Are You Ready for Basic Training?
By SGT Michael Volkin
Do you think you’re ready for your Drill Sergeants? Have you been preparing properly? Below are some quick tips to help you prepare properly. After you read these tips, take the 5 question quiz at the bottom of this article. If you answer 4 out of 5 questions correctly, you will win a free video class from Basic Training University.
To prepare properly for basic training, you have to be physically and mentally ready. One mistake recruits make is go into basic training without an ounce of preparation. This leaves recruits vulnerable to more push-ups, sit-ups and other exercises that a Drill Sergeant can give you to make your life as miserable as possible.
Another mistake recruits make is to go to the gym and lift weights, thinking that this will prepare them for the physical aspects of basic training. This is a big mistake. In basic training, you do not have access to a weight room. You will use your own body weight and cardiovascular strength to succeed in basic training, so there is no need to do hundreds of bench presses because you won’t do one of those in basic training.
If there is one aspect of basic training you can count on, that would be to get sick. At basic training, you should always expect to get sick. You will be with many recruits under a lot of stress constantly crowded together. This will inevitably cause you to catch a common cold, sore throat or a nasty cough.
Do you want a great piece of advice? Drill Sergeants don’t tell time like the rest of the world. If they tell you to be in formation in 45 seconds, you should be there in 15 seconds. A Drill Sergeant always expects you to arrive early, on time just isn’t good enough. Being late could lead to an Article 15. An Article 15 is a disciplinary action that goes on your military record.
Another great piece of advice is to learn your military phonetic alphabet before you leave for basic training. There is no reason to delay learning the phonetic alphabet once you get to boot camp; you already have enough things to learn. The phonetic alphabet is easy enough to learn from your home, under your terms and not your Drill Sergeant’s terms. I would recommend putting together random words and spelling them out phonetically. For example, the word LAKE, can be spelled Lima, Alpha, Kilo, Echo.
SGT Michael Volkin is the author of The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook, available in both paperback and e-book format at www.ultimatebasictraining.com