All is great advice. The military is a great place to 'do better than the lot you drew in life' as you can make of it what you want.
- IMHO pick an MOS that has a good -paying civilian job counterpart. The Army is going to spend big $$ on your training which would cost YOU outside the fence - and employers like to see that stuff on a resume. Tanker's and Artillerymen don't have much of a civilian counterpart (yet I was a Tanker so that shows how smart I am). Pick as specialized an MOS as your ASVAB allows. That way, if you get hurt or want out, you've not wasted your time.
- Tier 1 units (SPECOPS, etc.) get all the good stuff (gear/schools) but they also have the most 'fun'. If you are single, great, but if you have a family, you are responsible to them, too.
- If you use tobacco, STOP NOW. Kicking the habit while under the additonal stress is a bitch.
- DO NOT play the reindeer games some of the other privates are going to want to play. Tobacco, sneaking out (yes, they still try and inevitably get caught) and other bullshit is easy to get drawn into - don't fall into that trap because those other dumbasses are looking for a fall guy (you).
- You don't have to be first, but you sure as hell don't want to be last. If you are in good shape, great, just remember the DS are going to push you past whatever limit you have when you show up.
- Nametag defilade: Don't be 'THAT' guy. If you do better than everyone else, the other soldiers will get jealous and you will get undermined/set up/blamed/etc. The time to SHINE is after basic. Nobody remembers or cares how you do in Basic as long as you graduate. But do good enough so that if there are any specialized slots (Airborne, Air Assault) you get offered them (and take them). Those wings give you street cred.
- Get used to getting micromanaged, and just remember IT'S A GAME; PLAY IT. Submit to the authority, embrace the suck and you will be fine. If you have any amount of self-discipline, then it will be easy for you. Remember, the kid next to you never did shit with his life, played video games and smoked pot thru highschool, has no idea what a checkbook is or how to manage it, and his momma coddled him. Those are the real challenges for the DS. Guys that have their heads on straight usually avoid most of their attention so they can focus on the problem children. The DS isn't there to fail you, he's there to TRAIN YOU to GRADUATE. Failure rates are not something that BCT Commanders are proud of (as they are there to make you a soldier), but they ALL don't want someone in THEIR Army that is going to be a dirtbag/waste of government dollars and maybe get another, good soldier killed.
Best of luck. If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat. 26 years was a good run.
"Those who do can't explain; those who don't can't understand"...
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