I wanted to reply to this because I’m motivated by all these posts that are pro-military.

My credentials are I’m a 6 year National Guard vet who just re-uped to 2013. Currently slotted to go to OCS in the winter and finishing a Math Degree. By army standards I’m pretty soft, which is cool with me. I’ve been to basic,Air Assualt, deployed, ect. but I’m not a AD hooah-hooah guy. I love being a National Guard Soldier, and going home after my weekends, or deployments. I can also shoot straight with you because I’m not a recruiter and not that tough as nails NCO type.

Basic Training(BCT) is rough. No getting around that, it’s not as tough as 1960s BCT, or even probably the Basic Training I went to in 2003. Its an accomplishment. I don’t know who said it , but someone said “Anything worth doing , is not easy.”

BCT is tiered, I went to Fort Knox, all male BCT. All male BCT’s are harder than integrated BCTs. You can tell it in the persons discipline when they get out. Fort Benning is arguably the toughest. (I’m not going to debate which is which, I’m past that.) You can speculate on why to, I’m just telling like I’ve seen it.

What makes it tough is the pressure. You don’t get a lot of sleep, its cold/hot as hell, people do yell at you, your living in controlled environment, and quite frankly it is a surreal place. (I remember watching a company get sprayed off with a hose in subzero temperatures after a FTX, it was one of those “that must suck for them” moments.) And everyone has a special memory they take back from Basic, that we love to share on a bull session after a training day.

But in the end, no matter what everyone says, all you have to do is meet the training requirements. It was one of those realizations in BCT, that the daily plan was posted on the board by the Drill Seargent’s office, and with various “free time” to get messed with. The day matched the training schedule that has kept me going through all my Army training. So, yeah, it’s tough. You can’t pee when you want to, you will be tired, all the time. But the physical standards and activities are all posted Just take it one training event at a time, and realize that no matter what, you know the schedule. Plus, thousands of people graduate every cycle, why not you?

Also, their have been many changes, like no more boot polishing sessions, and later, no more pressing and ironing of BDUs. Plus, people aren’t required to pass the PT test at the end of Basic Training. (That is really, really not a good idea, some people that’s the only time they ever pass a PT test. Of course, I really wouldn’t want to be that guy in the barracks who couldn’t do 50 push-ups.). So Basic Training is getting more and more friendly every year.

What’s more important is that everybody who is enlisted in the Army, went to Basic Training. You learn a lot about living and working as a team, about people, and about what being a soldier really means. (I know my reasons for joining changed dramatically, day 2)

I’ve read a lot about “how the Army lied to me. ect.” Today, and I have to say that the Army has really been good to me. Sure, I’ve been cold, tired, and a long way from home, but on the all, I could never get through college without the Army’s support.

Being a soldier affects my everyday life. I think about it when I run at night, I worry about my friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I meet a lot of good people all the time. BCT is a phase, it sucks, your first duty station (Fort living room for us National Guard bums) is nothing like BCT. Of course, you can always look back and say “dang, how did I walk that 15K, 1000 jumping jacks (side-straddle-hops) takes approximatly 1:30, or how did I score a 315 on my PT test? ect.” These are challenges that will remind you that you can accomplish great things, and the Army WILL have higher standards at other training events, but you can keep these victories in mind for the next obstacle you face.

So, yeah, Basic Training will always be hard, but what you gain in pride, benefits, and knowledge outweigh the pain.