joined the army. any advice?

[Hunter4life1990]

imenlisted as 11x and am going to benning in january. already training physically and the pre basic task list. anyone got some tips? aanything is helpful. my ultimate goal to get in the army is to become an 18b or weapons sergeant green beret. but thats later down the line. so yes anything is helpful like i said.

thanks kevin

[coyote43g]

First thing's first: Work on your APFT. I say reach for 80+ pushups, 100 sit ups and run your 2 mile 13 minutes or faster. That way when you get to basic training, you will be on the 280+ tier score. To get into any special operations/forces or even Rangers, you must have a high PFT score. What can do you to improve your score? always go above the maximum. Look up FM 21-20 and check out what you have to meet (according to your age) in order to get the 100 points for each event.

You also want to be functionally strong, hitting the weight room is not going to cut it in my opinion. I would suggest crossfit at your own risk since that fitness program are for those who already have a foundation of athleticism and strength. Expect to go through obstacle courses and that's why I suggest that you do any explosive workouts (squats, squat thrust/burpees, ledge jumps, etc) as a part of your arsenal.

As for common task skills and knowledge, if you can pick up a skill level 1 book, I suggest you should because they are basically what you need to survive as a basic trained soldier. Learn how to read a military map, terrain features, navigation, etc. Also wouldn't hurt to learn your basic M16A2 nomenclature, basic fire team formation and a little bit of Army history.

I know this all seems overwhelming but take it from me, the better prepared you are before you leave for basic training, the less you have to worry about it when you get there. DS looks for potential recruits who can work under pressure and still get the basics down. Aim to become a squad leader or even the Assistant Platoon Guide (whatever they call them nowadays).

Congratulations and good luck with your military career. Lord knows that this country can use a few more brave young men such as yourself to volunteer at these uncertain times.

[johnthomas]

Practice with someone that knows face movements, left face, right face, about face. Preparatory command and command of execution.
Learn the proper way to salute. Always step off on your left foot, to this day, 31 years after I got out, I still do. Good luck and I hope things go well for you. I am sure you will do fine.

[stphnman20]

Never been in the Army (thank god lol) but being in the Military, always always stay motivated! And it's all about business if they yell at you so don't take it personally..

[thebloodsonthewall]

Congratulations. Fort Benning in the winter is going to be miserable. I went through there last summer for basic training. Basic is fun. Once you guys figure out how to work as a team and that everything is a game, it is pretty easy.

One thing I am glad that I did is condition my feet. Get a pair of boots, even cheap work boots and wear those on long walks. I worked in construction before the army so I was used to working hard and wear boots all the time. I also went hiking every weekend with my wife. A lot of people got terrible blisters and it made their lives way harder than they needed to be.

Like mentioned earlier, be able to pass a APFT before you get to basic. You don't want to be playing catch-up the whole time.

Good luck and have fun.

[Mongoblack23]

yeah, get out, join the airforce.....

seriously though, take nothing personally, (unless you really did screw up) and hang on to anything to keep you going. become the definition of fitness.. and most important, and you will HATE this phrase later, pay attention to detail. you will do nothing right, just better...

[C.W.M.V.]

Don't try to stand out. Gray man is the guy to be in basic training. Do what your told, when your told to and kick butt at PT. Other than that keep a low profile for the most enjoyable experience in basic

[Jason.lee740]

congrats!!

I am in the process of joining as well and one of the most important thing to remember, according to my recruiter, is to keep all your papers and make copies of everything because the military is gonna screw up on your paperwork.

good luck!

[SuperSet]

I agree with thebloodsonthewall and coyote43g, especially the part about conditioning your feet and high APFT. Reports from Sand Hill say that there are more recruits entering basic headed for the FTU (Fitness Training Unit) than ever before due to lower extremity injuries (shin splints, twisted ankles, etc.).

Stay positive, especially during in-processing. 30th AG sucks

[winnre]

Learn your chain of command. Drill Sergeant, Senior Drill, XO, CO, all the way up to the President. There will likely be pictures on a wall with their names.

ALWAYS have a black ball point pen on you. Maybe even 2 or 3.

Don't crack jokes no matter how tempting.

[tacticalcity]

I was in a different service, but I am told the stuff I am about to say also applies to the Army...who knows?

Learn your reporting statement before you show up. Make it second nature. Make sure that whatever PT requirements they have, you can do easily six days a week, several weeks in a row. They do not have rest and recovery days in basic. You do it everyday (except Sunday) so you want to be fit. I was a jock in high school so for me it was pretty easy. If you were not on a sports team that pushed you to your limit, or if you are not right out of high school, it might be a shock to your system.

Show up with a normal, blend into the crowd look. Normal hair cut not too short not too long. They will give you the buzz cut, DO NOT give yourself one. Do not show up looking like a hippie either. Fashion is NOT your goal. Looking like you is NOT your goal. Blending in IS your goal. Wear a plain t-shirt with no logo, jeans with no holes, and very comfortable running shoes that are not flashy. If the weather requires it wear a jacket with no logos. Colors should be dull and/or nuetral. Lots of blues, blacks, grays and so on. In a crowd of three or three hundred, you want to be the one that stands out the least. Bring only one backpack with only the things listed on the handout the recruiter gives you. Nothing else. They will have you using your bag like it is workout equipment when your first arrive, so make it as light as possible. Make sure your bag is as plain as possible. Again, nothing about you, your bag, or your clothing should stand out in a crowd. Even if they are standing right in front of you, you want the guy on either side to stand out more and draw their attention.

I don't care if you are an atheist, while you are in basic you've found Jesus. Church is the one stress free place you'll have. Volunteer for anything and everything involving the church. If your anti-religious ideology is so strong that it prevents you from doing so...you are way too stupid to be in the armed forces. That hour of sitting in a stress free enviorment really helps you make it through basic training with your sanity intact. It is the only time you will have to let your guard down and relax, especially in the beginning. Failure to take full advantage of that demonstrates a serious lack of survival instinct. If you are religious then it is time you can spend worshiping God. If you are not, then it is just good common sense to have one hour a week without the drill instructors on your back.

When they are handing out your choirs at basic training, don't voluteer for the ones with the cool sounding names. For example, "bowling duty" does not mean going to the bowling alley, it means cleaning the toilets with a tooth brush. The choir you want is escorting the new recruits to Church on Sunday. It gets you out of baracks, and is the least stressful of the various choirs. It tripples the amount of time you are away from your platoon and away from your drill instructors. Which is a very good thing.

You do not want to be the Guide-On, Scribe, House Mouse, Platoon Leader, or anything along those lines. Those roles place you center stage and drastically increase your responsibilities. If you do get one of those jobs, expect to be "fired" and replaced. They go through several in order give other people a chance to excel and to mess with everyone's head.

The main goal of the instructors is to get your entire platoon acting like one cohesive unit DESPITE the fact that they are doing everything they can to pit you against each other. The sooner your entire platoon gets with the program the better. So if you are doing really well, help the guys that are struggling get up to speed. If a guy's boots suck, but he does other things really well...teach him how to do his boots better and have him help you with the stuff he does better than you, and so on. Work together, even with guys you cannot stand. Do not vent your stress onto the weak links. If you do, the drill instructors will only ride you that much harder. They ride you until your entire platoon figures out that need to work together and make the weak links strong. The closer you all are, the better. They will make that very hard to achieve.

At the end, when the drill instructors are finally acting like human beings and chatting with you and asking for your impressions and tips and asking you what stuff you got away with that they did not know about...do not admit to anything that violates the UCMJ. One of my fellow recuits admited to cutting a hole in his mattress to hide a CD player he stole. They charged and prosecuted him for theft and distruction of goverment property. They were not looking for information like that. They wanted to know about harmless gags and playful things. Like short sheeting a fellow recuits bed, or sticking a note on someones back. Even confessing to taking food from the mess hall would be going too far, as that too violates the UCMJ.

I could go on and on. But I am affraid I would stress you out more than is needed. Even if you don't take my advice, I am sure you will do fine. The above just makes basic a little easier.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, is that basic eventually ends. A common fear duing basic is that you'll be spending the next four years of your life on edge, getting yelled at for your bed not having perfect corners or a single loose string on your uniform. Don't worry, that stuff does not continue once basic training is over. Military life becomes progressively easier and more relaxed as you move through the various training phases to your first permanent duty station. Some units are more relaxed than others, but as far as know all of them are more relaxed than basic (except maybe for the Old Guard in DC). So you'll eventually LOVE being in the military.

Voluteneer for overseas duty assignments. Including the ones that sound crappy like Turkey and Korea. They are a lot more fun than most stateside assignments and you'll have better stories to tell the family back home. Four years is not a very long time. You'll have plenty of time to spend in your home town if you discover you miss it. So plan on getting as far away from home for now as you can. If you hate it, which I seriously doubt you will, then your enlistment will eventually come to an end and you can come home. If you love it, which you probably will, then you can re-enlist. If you discover you are not enjoying your first duty station, do not let that stop you from making a career out of it if you love everything else about it. They will eventually transfer you to a new duty station. So just bide your time until they send you somewhere better. They always do.

If you discover the carreer field you had planned on is full, and they make you fill out a sheet with several other jobs you would like to do (happened to me despite having a guarenteed job) fill in the jobs with the longest training period. The job descriptions often have nothing to do with what someone in that job actually does. So the length of training is usually a good indicator of whether that job leads to a good life or not. Like I said, basic is over by this point. There is no need to fear how long you'll be in training. You will be treated much better than you were in basic. The jobs with the longest training periods are almost always the most rewarding, and also usually translate to a much better paying job afterwards. Think of it this way. If it only takes two weeks to train somebody to do something, how valueable is that person to an employer compared to somebody without any training at all? Not very, right? If it takes several months to train somebody to so something, then the employer will place a much higher value on that person. Now translate that to a combat role. Which soldier is more likely to survive combat? The one with two weeks of crash course training or the one with several months of intense detailed training? Make sense? The longer your training period the better the job (as a rule of thumb).

[charliesierra]

First thing's first: Work on your APFT.

Having a great APFT score is probably the single most helpful thing you can do during BCT and throughout your career. It always bumps you to the top of every list for training opportunities and schools. It is the first thing BCSMs and BCOs look at before either approving/disapproving orders to send you. This is definitely what you want in order to complete you goal of becoming an 18X.

Good Luck!

[C.W.M.V.]

I agree with thebloodsonthewall and coyote43g, especially the part about conditioning your feet and high APFT. Reports from Sand Hill say that there are more recruits entering basic headed for the FTU (Fitness Training Unit) than ever before due to lower extremity injuries (shin splints, twisted ankles, etc.).

Stay positive, especially during in-processing. 30th AG sucks

I dont remember 30th being that bad, maybe its changed.
WTF is the FTU? never heard of it. I do remember being told that everyone gets shin splints, just run em out, heres some motrin!

Learn your chain of command. Drill Sergeant, Senior Drill, XO, CO, all the way up to the President. There will likely be pictures on a wall with their names.

ALWAYS have a black ball point pen on you. Maybe even 2 or 3.

Don't crack jokes no matter how tempting.

And a note pad. I still carry a notepad and ink on me everywhere I go.
So whats the final roadmarch now, I know its not 25 miles anymore, I just hope its not 12K like the rest of the damn army.

[rero360]

It was still 25 miles when I went 9 years ago.

To the OP, all the above is good advice, I would add learn now the value of talcum powder and going commando. When I went through we had a ruck march at least once a week, minimum 5 miles with the last two being 15 and 25, I only got two hot spots on my feet from doing the two miles in wet boots after the river crossing during the 25 miler. The reason for the powder is not just for your feet, you'll probably get a chaffed butt and thighs on the last two ruck marches even with the powder.

[RRangel]

I've never been in the Army, but I served in a different branch. If I can offer some advice it's to perform the best that you can. You mentioned Special Forces. Realize that you're going to attempt to fill some big shoes. As you'll soon find out the infantry mos that you're after requires leadership and the ability to persevere under tough circumstances. You need to be the man that people follow.

That means that you can't be the one that shrugs off being a squad leader, or tries too hard to "blend in," or be the one who does not volunteer when the chance presents itself. You in fact need to stand out. In a good way.