What does the air force basic training consists of?

Answer 1

"Sir, trainee [ insert surname here ] reports as ordered!" - the reporting statement is the first thing you take with you to training.

"All trainees are reminded to drink three non-carbonated, non-caffeinated beverages with each and every meal! All trainees are reminded to utilize the handrail while using the stairwell! All trainees are reminded to carry an operational flashlight in the hours of darkness! We will now sing (very poorly) the Air Force song with pride and motivation!"

Basic Military Training (BMT):

Eight weeks of pain -- you'll need thick skin. Lots of yelling by TI's (Training Instructors), dorm inspections, PT (Physical Training) every day, sucking your food with a straw. G.I. parties (lots of cleaning), details, attention to details, and more attention to detail. Be prepared for the worst. You are always wrong, even if you're right.

Lifestyle --

"Get on your face Boy! Start pushin' crackhead!"

"Yes, sir --er, ma'am!"

"Shut the pi** up! Do I look like a SIR?!"

You will live from Sunday to Sunday, church to church, and meal to meal (they break you down the first 2 weeks, and build you up the rest). The TI's want you to succeed, whether you think so or not -- but if you're just a dirtbag, don't even join the Air Force -- they'll recycle your butt back to Zero Week (the first week of training) and if you are not Air Force material, they'll discharge you at all costs (the Air Force is downsizing)

Authority -- submit and do everything you're told; they will break you, so prepare your mind for the mind game.

"Give me your 341 and money list!"

341's -- watch out, these little forms are trouble -- anytime you do something obviously wrong, they pull this form and make you sign it later.

Money list -- writing down the serials on all your legal tender; try not to bring too much cash or you'll be busy writing all those numbers down.

Drills -- lots of marching and facing movements; learn how to march before you depart for Lackland AFB (Air Force Base); stand at attention (this is what you get paid for at Basic); "If you're taller than the (guy) trainee in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move forward!" (RIGHT FACE!) Repeat.

PT (Physical Training) -- Running, push-ups, sit-ups -- more than you would ever believe! It goes beyond your limits. Discipline is necessary physically as well as emotionally, mentally, and certainly spiritually. Start before you decide to join the AF (Air Force); you will need to be fit to fight before you go.

Sleep Deprivation -- Go to bed at 2200 and wake up at 0430 -- you're lucky if you sleep this way every night.

Beds -- Neat, tight, wrinkle free -- you won't even want to sit on it because of inspections. Sleeping is not really comfortable, and you will tear your bed apart, remake it, and put hospital corners on it all the time.

Locker -- neat, clean, organized to perfection; roll your socks, fold your underwear into neat little squares, roll your shirts to perfection, and use a ruler to measure every millimeter.

Security Drawer -- part of your locker that requires a key (you wear 24/7 around your neck); an organized drawer of all your hygeine products, personal possessions, and your white and black (laundry marking) clothing marker.

Chow -- Eat quickly, still you probably won't finish your meal; 3 minutes is a long time if you even get 3 minutes to eat. Eat all your food in one bite and drink it down with all that water! It's a game when you enter the dining facility. Stand in line, don't look around, eyes straight ahead, hands flat on the tray, side-step, say please and thank you, walk straight around to your section (you'll screw up), get yelled at by the "Snake Pit" of TI's watching you like hawks, they'll jump out of their seats, run at you, and scare the piss out of you. Sit down in your designated seat: "Sit, Eat, and Get OUT!" (Chow runner will tell you this all the time) -- last two people clean up the other two trays. Courtesy is waiting for the table beside you (they were there first) so let them finish and THEN you get up -- this is because eating is like an assembly line.

TABLE 1 -- TABLE 2 -- TABLE 3 -- TABLE 4

TABLE 5 -- TABLE 6 -- TABLE 7 -- TABLE 8

Say table 1 and 2 are occupied... as soon as table three sits down, table 1 must clean up and get out. As soon as table 4 sits, table 2 must hurry and leave. If you are feeling too rushed, you may be at table 1, and before table 2 even starts eating -- you get up and leave (for psychological reasons) and you really screw table 2, because now they HAVE to get up and leave before they even touch their food! It's complicated, but you'll learn. If it's real busy, table 1 will still be eating when table 5 is occupied (fast paced) they will tell table 1 to get out immediately (by then, they probably have eaten every last bite)... this doesn't start happening until later in training really, if you're lucky. (you'll gain lots of weight, and that's normal)

Wingman concept -- it's a team effort in your dorms; you must rely on everyone, and you must also contribute to the success of those to your right and left (good concept, but it sometimes sucks when it means sacrifice)

Phone Calls -- bring a phone card or two or three and a list of phone numbers of loved ones; there will be time to make calls eventually (the first two weeks are the worst, so don't count on contacting the outside world right away)

Warrior Week -- it was two weeks of field training in 2006, that may have changed, but either way, it's sleeping on a cot in dirty barracks, crawling through dirt, mud, grime, and using a nasty latrine (bathroom). MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) are neat packages of food that range from 3000-4500 calories of decent food.

Don't forget this major aspect of BMT, if you need to remember anything, remember this and tell yourself this every day:

It's all a mind game.