteering any other information
2. Be as invisible as possible try not to be noticed they have you wear camouflage for a reason to blend in
Last thing I can tell you is if you have a choice pick a different AFSC being a Air Force cop is about as cool as being a A mall cop only SF tend to eat there own young so be careful
One upside is that you get a military discount for pretty much everything around there, and have access to some of the best insurance in the business through USAA, whose headquarters (which is freaking MASSIVE) were a short walk from my old apartment.
URWTwin
XAffinity
After basic I will be stationed in the same base for tech school in Lackland. I might be asking you some questions about the surrounding area when I get some free time at tech school!
1) Everyone passes basic training. It costs a considerable amount to recruit and train each enlistee; the training team is responsible for ensuring that you pass and their success (attrition rates) is closely monitored. Unless you get injured or are so mentally unstable that they don't want you to go through weapons training, you will pass too.
2) As mentioned above, the physical exercise is designed to make you stronger. If someone else is assigned pushups, you might as well drop down and join them - it's good practice if you want to max the test.
3) Being away from family/GF wasn't fun. Phone cards for the limited time we were able to use the public phones to dial home were a big deal. Pen/paper/stamps were useful. Access to outside information is limited, so you might want to see if you can convince one of your buddies to mail you articles or other stuff to read every few days.
4) Physical and verbal abuse is prohibited.
EDIT: You'll likely be assigned a book like this one and be expected to memorize ranks, song, motto, vocabulary, etc. I'm not sure if this is the right one, but if you have some of this stuff memorized going it things will be that much easier. You can peruse the other AF publications here. Your specialized training manual should also be out there somewhere.