Question - to those that have made it to the Military branches

[Luis]

Uhm yeh - I am very undecided to call in and sign up. However - when they say that you are accepted or what not, can you carry along your personal belongings? (I.E.: Laptops/Computer, clothing, shoes, etc)?

Also, whats your personal opinion to you citizens of the Military? Is it worth the time being there? Do you meet the 'recruiters' advices or small talk after you join your first days?

These I want to know before I jump on the phone and ring a recruiter phone.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Oh and this came from thinking off of Fletcher's Thread.
~LUIS

[Akura]

The Armed Forces in general are more inclined to let their troops take personal items with them, because it helps keep moral up.

I'd advise you sit down with an Airforce Career Advisor or something, chat about options and ask them some of these questions yourself.

I hope to go for the Royal Marines when I'm done with college, so I gotta talk to an Army Career officer anyway...

[Luis]

The Armed Forces in general are more inclined to let their troops take personal items with them, because it helps keep moral up.

I'd advise you sit down with an Airforce Career Advisor or something, chat about options and ask them some of these questions yourself.

I hope to go for the Royal Marines when I'm done with college, so I gotta talk to an Army Career officer anyway...

Right, I just did that. My answer was: "Not for Basic Training. However, you may have those at Tech School"

Meh - oh well, but its my decision in life.

[Boss]

Correct. I've been there and done that, and it's...interesting.

Few tips: DO NOT BRING CLOTHING WITH ANY KIND OF SLOGAN ON THEM

Several people got very....interesting nicknames. Like the guy who brought the "Defy Authority" shirt. That went over well...

No matter how good an idea it might seem, don't bring food back to the dorms. We had a couple of guys get recycled into our flight for stealing peanut butter from the chow hall.

Ah, hell, I can see this will be a long post. Lemme grab my laundry and I'll edit this when I get back. Poke me on Skype if you have any specific questions.

EDIT:

Right. First things first, your recruiter's job is to lie to you. Nothing against the guys, they're awesome, but they can't tell the truth about some things. For example, they make Basic sound like a fun walk through a wilderness glade full of prancing deer and fuzzy animals. It's not.

The sooner you realize that it's designed to destroy you, the better. BMT is a tool that the military uses to break down your existing social, emotional, physical, and mental barriers. Your phone is taken away. Your mail is read. You can't receive packages. You have no internet, no TV, no radio, no newspapers. The only information from the outside world is what your MTI decides to tell you. You are forbidden from using each others' first names. You are never referred to as anything but "Trainee" or "that ****ing retard over there". If you cry, you are ridiculed. If you show weakness, you are punished. If you can't go on, your MTI will impart you with the strength to continue by sheer verbal abuse. You are forced to perform far beyond what you think you're capable of.

You are sleepless. You stand watch. You are driven to the very brink of exhaustion and kept there for eight weeks. You get up early and physically abuse your body. You study all day, mentally fatigued. You stay up hours past Retreat and Taps because there isn't enough time in the day. Your locker is not your own. It is inspected at any time the MTI wants to. If something isn't right, you learn to make it right by doing push-ups or other exercises. On Sunday you go to church, and the relief of being away from your MTI is incredible.

Then you go back, and you're in hell again.

Early on in BMT, usually the first two days, the MTIs pick a target. One person in the flight is designated to be the enemy of the flight. Anything he does becomes the flight's fault. If his locker is bad, you push. If his facing movements look like crap, you push. If he's not hydrating, you hydrate him. If he can't get dressed fast enough, you push while the element leaders and dorm chief dress him.

***********************

That's the bad part.

You learn camaraderie. Long after BMT you'll remember your flightmates. You went through hell and back. You learn your true limits. Not the tiny, self-imposed ones, but your true limits. More importantly, you learn that those too are false. You learn to react automatically. You function as a team. The guy they pick on becomes the strongest member of the flight. You learn leadership. You learn how to obey orders without hesitating. You become stronger, faster, better.

Everything they do has a purpose. It may seem like they do things out of spite or malice, but they don't. The lack of sleep? You're in a very suggestible state when you're almost asleep. You retain the information they need to teach you. Drill teaches you to react to commands without thinking. You hear "Column left HARCH" and your body's already moved before you are cognizant of the order. You learn who can do what the best and fastest and organize yourselves. If you can roll socks, you don't touch the towels. If you can't roll a t-shirt, you don't ever look at a shirt again. If you can make hospital corners on a bed, guess what you do and nothing else? You work with poor equipment to teach you that you can still do your mission even when circumstances aren't ideal. You don't have distractions like social media so you can focus entirely on training.

Your flight will be divided up based on what they're good at. If you have a good eye for aligning things, you'll be sighting the beds. If you have good fine-motor control, you'll probably align shoes. If you're anal-retentive about things, you'll be a Dorm Chief or Weapons Monitor. If you're just plain anal, you'll be Latrine Crew and just hate everyone because they screw up the latrine you just cleaned until you could eat off of the urinal. (I was latrine crew...) Chow Runner needs to be loud, accurate, march well, and know his procedures.

Hallway crew, Dayroom Crew are more general-handyman things. Element leaders tend to fall into several categories:

1) Vocal *******s everyone hates, but he gets the job done because he doesn't want to get in trouble
2) The vocal guy who cares about his flight and gets the job done because he doesn't want the flight to get in trouble
3) The quiet guy who does the job himself because he knows what needs to be done
4) The guy who's loud only when he needs to, but gets the job done, leads by example, and teaches his flightmates because he know what needs to be done, how to do it, and wants to keep the flight out of trouble

The Dorm Chief's job is head scapegoat. After the first few days, he's to blame for the flight's screw-ups. Sometimes he's the original target, sometimes not.

You might be advised to never volunteer for things. Take it with a grain of salt. Don't volunteer until the third week or so. That way the MTIs have already figured out who they're going to pick on. In the same grain, don't believe for a second that your MTI will never know your name. They are very, very good at their jobs. Their job is to get under your skin, break you apart, and reshape you into something the Air Force can use.

Mind is empty at the moment. Post specific questions and I'll answer as best I can.

---

Just go play the game and have fun dammit.

all in all the conclusion is that disco doesn't need antagonist factions, it doesn't need phantoms, it doesn't need nomads, it doesn't need coalition and it doesn't need many other things, no AIs, the game is hijacked by morons to confuse the game with their dickwaving generic competition games mixed up with troll-of-the-day.

[Luis]

Correct. I've been there and done that, and it's...interesting.

Few tips: DO NOT BRING CLOTHING WITH ANY KIND OF SLOGAN ON THEM

Several people got very....interesting nicknames. Like the guy who brought the "Defy Authority" shirt. That went over well...

No matter how good an idea it might seem, don't bring food back to the dorms. We had a couple of guys get recycled into our flight for stealing peanut butter from the chow hall.

Ah, hell, I can see this will be a long post. Lemme grab my laundry and I'll edit this when I get back. Poke me on Skype if you have any specific questions.

Please, do a text-wall if you like - I am willing to read through it.:)

[Jack_Henderson]

How old are you, kids?

Ask an adult about the value of life and whether it is a good choice to waste the good years of your life, risk potentially your health or in the worst case your whole life in a system that does not care for the individual in actions that you have no control and that will leave you scarred (if not physically then mentally) for life.

I wanted, some many years ago, to do the same in Germany. I am so glad I never did it when looking back at myself from where I am now.

And before you say now: You don't know a thing... it's Stabsunteroffizier der Reserve here. I know a few things.

---

+ IMG| DISCORD: https://discord.gg/TWrGWjp
+ IMG| IS RECRUITING: Click to find out more!

[Boss]

Wall posted.

How old are you, kids?

Ask an adult about the value of life and whether it is a good choice to waste the good years of your life, risk potentially your health or in the worst case your whole life in a system that does not care for the individual in actions that you have no control and that will leave you scarred (if not physically then mentally) for life.

I wanted, some many years ago, to do the same in Germany. I am so glad I never did it when looking back at myself from where I am now.

And before you say now: You don't know a thing... it's Stabsunteroffizier der Reserve here. I know a few things.

Your post doesn't make a lot of sense.

And even if the system here doesn't care for an individual past a number, the citizens do. The people know what we sacrifice and they respect that.

---

Just go play the game and have fun dammit.

all in all the conclusion is that disco doesn't need antagonist factions, it doesn't need phantoms, it doesn't need nomads, it doesn't need coalition and it doesn't need many other things, no AIs, the game is hijacked by morons to confuse the game with their dickwaving generic competition games mixed up with troll-of-the-day.

[Decerebrated.Individual]

Basically, be sure to read the fine print before signing anything, and check out all the splendid no risk stayin-intact kinda jobs out of the military too.

Unless you realy believe in that cause, of cause. Course.

Nothin wrong in signing up for a cause, if you're sure its really yours.

[Tanker]

Well, Considering it has been 31 years since I was in Basic Training. US Army. Here are a few things that will happen there.

1. Your hair will be cut off. , I cut mine off before joining.It was past my shoulders. I didn't want to give the barbers any extra enjoyment.

2. All personel belongings will be packed away. This included all civilian clothes. These were allowed to be worn after the Basic part of your training. Of course there weren't any laptops,mp3 players when I joined.

3. You will get several innoculations. The only thing I can say is..don't flinch.

4. Be prepared to follow orders quickly. The Drill Sergeants are allows looking for the ones that do and the ones that don't.

5. Enjoy yourself. I was 17 when I joined. First time really being away from home. You will also meet people from all walks of life. I thought it was awesome.

6. Always take what the Recruiters tell you with a grain of salt. I believe they have quotas to fill just like other jobs. So, always know what you want to do before you sign up. However, I am sure that there are some Recruiters that are truly helpful.

I stayed in the Military for 6 yrs. From '79-'85. I thoroughly enjoyed myself even though the work was hard at times. I got to go places I would normally never get to go to. Meet people, civilian and military. And I was also able to "serve" my country.

There are 2 things you need to realize. 1. Your time in the Military will be what you make of it. Don't just be a barracks rat. 2. Be prepared to be called to action.

signed
Tanker
aka Sgt. Cook

[Luis]

Wow - thanks Sgt. Cook and Boss - great tips i can use to go flawless - hopefully.

I'll see if I can generate more questions if it concerns me.