Ask a Soldier

[IglooDame]

How does it work with your training in the USA? Do you first apply for baisic training and then apply for something specific or do you apply to become something specific such as a gunner/GI/tankdriver when you are a civilian and then do basic training as a part of that course?

For how long are you a nobody that is treated the way people are treated in basic? I was like that for 327 days.

Once your recruiter has your ASVAB scores and other relevant criteria in hand, you can negotiate with them for an occupational specialty (different services call it different things) that is typically written into your enlistment contract prior to your swearing-in. Then you get shipped off to basic training.

 

[Hygro]

So they would not care if the enlisted person was fired from their previous employer for attendance issues (chronically late)?

You might really like a career in the military.

 

[GoodGame]

Asolutely not...

However, I would highly recommend not trying that in the Army... attendance is strictly enforced.
You will live in barracks, and if you don't make it, they will come get you.
If you live outside of barracks, for whatever reason, expect the same.

You can't just call off... you have to go to "sick call" and get diagnosed and prescribed bed rest.

Being in the right place in the right time saves lives in war, so they strictly enforce it at all times.

This is very true. In fact, one of things the military will teach you is to not be tardy, and it is punishable once you're on duty like any other dereliction.

But it is true that the military is more interested in molding you into what they want you to be regardless if you were the world's best/worst civilian employee. However, character (including your punctionality) is an important part of being commissioned/promoted. So anyone will have to learn punctuality.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

To what extent is american military training focused on field exercises? Of all the American films about military training/basic training I never see anyone living in a tent.

How much time is spent in the wilderness for longer oeriods of time (More than three days)

 

[Flying Pig]

To what extent is american military training focused on field exercises? Of all the American films about military training/basic training I never see anyone living in a tent.

How much time is spent in the wilderness for longer oeriods of time (More than three days)

That's probably because 99% of time on exercise is either boring or incomprehensible to the average civvy (why do they spend an hour lying by the road before they set up their camp? What's that shouty man doing with the ball of string? Why don't they just bury their rubbish?'). And TENT? Tents are for REMFs! (I feel dirty using that Americanism, but it gets the point across) Infantry in the field sleep under shelters improvised from a large sheet of waterproof plastic and some string. We British normally do a couple of 'long' (more than a week; normally ten days or so) a year, with more if expecting a tour soon, and every now and again we're sent to Kenya or Canada for about six weeks, on-and-off, of it.

 

[Glassfan]

To what extent is american military training focused on field exercises? Of all the American films about military training/basic training I never see anyone living in a tent.

How much time is spent in the wilderness for longer oeriods of time (More than three days)

Most recent American films either show basic training (boot camp) because the psychological indoctrination is so outrageous to civilians (Full Metal Jacket, etc.), or Hollywood movie combat where there's seldom an enemy because of the paradymn that we are our own worst enemy (Apocalypse Now).

As FP correctly points out, there is plenty of field training - these days much of it technical - simulators and such. But it's boring to film directors and screenwriters because our troops aren't committing attrocities or war crimes there.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Well there was that one movie Southern Comfort which was about a field training exercise. Of course, apparently, American troops are committing crimes and brutalizing the locals even when they are training (aka not boring)

 

[kochman]

To what extent is american military training focused on field exercises? Of all the American films about military training/basic training I never see anyone living in a tent.

How much time is spent in the wilderness for longer oeriods of time (More than three days)

Depends on the unit type.
The infantry is going to spend a lot more time training in the woods than the others... and won't use tents (well, mechanized infantry does) because they are too visible. Security is important.

When I was with the airborne, we did at least 2 x 1 month field exercises per year, and we were in Europe with limited (for the US) training areas. Some installations have their own training grounds within them, and those areas tend to spend more time in the field.

Other time, for the infantry, is spent at the range. This is generally day trips or stays in nearby barracks... that's a large portion of the year, probably another month or two worth of days, depending...

They don't show that in the movies because it isn't "glamorous"...

 

[JollyRoger]

But it's boring to film directors and screenwriters because our troops aren't committing attrocities or war crimes there.

Especially since the repeal of DADT.

 

[holy king]

yeah, gay sex only sells when its about cowboys.

 

[squall78]

and pudding.

Q: does enlisting to officer happen often? would you say they produce a better breed of leader?

 

[cav scout]

Depends on the unit type.
The infantry is going to spend a lot more time training in the woods than the others... and won't use tents (well, mechanized infantry does) because they are too visible. Security is important.

We don't use tents over on the mech side of the house either. Yes we do put up camo nets if we are going to be somewhere for a while (like an assembly area). I usually just sleep on my track or truck. A choice spot on a track is the driver's station.

 

[Flying Pig]

Q: does enlisting to officer happen often? would you say they produce a better breed of leader?

Just a point, but in British English an 'enlisted man' is a conscript, but 'I enlisted into the Parachute Regiment' is the other-ranks way of saying 'I commissioned into the Parachute Regiment'. I know it's different in American, but I can't help but notice it.

I did it, and I'd go so far as to say that most people who reach the sergeant-major ranks, don't do anything incredibly stupid and have the inclination to do so will gain a commission. As for whether it produces better leaders; we're certainly better platoon commanders because we've got experience (we've all been platoon sergeants and many have commanded platoons before as well: I did for six months once when our officer was injured out of the Army following a parachuting accident) and automatically have the respect of the lads (and if they think they can mess with us, they soon find out otherwise!) because we are quite literally everything they want to become in the Army.

However, you'll never see a General rise up from the ranks except in wartime - there simply aren't enough years between enlistment and retirement to gain enough experience to complete what are in effect two stellar careers. Furthermore, there comes a point where being better-educated than the men and, as much as the modern army hates to admit it, being of a higher class than them - if nothing else, because a man of the quality required to be a senior officer who possesses the natural confidence, the accent (which is, believe it or not, a huge influence on what a 'fresh' soldier thinks of his officer) and the ability to be friendly with the men without running the risk of becoming 'one of the lads' (because he can never be one of them) that come with a public-school and university education immediately inspires confidence in his men and can be quite reassuring: they can think (in basic terms) 'I don't know what to do, but it's alright, Colonel Smythe's a gentleman; he'll be able to see things I can't and he'll know' - which you don't get if the men see their officer as cut from the same block as them.

 

[Cutlass]

My nephew recently got accepted as a recruit to the USAF. One thing I tried to show him was to shake hands like a man, firmly, rather than that wishy washy thing kids do these days. Do you think that will help how people perceive him over time in the service? I know he won't be shaking hands with any officers or his drill instructors. But assuming he survives boot camp and specialty training, he'll be working with a lot more people on a close to even footing.

 

[Flying Pig]

My nephew recently got accepted as a recruit to the USAF. One thing I tried to show him was to shake hands like a man, firmly, rather than that wishy washy thing kids do these days. Do you think that will help how people perceive him over time in the service? I know he won't be shaking hands with any officers or his drill instructors. But assuming he survives boot camp and specialty training, he'll be working with a lot more people on a close to even footing.

On the contrary, in the Air Force limp handshakes are taught along with navigation and opera appreciation

That said, the handshake is often how your first impression of someone is formed, and you don't want that to be 'what a girl!'. Can't hurt.

 

[Cutlass]

Well that's what I was trying to tell him. But I don't know if he believed me

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

If he wants to be in the army he has to act like a man, not an emo/skaterhipster.

He should wear his pants close to his belly button, zip all pockets, wear a watch, maintain his clothes and shoes. Body hair should never be shaved and hair on your head should be groomed into a respectable hairstyle. If you hang out in the mess hall in sweat pants people will stare.

 

[kochman]

We don't use tents over on the mech side of the house either. Yes we do put up camo nets if we are going to be somewhere for a while (like an assembly area). I usually just sleep on my track or truck. A choice spot on a track is the driver's station.

Yeah, I wouldn't know specifics... my point was only that, if you have a big tank that can be seen, a tent is a small worry.

 

[Flying Pig]

Yeah, I wouldn't know specifics... my point was only that, if you have a big tank that can be seen, a tent is a small worry.

If you have a vehicle, sleep in the damned thing! One of the few perks of having to help maintain supplies and medical support for an exercise was being able to kip in the rovers.

 

[MobBoss]

and pudding.

Q: does enlisting to officer happen often? would you say they produce a better breed of leader?

In my experience, enlisted soldiers that eventually go OCS and get a commission turn out either one of two ways: they either become a really great officer - or they become a really terrible officer. The odd thing is its almost always polarized like that too. Some use their enlisted experience as a foundation and learning tool to become a better officer (the good ones) - others use their commission to fulfill their own sense of power and entitlement (the bad ones).