During your short stay at the reception station, usually three working days, you live in barracks and are supervised by reception station personnel. While there you will go through the following processing procedures:
- Your uniform will be issued and fitted to you.
- Your personnel records will be processed.
- Your identification card (ID) will be issued.
- You will receive your immunization shots.
- You will have eye and dental checks.
- You will be given mental tests.
- Men will visit the barber shop for a haircut.
Now that you have had your indoctrination into the service, you are ready for basic training. Over the years so many inaccurate rumors and frightening stories have circulated about this part of army life that we asked the army if we might include its own description of basic training in this book.
The following information is taken from the booklet 'You and the Army'. It will give you a good idea of what to expect during your first two months in the service.
NOW YOU'RE OFF TO BASIC TRAINING*
You've learned a lot during your three days at the Reception Station. Now you're going to learn even more about the army and yourself.
Basic training consists of a variety of activities including physical readiness training. This involves running, calisthenics, obstacle course, etc. Men and women receive essentially the same initial training, including weapons instruction, but they are trained separately.
By regulation, women cannot be assigned to combat or direct combat support units. But the army believes that no matter what their specialty, soldiers should learn the basic combat skills that will give them the confidence and ability to defend themselves.
*Reprinted by permission.
Both men and women can expect indoor and outdoor classes covering the following subjects:
Military courtesies and customs, drill and ceremonies, ID and wear of the uniform, inspections, guard duty, role of the army, responsibility of a soldier, code of conduct, Geneva and Hague conventions, marches and bivouacs, basic rifle marksmanship, hand grenades, familiarization with U.S. weapons, personal affairs (service benefits), military justice, equal opportunity, hazards of drug and alcohol abuse, personal health and hygiene, individual protective measures for nuclear, biological and chemical defense, first aid, field hygiene and sanitation, individual tactical training techniques, fire and maneuver, defensive training, confidence course.
Will it be tough? You bet it will. Someone figured out that you'll march more than 100 miles during your training. But if you're in reasonably good shape, the physical part of your training will be easier. But not too easy. If you did well in school, your classroom instruction will be easier. But not too easy. You'll use your muscles and your mind as you've never used them before. You'll be tired, sore, dusty, and a bit frayed around the edges at the end of each day. But if you try hard, you'll make it. A remarkably high percentage of the young people who come into the Army do.
Your Sergeant: The sergeant is the primary individual responsible for your training during this period. You'll probably think that this individual does an unusual amount of shouting, all of which seems directed at you.
But if it's any comfort, everyone in your training company feels the same way. So don't let it get to you. You're not being hassled or harassed. The sergeant's job is to turn you into a good soldier within a few short weeks. The shouting and toughness are all part of the process. You'll come to remember your sergeant, if not with affection, certainly with respect.
The weeks of basic training are filled with training challenges and experiences you will never forget. Some of the highlights you can expect are as follows (Note: The sequence of events may vary slightly at different posts, but the content will be generally the same everywhere.):
First Week: Your training starts out at a fast pace, but one you can handle. You do various exercises and running, called PT (physical training). You learn marching and facing movements and start on the Manual of Arms with your new-found buddy, the M-16 rifle. You'll study the functioning of this weapon, how to adjust sights, disassemble, and assemble. A drill sergeant will show you how to prepare for your first barracks inspection. And you'll learn that your first inspections are never good enough, but you'll get better. During this week, you will also find yourself feeling better, despite sore muscles and a few aches. More PT-grass drills, various exercises, wind sprints, and running. You'll be introduced to the obstacle course. Tough stuff, but it's great for building confidence. You'll take a PT test to see how far you've come. One thing you'll realize: You couldn't have done it a week earlier. The week will end with a preparation for a foot and wall locker inspection, including field equipment and clothing.
Second Week: Most of this week will be spent on the firing range learning more about your M-16 rifle. You will receive lectures on firing range procedures, coaching, steady hold factors, and use of score cards. You'll also learn about sight adjustment, aiming point and engaging surprise targets. There will be more PT. Another inspection comes up, too, this time in formation without your weapon.
Third Week: Most of this week will also be spent on the firing range practicing with your M-16 rifle. You will learn to fire from all positions, rapid reloading, and moving with a loaded weapon. You will also fire for record. Maybe you'll earn the badge of Marksman, Sharpshooter, or Expert. You will make tactical day-light marches and bivouacs. And just to keep you on your toes, a PT test and weapons inspection.
You'll be tired, and your muscles will be sore, but somehow you'll feel better all over. The weekends with the inevitable inspection. This time it is in formation with your weapon.
Fourth Week: You will be outdoors all week and will experience night training. You'll also be introduced to grenades and how to use them. Big stuff-you'll follow instructions very carefully. You also learn individual tactical techniques. And PT gets tougher- longer runs, road marches, obstacle course, the works. You'll get another test on what you've learned over the past week and, of course, another inspection.
Fifth Week: More night training, patrol, and bivouac security. You will receive instruction in first aid and a general review of PT and physical contact training exercises. You will learn that you don't dislike C-rations as much as you thought. The inspection this week consists of a field display on your bed in the barracks, foot and wall lockers, and information with your weapon.
Sixth Week: More tactical training, again mostly outdoors. You'll learn about additional weapons such as antipersonnel mines, anti-tank weapons, and grenade launchers. The interesting art of camouflage and its application on the battlefield will be taught and tested. All the while, you'll continue to become closer to your individual weapon, the M-16 rifle.
Seventh Week: All the pieces are starting to come together. That tactical training, PT, M-16 rifle practice and drill are all working for you. And while you're using camouflage to make yourself invisible, you'll be learning to recognize enemy personnel and equipment, both up close and at a distance. Soon you'll be able to identify terrain from the way it looks on a map, and find the best way to get across it.
And just so you don't forget, there's more PT, drill and another inspection.
Eighth Week: Are you the same person who signed the enlistment agreement? You're not. You'll be tougher, more disciplined. Tired, maybe, but you seem to bounce back faster each day. During this week, you will review all you have learned and will be tested on it. Combat proficiency, physical conditioning, and basic military knowledge. Male or female, you'll wonder how you've learned so much in a few short weeks.
This is the wrap-up. All training and tests are completed. At the end of the week, you'll take part in the graduation exercises and pass in review before the commander. You've made it. You are now a well-trained full-fledged soldier in the United States Army. It's been tough-but you've met the challenge.
COMBAT SOLDIERS
Before we tell you about the skill training programs in the thirty-one career management fields, let's briefly consider the combat soldier and the exciting positions awaiting you should you choose a job in this field.
Job Choices
Infantry: This is the backbone of the army. In a sense, it is what makes everything else work. As an infantryman you move on foot, by armored personnel carrier, or helicopter. You move silently, by squads, slipping through the night, or you come running with a roar shouting a battle cry. Your weapons are the finest, your training the best. This is where you will meet the greatest challenge of all, yourself.
Armor: An armor soldier is a direct descendant of the horse-soldier, but with a 57-ton, 750 horsepower steel tank instead of a horse. The machine is an extension of yourself. As a gunner, a loader, or a driver, you get to know your machine as your skill and courage turn the rumbling giant into a fearful fighting machine.
Artiller: Here are the light artillery pieces and the huge guns which move into position on treads, as well as missiles. Computers plot distance and trajectory, while the gun crew, working as one, responds to the target information. Technical skill and teamwork are the keys to success here.
Air Defense Artillery: In this branch of the service you may carry a small missile yourself and fire it, or help fire others which are so large that they require a launch team of thirty people. The responsibility here is to protect the army's ground forces, and when necessary, civilian population centers from air attack. Soldiers in air defense artillery are trained in technical proficiency: radar operations and maintenance, communications, gunnery, missiles, fire control, and tracking. You will be a new kind of soldier with new kinds of weapons.
Combat Engineers: These engineers pave the way for advancing infantry and armor. They harass the foe with minefields, obstacles, and the precision destruction of bridge spans. They also build roads, bridges, gun emplacements, and airfields. Equally skilled with tools and weapons, the engineer is a vital part of the combat team, always ready to drop a tool and grab a rifle if the work is threatened. It calls for a man who likes to work side by side with men like himself, overcoming obstacles and solving problems.
Airborne: The paratroopers are special soldiers who parachute to their fighting position from aircraft. Weeks of airborne training lie behind your first jump.
Rangers: These are the "go-anywhere" soldiers, the best trained, most highly disciplined troops in the army. If you volunteer for this branch you must agree to live by a creed of honor and dedication which reads in part: "Surrender is not a ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy, and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country." As a ranger you learn to survive and function under the most extreme conditions. You act as the eyes of the army, probe deep into unfriendly territory, lead others on long-range reconnaissance missions, all this because you have met the challenge of the toughest training the army has to offer.
Special Forces: The most honored and respected fighting soldiers are men of many skills, a unique combination of ranger and paratrooper, fighter and teacher. These are men of the best physical and mental caliber, ready to serve anywhere, anytime, through snow, jungle growth, over mountains, or dropped from the sky. Each man is a specialist in communications, operation and intelligence, demolitions, weapons, or medicine, and he is cross-trained in another area to double his usefulness. Only the best are chosen to wear the proud emblem of the Special Forces-the Green Beret.
Now for the career training opportunities which will prepare you for one of the many combat or noncombat jobs, every one of which is vital to the army's mission.
