Don't send pornography or 'pin-up' or nude photos, off-color or racist jokes or comics. These items can get your soldier, sailor, marine, airman or guardsman in serious trouble. Don't send packages of goodies. Basic is not the time for 'Care Packages”.
Drill Instructors DO Read the Message Boards
Your recruit does not want his or her Drill Instructor to read his or her private thoughts from the letters he or she send.
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.
During the 7.5 weeks while your loved one is at BMT, he/she will be authorized to use his/her cell phone or pay phones to make outgoing calls to family members. Trainees are encouraged to maintain their cell phone service while at BMT and to bring a calling card.
Before heading to boot camp, erase any photographs or videos which could be considered lewd or pornographic. Your cell phone may be inspected during the initial briefing, and you may be required to sign a policy agreement.
If the recruits are not allowed, then it's just standard voice calls (wait — do phones still have a "voice call" feature?). Either way, once their extremely short lease on phone time is spent, the phones are locked back up until the privilege is earned again.
Mail call is usually every evening, Monday through Saturday. At the end of the duty day, the drill instructor will enter the barracks, call out names and pass out mail. You're then usually granted about one hour of free time to read your mail.
The 'frog voice' is real.
Drill instructors literally scream so hard at recruits that they can pass out, give themselves hernias, or do serious and permanent damage to their vocal chords. That's why they spend a lot of time at DI school learning to project from their diaphragms.
Send a small photo or two. DO NOT decorate the outside of the envelope with drawings, stickers, or write any text other than the address and your return address (and no spritz of perfume either). This will cause unnecessary attention from the Drill Instructor during mail call.
Forrest Gump : To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant! Drill Sergeant : God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard.
Say “thanks” or say you're proud of the job they do as a soldier. Thank them for their previous service. Wish them a safe return, or a quick recovery. Draw a picture of something – it will likely become part of the soldier's home away from home.
That's why most service branches discourage care packages for recruits in boot camp. In fact, receiving an unauthorized care package may result in a punishment from the drill instructor for their entire unit. So, it's better to wait until your recruit finishes basic before you send any packages.
Getting That Morning Wake-Up Call
In military basic training, there's no such thing as sleeping in. You'll get up at 5 a.m. every single day. Waking up in the morning is an adjustment process that's the same for every single basic training class.
Nope. My basic was at Fort Jackson, by far and away considered to be the easiest in the army. The closest one would get to even a day off was going to church on sundays.
Enlisted Airmen have no visitation during Basic Military Training with the exception of graduation week. Basic trainees are allowed visitors on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of that week only. Families must plan graduation visits with care, as on-base access is subject to security restrictions.
The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) evaluates your physical and mental abilities every year, starting at Basic Training for enlisted Soldiers and during initial training for those commissioning as Officers.
Pictures – They are allowed to have pictures with them at training. However, do keep in mind that they have limited space. He doesn't need the entire photo album, just a few pictures will do.
In basic training, you take group showers. There's no way out of communal showers. They're required. Everyone in your barracks will enter the shower room assigned to your barracks when commanded.
Do Soldiers come home after basic training? Soldiers are not often given time to go home after basic training. Check-in for AIT School is most often the day after graduation, if not the same day.