We are often asked for the best method of getting in shape for military basic training.

For those who have spent their teenage years in front of the TV, here is a little secret for building arm and shoulder muscles.

Three days a week works well.

Begin by standing outside behind the house, and with a 5-LB. potato sack in each hand ... extend your arms straight out to your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

After a few weeks, move up to 10-LB. potato sacks and then 50-LB potato sacks, and finally get to where you can lift a 100 lb. potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

Next...start putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but be careful not to overdo it.

There is no level of fitness that will keep negitive attention off of you, you will be hazed no matter what. If you are to out of shape they just wont send you in the first place. If you cant pass the PT test you will be given 2 additional weeks after basic and if you still fail you will be ELSed. The fastest way out of basic it to just pass, regardless if you want out or not. You dont have drills living with you when you are in a regular unit.

Its like starting off pre constitution and you have to earn your constitutional human rights and they can be taken away at any time for very little reason.

It's a joke.

Troll.

Im just stating facts.

Our drills liked to joke too but you never know with hard core miliary members, if you laughed at the wrong time you get hazed, because they were crazy.

I guess if you consider being yelled at and called names, hazing. You've lived a sheltered life. Was your father ever in the military? If so, ask him how bad the "hazing" was back in his day. I've been to boot camp twice, once in the army and once in the navy. Not once did I see anyone get hazed. I think you're making most of the shit you've "experienced" up in hopes of getting some sort of attention. It's amazing how one person could experience it all while others experience none at all. Maybe you should team up with Michael Moore and make a shockumentary about the evils of military boot camp. I got it! Michael Moore could enlist, put a hidden camera on himself and video tape all of the atrocities of the military lifestyle! We all know that MM could blend in with the military types, LOL!!! That should get him 2 thumbs up! MM if you're reading this, I get 50%.

He is the kind of guy who gets the whole platoon extra PT because he cannot take it. Under a combat situation he would probably run like a little girl ford from a spider.

Basic is so much easier today than it was in my day because there were not so many "be nice" rules. No one ever got hit or taken behind the barracks but everyone was expected to learn how to become a soldier.

Back before Mr. Whine -- it was a good joke Gunny!

hmmmm, 5lb potato sacks to heavy for him too?

I finally watched feirenheight 911 and thought michael moore had some good points. The only problem was he did snipits of speeches, but I have watched bushes speeches in there entierty and its not anymore enlightening. I have seen pictures of soldiers holding up signs that say F michael more etc etc as they sit in the desert with substandard pay and lousy qualitys of life, how intellegant is that. I think marine corps or any recruter for that matter deserve to be slammed for the lies, half truths and omissions of truth.

Your right basic was much worse back in the day, a draft to WW2 was like a prison sentence with no crime. Getting punched and beaten thats almost enough to make someone defect.

My dad was an airborn ranger but I dont talk to him much, I havent spoken to him or seen him in over 2 years.

I always thought it would be a good idea to go to basic under some kind of congressional blanket (not actually enlisting) with a camera to show what goes on there going through all the motions of a regular private (make sure your a little ate up so you can show what the special treatment is like), or to have a human rights representitive that live in the barraks with the drills and privates to ensure honorable behavior from the drills at all times.

Must not respond to trolling....must stop typing....anger rising...must stop.

Gunny, how about some of those psychological situps? Those will keep you in shape. Oh, shit, that's hazing...

What would psychological situps be? Standing nose and toes against a wall, screaming and yelling and swearing, making degrading comments (but not ethnic, cant do that). Yep that would be hazing. And as evidenced by the little gun, fits of rage are what cause the hazing. Oh im so mad, im a drill sgt im going to make these private pukes (or insert explitive) pay, is that about how it goes

perhaps you should actually share your experiences with someone like your father. You might be surprised and learn more from him than you will in here.

quote:

My dad was an airborn ranger but I dont talk to him much, I havent spoken to him or seen him in over 2 years

You mean he hasn't spoken to you, perhaps because he is ashamed that the son of an airborne ranger couldn't hack it in the NG.

People like you are the reason why our kids are becoming a problem in society. No accountability. Parents are afraid to discipline their children because of people like you. How many times has a bullet stopped, or the enemy cease fire when a soldier felt he was being abused, or stressed out? Wow, you're a pretty sensitive little girl if you can't take a few minutes of being yelled at and god forbid, sweared at. I'm pretty sure you would have made a fine F-15 pilot, because we all know that you could handle the pressure of a dogfight or getting on target on time with SAMs and AAA trying to kill you.

(picture this) rppearso in the cockpit of his state of the art F-22 raptor. Out of nowhere 2 Mig-29s engage him and his wingmen. His wingmen is taken out and 2lt rppearso is ALL alone. He has to shake these 2 Mig-29s. What does rppearso do? Well, theres a wet spot between his legs and he covers his face with his hands. We all know the outcome of this one.

First off before I really say anything I would like to make clear I was Discharged in Basic nine years ago for Entry Level Performance and Conduct.

With that said, I am trying to get a Waiver to go back into the Military! Am I dumb? Nope! I want to serve my country! I want to make a difference! Is Basic hard? Depends, mentally it can be if you cannot handle people being anything but sweet and loving! If you like Rainbows and cuddly bears, it will be hard. I want to be pushed into being a better person. I regret everyday the fact that I let outside things get to me. It was not the military that is hard. It is parents and society making kids not take any responsibility! What happens when these kids hit the real world where everyone doesnt say aww you are so great or beautiful every five minutes? They end up crying every night because the world is tough.

I do not want to enlist because I have no good job. I do Anesthesia Support in a Level One Trauma Hospital attached to a top University! The kids now are wimps because Lawyers and parents and the Judicial System breast feeds them until they are in their twenties. Then they turn to drugs and alcohol to get away from the real world that they were sheltered from.

PS I had a great childhood, with caring parents, and they have decent jobs. My dad served in the USAF in Vietnam. Hats off to those veterans that helped get my dad home safely. I hope I get the chance to make a differnece in your lives one day!