Things to Know Before Basic Training
- Basic training lasts nine weeks, with three separate phases of preparation. Phase one, "Patriot Phase," teaches core values, military customs and basic soldier skills while getting you into better physical shape. During phase two, "Gunfighter Phase," you will learn how handle a myriad of weaponry. Phase three, "Warrior Phase," focuses on more individualized skills and nuances of your future job as soldier. You will have long days that typically start with a 5 a.m. morning wake-up, multiple physical training sessions during the day and an hour of personal time before lights-out at 9:30 p.m. At the end of the nine weeks, you must complete a series of training events such as a physical fitness test and multiple weapon proficiency.
- The hard training you have to endure has the singular purpose of preparing you to be a good soldier. You must have the ability to handle the mental and emotional stress resulting from intense situations during training. The realities of active duty require you to learn to continue doing your job and to work with your fellow soldiers even after exhausting your body and stressing your mind. You didn't sign up for this to get in shape; you signed up for eventual deployment. You will find it much easier to push through the challenges of training camp if you accept that everything is designed to prepare you for the real life hardships of being a soldier deployed abroad.
- Get into the best physical shape you can before entering basic training. You will run until you feel as if your legs will fall off. You will be woken up at 3:30 in the morning to do push-ups because a fellow soldier hid a candy bar in his locker. Most importantly, you must succeed at the end training event and pass a physical test to become a soldier. Also realize that regardless how hard you trained before coming to basic training, your drill sergeants will push your body to its physical limits to see how you handle pressure under physical duress.
- Though you may be able to handle your rifle when well rested and alone in the field is one thing; the true test lies in hitting your target when under an immense amount of pressure. Your drill sergeants will be on you constantly and will expect you to perform perfectly in everything you do. You will make mistakes and will fail at times. Expect to be yelled at and punished for them, or punished for the mistakes of your fellow trainees. Long days and little sleep are normal, and you will feel homesick. Some exercises will push your stress level to the limit. For instance, the gas chamber test calls for you to put on a mask and breathe in the active substance of chlorobenzylidene malonitrile gas, causing fear and panic.
- You aren't the only one the drill sergeants are pushing to exhaustion. Some of your fellow trainees will handle the hardships better than others. After all, not everyone who enters basic training comes out the same way. You will get to know your fellow recruits extremely well and will have to rely on them to succeed in training and in the military in general. Accept that while not everyone will be your best friend, you must be able to work with everyone toward your goals. Picking fights or saying the wrong thing to a trainee who is emotionally or physically on edge can cause negative consequences for the both of you.