DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Well, I enlisted..

Good luck may, congrats on serving your country. It is appreciated.
Been lots of years for me, but remember it well.
Give 'em hell.

Excellent decision TI... at times you will think you will, but you won't regret it.
You are about to embark upon the best times of your life; you will be doing things that you will look back upon for the rest of your days.

Enjoy it, every bit of it... and don't let any of the petty stuff get you down.
Mind who you hang with as well.... surround yourself with good people. If someone is a chronic whiner or just has a horrible outlook or likes to skate, etc... avoid them, find others to hang with.

Congratulations, good luck, and thank you.

Thanks for offering your service to our country. I wish you nothing but the best with the decision you have made.

Hey man congrats on this,"one of the most important moves in your life". Have you found out where you will be doing basic at? I was at Ft. Jackson, S.C. and from what I have read, you are looking at either infantry or field artillery. I was assigned as a "field medic 91-B" to the 2/92 FA in Giessen, FRG. If you want to know about Ft. Jackson, let me know....I'll give you a "cheat sheet".....

Actually, I am going to basic down in Jackson, so any tips would be appreciated

And right now my MOS is 27d, Paralegal Specialist. But after I graduate from the ROTC, I'm going to request to be an Infantry and Field Artillery Officer.

I was there in 1985, it's probably changed slightly since then. The best tip I can give you is "don't go in August!". It's hot in the summer. If you get KP, avoid the "clipper room", that's hot too. The worst thing I can recall is how we always managed to find a patch of sawdust to do our pushups et al and I was always itchy. Bring some cortizone cream, by the time I graduated, I was buying it in bulk. I also brough my own socks, the wool ones they issue are not great for summer, I had cotton socks dyed ODT. Also, if they don't have you do it as a group, fill your boots up with water the first day you get them.
your feet will be a little squishy, but it's the fastest way to break them in, and you will get no sympathy if you get blisters. Not to mention they take forever to heal with the amount of walking/running you will do. I also think now you can run in sneakers, so bring a good sturdy pair that will last. Other than that, unless they changed things, you can't have much else.

Keep in touch with home, and write a lot of letters. It can get real tough at times, you will need support. Spend a little extra time keeping your uniform straight. You don't want to stick out, never the best or the worst. Pay attention to details, it's always the small things they look for, it's part of the process.

I wish you luck! And even though it's hard, try to focus on the good things. You will probably remember most of the people you are with in training even though you'll probably never see any of them again.

I have scars!

Not something I would want to relive.