From our active duty combat soldiers to our military nurses, training is rigorous and often traumatic. In particular, the psychological effects of military training alter the personality, emotional stability, and social function of the individual.
Recruit training is both physically and mentally challenging. While, for many, boot camp is the single most challenging experience they will face up to that point in their lives, there are ways to prepare.
A US Navy study showed many recruits are unaware of, or do not disclose having mental health issues. The study found that 15% to 17% of enlistees could be categorized as having PTSD.
Boot camp is a great way to quick start weight loss and fitness, but there are some things that you need to know before you enlist: It's intense. It will work all your major muscle groups, including your core, and give you a great cardio workout to boot. It's not for you if you don't like to sweat.
The most common injuries are overuse injuries of the lower extremities and include stress fractures and muscle strains, she said. "Occasionally, we also see more acute injuries like fractures or ligament tears," she added.
There's a great argument that the Marine Corps has the hardest military training of anyone, and here's why. Of course, when you reach the top, you can find them becoming SEALs or a part of the Marine Raider Regiment (MRR), but the training of any Marine is some of the hardest military training in the world.
Easiest Boot Camp / Basic Training
Though boot camp / basic training is considered challenging, yet mandatory, for every branch of the military, the easiest among them would most likely be the Air Force.
As basic training progresses, the drill instructor will shape the recruit. The yelling will ease and a confident, well-trained Soldier is the result.
Marine boot camp is extremely challenging -- both physically and mentally -- and considered to be tougher than the basic training programs of any of the other military services.
Crying during USMC boot camp is not uncommon and may occur due to the stress of training. However, recruits are expected to quickly regain composure and continue with their training, as showing prolonged emotional vulnerability may result in disciplinary action or dismissal from the program.
The soldier mentality refers to blindly following orders without any thought or hesitation.
Retracting an Enlistment. If you change your mind about joining the military, you can request to be released from the delayed enlistment process—no matter what your recruiter tells you. Most enlistments into the military are through the delayed enlistment process (DEP). The DEP is a legal, binding contract.
Yes, it is possible to fail basic training. You could go through the trouble of leaving your home, job, family and friends and come back a failure. In fact, this happens to about 15% of recruits who join the military every year. Too many recruits I speak to think that it is impossible to fail basic training.
For women, the BCT experience is almost identical to that of men, with only a few differences. For the most part, BCT for women is not about having a different, gender-specific experience so much as sharing the human experience of being torn down and built back up into a soldier.
Are cell phones allowed in Basic Training? There are no cell phones allowed in Basic Training. This is a consistent rule for all of the military branches: Do not expect your service member to be able to call you, text you, or receive your messages when they are in Basic Training.
The induction haircut has both practical and psychological purposes. Originally, one of the reasons for the induction haircut was to reduce the chances of disease among closely quartered recruits from different geographical areas (with varying immunities), such as head lice.
Take the Oath of Enlistment (swearing in)
During the Oath, every service member vows to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
While all branches of the military are known to have rigorous and extremely difficult training programs, the Green Berets take the prize as having the hardest form of military training because of the Combat Diving program that is included.
A lot of them come in as young 17 and 18 year olds.
Because it is the easiest way to get a human being who is unaccustomed to performance under stress to take action while being placed under an extreme and sudden stress environment (combat). It trains them to block out the noise and the fear and the stress and just do what they need to do.
The Marine Corps has the longest basic training -- 12 weeks, not including four days of in-processing time. Counting the half-week you spend in forming (in-processing), you'll spend a total of seven-and-a-half weeks in Coast Guard basic training at Cape May, (N.J.,) the shortest basic training of all the services.