[RR691983]

14 weeks. 9 weeks initial + 5 weeks of "MOS training" combine the two and you have 14 weeks of OSUT or one station unit training. Things are different now than awhile back when I went through. The Army is shifting away from the cold war doctrine that was still taught when I went through basic. Basic training now is designed to best prepare you for combat in Afghanistan or Iraq and honestly, it still won't do enough.

Basic training isn't physically hard at all. Mentally it can be a bit of a mindfuck but you'll make it through unless you lack what it takes anyhow. Basically what I'm saying is unless you're completely soft and you have some kind of backbone you will pass and graduate. They're pushing kids through down there now that don't even meet the minimum Army standards. I probably shouldn't tell you that but its the cold hard truth.

My advice. If you want to be a grunt first get this through your head. Being an Infantryman isn't a job it is a WAY OF LIFE. If your idea of roughing it is jumping in the family camper and going to a campground for a weekend with your gameboy, cellphone, etc and whining when there's no electrical hookup or hot showers then this definatly isn't the job for you.

In garrison you will do one of two things. You will be doing so many bullshit details (painting rocks, painting the grass green, guard duties, CQ, suicide watch, etc) that you will be disgusted. Or two, you will be training and while training you will be colder/hotter, more wet, smelly, hurt, and miserable than you could ever possible imagine. You will want to quit with every ounce of your being. You'll wonder why in the hell you are pulling guard in a frigid cold swamp that you just happened to break through while you were sleeping. It is -40 degress without windchill and you haven't been able to feel your feet from the ankle down since you stopped doing battle drills three hours ago. It'll dawn on you that you signed yourself up for this and there are a million other things you could be doing at that very moment, most importantly being warm, dry, and clean.

On deployment you will be even more miserable. You'll be pulling 12 hour patrols or longer, if you're lucky you'll catch some sleep at night (if you can sleep through the helos, gunfire, mortar splash, and VBIED explosions) you'll be filthy, exhausted, hungry, cold, muddy, and you'll be some homesick it will sometimes be all you can think of. You'll most likely lose someone close to you and it'll change you forever and if you're lucky at the end of the day when it's mission complete you'll still be alive and able to go home.

Why do we do what we do? As I said, it is a lifestyle. Like the Spartans that stood against and entire Persian Army at Thermopylae and fought to the last man breaking the enemy's will to fight we are warriors and it is what we do best. There is nothing glamourous about what we do, we train to fight and KILL the enemies or our country. If you are thinking of enlisting because you want medals or stripes look somewhere else because we don't want heroes. We want warriors.

If you are serious about becoming one of us do yourself a favor and heed my words. Get yourself in shape BEFORE going to basic. Join a gym, study a martial art preferably some MMA. Run, run, and run some more. Definatly lift weights. I would even suggest going the extra mile and buy yourself an ALICE pack at a local Army surplus store. Throw 40lbs (preferably more if you can) in it and go for a walk, no need to go crazy just walk and build up your legs.

Trust me you do NOT want to show up as a fat slob, if you do yes most likely you'll still graduate but I can promise you if you take this route it will only cause you much pain and suffering when you do get to your unit. You will not be able to keep up. An average line company's PT standard is a 280 or above, I believe Ranger Batt is a 290 (although it's your ass if you aren't scoring a 300 in Batt) the Army standard of 180 passes but it is not acceptable and you won't go far if you settle for the minimum. You will be labeled a shitbag and that will follow you until you quit or are kicked out as a failure to adapt.

If you think this is for you, and you are prepared to sacrifice for the entire time you serve then by all means go for it but don't even think about it if there is an ounce of quit in you because it will get you and most likely one of your battle buddies killed and that is not something you want on your conscience.