When I went through, everybody always said that basic training doesn’t get better - you just get used to it. So, don’t worry, she will get the hang of things. She won’t be shaky and teary at graduation; she’ll be standing tall and proud.
I’m grateful to my sister for her dedicated letter-writing. At the end of the day, when I finally finished everything I had to do (usually after lights out), I’d read a letter by flashlight before going to sleep. It was really the only break I had it my day. So, definitely keep sending letters!
I have a tip for her hair. What we would do is run our hands over our hair any time we washed our hands while they were still wet. It helps control the frizz. It’s a little habit I still have over a decade later.
Her battalion posted an update today (that still floors me. The Army is on Facebook). They got to do an obstacle course today!
Bear, we already purchased the tickets, so we’ll just have to make sure she stays focused during her leave. I imagine the DIs will give them all a stern talking to before they leave.
RollOutTheBarrel, I’ll tell her about the wet hand trick. Thanks! I might send her back with gel or hairspray, if that’s allowed.
I went through basic at Ft. Jackson, in 1974, in August and September. I saw TV only once in that time. A television was brought in so we could watch Nixon resign. I polished my boots while watching.
In one thread we were asked “What is the best thing you remember eating or drinking?” Well, for me it happened during basic. We were on a long march, and unknown to us our drill sergeant arranged for sweetened iced tea to be available, about two thirds of the way through the hike. I will remember to my dying day how good that tea tasted. We were so hot, sweaty and thirsty.
I am on Facebook but I rarely go there. The only reason I joined was to look for my drill sergeant, so I could tell her about the tea, how I still remembered it. I did find her, she has an unusual surname so it wasn’t too hard.
Great idea! Although she has to take it seriously…
Guess I missed the meaning of your post
Easy school? Pretty easy, not hard stuff, helicopter repair-outside of classes, we were free to do anything. We rarely had PT but we were to keep in shape. The only part of soldiering was uniforms and falling in to march to class and back. A lot better than basic but I guess ANYTHING is better than basic
When I bought plane tickets I always got discounts for being military
Why doesnt she just get a short GI Jane buzzcut beforehand so hair is one less thing to worry about?
Ok, I have to ask. Some females have horrible problems with menstrual cramps. Is that something they would disqualify her for and not even allow her to sign up? Or if she does sign up and go to basic, is that something they can get sick leave for? Also doesnt the physical intensity cause most women to skip periods during basic?
If your cramps are so bad that you are debilitated, then it’s a medical condition that should be considered for exclusion to military service. In the field, you don’t get to,e off for cramps. I’ll give you a real life example, I get migraines. They are awful, but I have trained with them before, it just really sucks.
For hair, I still wear mine long. Tell her to bun it when it’s wet after her shower and slick the sides with some gel. Some females love hair nets,mi never saw the purpose. I would pony, braid and then bun the braid.
Now, Ivylass, I cried every single night for the first week and a half in Basic. It was the first time I was away, and everyone was so much older and mean (I was the youngest at just-turned-17). After that week and a half, something just clicked. I didn’t become a bloody super soldier or anything, but I hit a groove. It’s a course designed to not only get you pulled together as a team, but also to get you to prioritize. Tell her to practice her push-ups and everything she is struggling with in her “free time”. There will be more free time as they get better at studying/cleaning/prepping. The staff wants to see her working on improving. No one will fail basic because they don’t get into push-up position fast enough, but having the right attitude is important.
Send tons of mail. Care packages, corny “Just Hang In There” cards, whatever. I swear some days I stuck with it because I knew there was mail on the way :).
Her attitude is half the problem. I wonder what she’ll be like after three weeks, if there will be a noticeable change or if she’ll slack off and be hit hard when she goes back.
The stubbornness will come in handy, once it’s focused in the right direction. I know my family noticed a HUGE change. I was leaner, stronger, more organized, and hugely potty-mouthed :).
Ok, finally figured out whats been bothering me about this thread.
Sorry if this is a bit of a derail,
please please please please try to be at her graduation. try HARD! The day she graduates from basic training going to become one of her most cherished “core” memories. Getting married is one of the few things that I can think of that compares. Not even graduation from AIT compares to graduating from Basic.
I dunno… How big are these graduating classes? I looked it up and I see there are more hotels than I would expect in a rather rural area, and I imagine most of them cater to the military base.
Her graduation is scheduled at 9am with another company going at 10am. Is it like a high school graduation, where they call you up one at a time? Or is it done all at once with speeches by dignitaries?
Not a lot to add here but I still have the letters everyone sent me while I was in OCS, and it left me in the best shape of my life! I’ll +1 what Poysyn said, and add that as much suck as it was doing it, I’m glad for the experience and the people I got to meet. They really can be your friends for life.
Everyone in mine was called up individually to receive a scroll, and I completely whiffed my drill. I came to attention, yelled “Sir!”, knelt down to lay my weapon down and then marched up, forgetting to come BACK to attention. Naturally, my Staff pointed it out to me.
