So I just wanted to start this thread and have a general running list of advice from the Vets to the Rooks. Feel free to add your own, could be about military life in general, basic training, whatever floats your boat.

Basic Training

• When you're in basic training, if you have a question, ASK! Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors are there to TEACH you.
• Do NOT be a smarta$$ to your DS/I, or ranking officers. It will come back to bite you in the rear end.
• Before hand, talk to veterans who were in your service branch, and MOS if you possibly can. Ask questions.
• At least attempt to do some PT before hand - it'll help. The more you do before hand, the better off you'll be, as it won't be such a shell shock to you.
• Talking while in formation is one sure fire way to really tick off your DS/I.
• Your family, money, bank account, that doesn't do you any good here.

Everyday Military Life

• Its stressful. Get used to it, learn how to deal with it.
• Officers know everything, get used to it. Even if you clearly know whats going on, Officers still know everything.
• Mouthing off to your First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Officers is a bad idea (just like in basic).
• Do your bleeping job, do it right, go home. It's really that simple.

Y'all feel free to add your own, or amend mine if you want. I'll try to edit it into the original post as it comes up.

I don't think setting an adversarial tone for the relationship between officers and enlisted is very productive. Understanding their respective roles is a lot more productive all the way around. As long as the Os stay in their lane and the NCOs stay in theirs all will be fine. Ultimately, both sides need to present a unified front...almost like parents...in order to ensure the soldiers are being trained, supervised, and mentored properly.

For the cherries, 90% of your success as a private is going to come from you being at the right place, at the right time, in the right uniform...if you can manage that, your leadership will take it from there and things will be much easier. You can gripe, at your own peril. The less experience you have, the more your leaders...and peers, are going to be disinterested in your griping.

Don't be "that guy"...you know, the one that is always last to get up, or the one who falls out all the time, the one who takes the longest to shower/shave/eat/clean/dress/police up/ etc....if you don't think you have a "that guy" then you are probably fulfilling that role yourself. It really isn't that hard...but you would be surprised.

No no I'm only meaning that sometimes you get a higher ranked NCO or Officer who once they have it set in their minds that this our the best way, there's no use arguing worth them.

Originally Posted by crazytanker

No no I'm only meaning that sometimes you get a higher ranked NCO or Officer who once they have it set in their minds that this our the best way, there's no use arguing worth them.

Agreed, at the same time, sometimes that is what it takes to get everyone moving in the right direction. There is a time for counsel and time for action...once counsel has been taken and action decided, execution is the only thing that is next as long as it is legal, moral, and ethical. We are professionals after all...

No matter what rank or branch you are, do not get on the wrong side of that Military Police patrol! They have the power and lack of sympathy to make your already bad day a whole lot worse!!!

One thing I wanted to add about "that guy" is that first of all there's one in every platoon. Secondly he's the most hated person in the platoon, not only by the recruits but the Drill Sergeants too. For us it goes beyond the basics of moving on to the next thing. So we have a stronger desire to make that soldier stronger..

It´s a good idea.
But it is difficult to give more than general advice since there´s a huge difference between our military cultures.

The general stuff applies for everyone.

Originally Posted by crazytanker

So I just wanted to start this thread and have a general running list of advice from the Vets to the Rooks. Feel free to add your own, could be about military life in general, basic training, whatever floats your boat.

Basic Training

• When you're in basic training, if you have a question, ASK! Your Drill Sergeants/Instructors are there to TEACH you.
• Do NOT be a smarta$$ to your DS/I, or ranking officers. It will come back to bite you in the rear end.
• Before hand, talk to veterans who were in your service branch, and MOS if you possibly can. Ask questions.
• At least attempt to do some PT before hand - it'll help. The more you do before hand, the better off you'll be, as it won't be such a shell shock to you.
• Talking while in formation is one sure fire way to really tick off your DS/I.
• Your family, money, bank account, that doesn't do you any good here.

Everyday Military Life

• Its stressful. Get used to it, learn how to deal with it.
• Officers know everything, get used to it. Even if you clearly know whats going on, Officers still know everything.
• Mouthing off to your First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Officers is a bad idea (just like in basic).
• Do your bleeping job, do it right, go home. It's really that simple.

Y'all feel free to add your own, or amend mine if you want. I'll try to edit it into the original post as it comes up.

You tell them CT get ready by doing PT, man that will save them some woes. Particularly some running and pushups. And leave that smart assed attitude at the door.

Do your PTIs kiss their muscles and scream "3 times round my beautiful body - GOOOOOOOOO!!!" like the Brit ones do?