SwiftVets.com

[196lib]

From a Benning BCT grad; Lewis AIT grad and Benning School for Boys grad; BEST OF ALL THINGS FOR YOU. Do your best. You'll pass the test.
Thanks from all of us who served and are serving now. You'll do well in your chosen way of life.
196th Light Infantry Brigade graduate Vietnam.
196lib

[debewley]

mateo,
Thanks so much for your service and God Bless.

It has been 36 years since I went to Army Basic Training so I wouldn't presume to give you advise on the particulars. I will tell you that attitude is paramont. Decide that you're going to be the best soilder that you can be and you'll do fine.

The Army has trained millions of troops and therefore have a lot of experience about how things should be done. Some of the things they may ask of you will probably seem ridiculous to you but there is a good reason they do things the way they do.


You'll do fine and you will gain memories and experience that will benefit you for the remainder of your life.

GOOD LUCK!
_________________
Served with US Army in Americal Division 2/69 to 9/70.

[HOV1]

Well...... I can't speak for the skimmers, but we bubbleheads used to hear "AAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGAAAAAAAA......AAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGAAAA....DIVE DIVE"

Good luck with the Doggies mateo!
_________________
USN 78-84 STS1(SS) USS George C. Marshall SSBN 654(G)



HOV1

[gocars]

HOV1

Give me triple-canopy jungle and ambushes anytime. 'Ya can't drown in the boonies.............besides I'm claustrophobic.

gocars
101st Airborne
'Nam 67-70
U.S. Army Rangers Lead the Way!

[mateo_g]

Wish me luck folks! Not just for the Army, but I'm about to go through Hurricane #2 in the span of three weeks. Jeanne is bearing right down on my house (I live in Northern Palm Beach County), and it will be a Cat 3. Hopefully this won't affect my shipdate (I have to report to MEPS at 5 am Wed. in Miami). This should be one hell of a week.

[Redleg]

God bless you and your family Mateo. Just keep you head down and your butt will follow.

When you get to Basic, remember to stay in the middle of ALL formations. Don't get in the front or rear ranks or on either end of any column. That's where the crap details are chosen from.
Above all....don't let the drill sergeant get your name on his lips by goofing off too much. When dealing with The Sarge, hold your hand over your name tag.
_________________
FIRE MISSION: Kerry campaign in line of sight.

[spartan]

hey if your going to go on to airborne school make sure you get a set of master wings tattood on your forearm (have the tattoo guy throw in a couple combat jump stars for a couple extra buks) before you get to airborne school. - the instructors will admire the initiative.

If you plan on going ranger after that make sure you sew on ranger tabs on all of your uniforms prior to getting there also - use white thread if its a winter class. If any of the punk ranger intructors (RI's) give you any grief about it have a smoke grenade ready to hand them - Tell them that this is for you because you cant bring enough smoke on me - That will shut them up and they will leave you alone for the rest of the course

Hey anything I can do to help a future warrior.


PS. If after your first tour you should decide to go SF tell the guys at SWTG on fort bragg that your motivation for going SF was because of your heros SGM Palmor , Hank Luthey , General Suuddath and General Guest and of course because you think the hats they wear are really nifty

PSS. Dont fall for the keys to sicily drop zone or canopy lights joke

[Alpha924]

Thank you for your service,

Did you get a guaranteed job for your 6year enlistment? As an old salt I went through Navy boot in 66 and Survival Evasion Escape & Resistance training in 67. My boot seemed real different from anything I’d ever known. I was a city boy (17), and not used to people yelling at me or having to get up real early. Then when I came home on leave afterward I didn’t think I’d changed much, but my pals sure seemed like wimps. Now the Navy boot was not all that tough, SEER was a different story that was to get us ready to serve in country Nam. Our trainers beat us and threw us in a prison camp.

My son joined the Marines in March of 01 and their boot was considerably more difficult than even the SEER training. However, I passed along advice to him that was given to me and it still seemed to be applicable, so here it is:
“Keep your mouth shut, your shoes shined, and your hat square, and you will do fine”. No matter what when you get out you will be in the best shape you have ever been. As for toughness of training ….. when things seem their darkest, you are doing push-ups (for no reason or because someone else screwed up) in the middle of the night outside in the rain and mud with some DI screaming at you calling you names (it ain’t personal he says the same things to every class. Just let it go don’t hate the guy, you will get on with your life and they really wont kill you. He will always be a jackass, but you have a choice), be glad your aren’t in Marine boot with the Crucible to look forward to.

One thing they have on you is the not knowing what is next. I sent my son a schedule of training I got form their web site. It really helped him and the other guys know what was going on the next day, or week, and helped them get prepared mentally. Bottom line is you will do just fine, and it is an experience you will long remember (sometimes waking in the middle of the night screaming )
_________________
Proud dad of a US Marine serving in Iraq

[Alpha924]

first word out of your mouth SIR!!!! bla, bla, bla SIR!!!

don't forget it, and good shooting keeps you alive do it right everytime.
_________________
Proud dad of a US Marine serving in Iraq

[sixdogteam]

WE did BCT at Benning in '69, at "Harmony Church" -went in soft, came out hard as a rock! Thanks for your service!
_________________
HHC 212th CAB MMAF RVN '70-'71

[Rich]

Mateo best of luck, thank you, and God bless. I have one piece of advice for you. When things get tough, when you feel like chucking it all down the drain, remember that these are going to be the best days of your life. When you reach your 40s and 50s, and beyond, like many of us here are. You will remember your service days as the best days of your life.

You will get tighter with people then you ever have, or ever will. So tight you wont hesitate to expose yourself to fire to drag one of your buddies to cover and if your sent to a foreign land you will just get closer with your brothers.

So revel in these coming years, always give 100%. Always strive to get to that next level and fill up your "off time" with sports and college classes. Thats the problem with a lot of these kids we get on the Police job nowdays, most of em never went into the military. They get into their mid and late 20s and still need mommie to wipe their rear ends for them.........................Rich
_________________
"Freedom" is never "free"

[Alpha924]

"Sometimes your best is not good enough, you have to do what is necessary"

Putting forth 100% is a starting point. The test is how far are you willing to go past your comfort zone. As you enter into that unexplored territory you find out, for yourself, what you are really made of, and bringing that out is one of the goals of boot. It is called growth, and by the end you will be amazed how the 100% mark in your mind will have changed from where you started. You will not hesitate to exceed that barrier on a regular basis both mentally and physically. Once you get past the physical, the best weapon one has is their mind. Keep both in shape

Wisdom and training are two of the keys to success.
_________________
Proud dad of a US Marine serving in Iraq

[cipher]

If you smoke, quit.

If you drink, quit.

If you have longer than usual hair, get a decent (not a BUZZ cut) haircut before you go.

If you have facial hair, shave it ALL off.

Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth shut.

Never stand if you can sit. Don't sit if you can lay down. Learn to fall asleep and wake up INSTANTLY.

Eat when you can, and STAY HYDRATED. You can NOT drink too much water.

MEMORIZE *everything*. Your SSAN, your weapon serial numbers, all of your General Orders, your Chain of Command, all ranks and insignia, and as much of your instruction book as you can.

Assume NOTHING.

Be ready for ANYTHING, and expect NOTHING. You'll rarely be disappointed.

Keep in mind that your instructors have ONE mission: To train you to STAY alive. This is not as easy as it sounds.

By my sig, you can see I was Signal Corps, too. All that means is you get to be a communicator (or computer geek) IN ADDITION TO being a grunt.

If you can get Airborne/Air Assault/Air Mobile training, get it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after your boot camp. You will NEVER again be in better shape

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. So sweat a lot.

Remember, you're not doing anything no one else has done before.

Good luck, son. And thanks in advance for your service.
_________________
USMC 69-72, 7th Comm, 3rd MarDiv, FMFPAC
US Army 75-79, 97th Sig, SHAPE, NATO
Arkansas National Guard 79
Defense contractor for US Navy, SSPO, SP-20, SP-24, OP-12 84-92

[ArmyMedicsMom]

Thank You for choosing to Serve Your Country!!


My son went through Fort Benning in 2002.

Here are some helpful websites:

http://bravobulldogs.tripod.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FTBenningBC/

http://www.benning.army.mil/FBHOME/

http://www.benning.army.mil/bctb/

http://www.omegasector.net/indexjap.html

[rb325th]

mateo, hope you made it through the Hurricane!!!
As to Basic Airborne, you will have to fill out a 4187 Request Form. It may be difficult to get, last I heard they were no longer giving BAC as an enlistment option unless you were actualy going to an Airborne Unit.

Spartan, that is just pure Evil!! LMOA!! You forgot to mention he should request to carry the PRC E8 Radio as well!!
_________________
U.S. Army 1983-1995, 11C1P/11H2P NBTDT