Air Force Basic?

[Kala]

Does anybody have any advice regarding the Basic training for the Air Force? I leave in January for Lackland Air Force Base. I have 6weeks of Basic and then 10weeks 4days of Military Police Tech School. Any comments/suggestions please send my way.
Thanks Sarah

[PartTimer]

Not too long ago they did an article in like a mens health type magazine. They profiled what all you had to do for each different "boot" camp. I think it was Mens Health but I am not sure. It wasn't more than a few months ago.

[policewebdev]

Originally posted by Kala:
Does anybody have any advice regarding the Basic training for the Air Force?

How about trying your question over here:
http://forums.military.com

Hope that helps.
Matt

[Mack811]

Howdy Kala, I did basic and LE academy 22 years ago (the old wooden barracks we lived in are gone now, your housing will be much better). Basic for any branch is much the same at first, lots of stress and little sleep, lots of noise. It is all a mind game to weed out those that will crack under pressure. No problem. Just remember that tens of thousands of others have done it and you can too. One good thing is that you will not be doing it in the heat of summer. Pay attention and keep a positive attitude and you will be fine. Food is pretty good, after the first few weeks of basic things relax a little bit. As I recall the PT was more intense in SP training than basic.When doing riot control training keep a death grip on your baton, I saw many a poor soul low crawling across asphalt to recover theirs when an instructor got it away from them and threw it away SP training is good and you will enjoy it (most of it). Hint, look up when clearing rooms those instructors are sneaky. You will spend a lot of time at Medina range shooting. You will feel very proud on the day you earn your badge and beret. If you have any specific questions feel free to email me. I live in San Antonio and my wife and I host trainees during the holidays. When you get some time off and feel like a home cooked meal or just want to get off base you are always welcome. My email is [email protected]

[Summer Rain]

Hey there Kala, there's an article on About.com that you may find helpful. The link is below. Hope that helps. Good luck on your training!

About.com Boot Camp article

[SGT Dave]

From my time spent around Air Force types, some tasks you'll have to master in Air Force Basic:

"Mastery of the Remote, Infrared, General Electric, Television"
"Fifty Ways To Tell Civilians You're Not A Pilot"
"Five Hundred Ways To Tell Other Branches The AF Has The Best Mess Halls"

Just kidding! I was Army National Guard, and there has always been a friendly rivalry between the services on this sort of thing. Here is the "Oath of Enlistment" you'll have to take:

US Air Force Oath of Enlistment
I, Zoomie, swear to sign away 4 years of my useless life to the United States Air Force because I know I couldn't hack it in the Army and because the Marines frighten me. I swear to sit behind a desk and take credit for the work done by others more dedicated than me who take their job seriously. I also swear not to do any form of real exercise, but promise to defend our bike-riding test as a valid form of exercise. I swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, even though I believe myself to be above that. I promise to walk around calling everyone by their first name because I know I'm not really in the military and I find it amusing to annoy the other services. I will have a better quality of life than those around me and will at all times be sure to make them aware of that fact. After completion of my <snicker> "Basic Training", I will be a lean, mean, donut-eating, lazy-boy sitting, civilian-wearing-blue-clothes, Chairborne Ranger. I will believe I am superior to all others and will make an effort to clean the knife before stabbing the next person in the back with it. I will do no work unless someone is watching me (and it makes me look good), will annoy those around me, and will go home early every day. I consent to never being promoted (EVER) and understand that all those whom I made fun of yesterday will probably outrank me tomorrow. So help me God.

Again, it's all humor-the site I took that from mangles all the services' oaths up likewise.
In all seriousness, I'd say you will find out about 'wind" at Lackland in January, and don't let anyone in basic, advanced training, or once you get on base send you to the supply room for a roll of "flight line" - good luck!

[Mack811]

SGT Dave, bite me you dogface! LOL I spent the summer of '79 at Fort Knox doing ROTC basic camp. I know why you guys have comic books for training manuals. If it were not for the Army types the government could have saved a lot of money not having to emboss "Front toward enemy" on the Claymores. Wanna buy some vintage C-Rats? I think I still have some

[SGT Dave]

Dogface?????? (Cue Forrest Gump accent/voice) "I'm not a smart man, Jennn-eeee…"

Claymore-is that the little green thing that goes "boom" and enemy falls to ground? I don't know much about that…(continue Forrest Gump voice) other than…

Mine, Claymore, Anti-Personnel, M18A1. 1.5 pounds of compound high explosive propels 700 10.5 grain steel balls out to a maximum range of two hundred meters, with a maximum effective range of 50 meters, at a height of 1-2 meters. It can be command detonated or set for trip wire (automatic) detonation.

(hooah.)

And that's all I got to say about that...

[jpa]

Kala,

My friend just got back a few months ago from AF Reserve basic and finance tech school. If I remember right, she was also at Lackland. She said she had a great time in basic. Lot of PT, work out when you can. Avoid the regular chow line, go to the salad bar. Healthier and gives you more time to eat anyway. I can't remember any of the other stuff she told me, but if you have any questions, send me an instant message or email off the board and I'll ask her and get back to you.

-John

Originally posted by Kala:
Does anybody have any advice regarding the Basic training for the Air Force? I leave in January for Lackland Air Force Base. I have 6weeks of Basic and then 10weeks 4days of Military Police Tech School. Any comments/suggestions please send my way.
Thanks Sarah

[Delta_V]

Originally posted by jpa:
Avoid the regular chow line, go to the salad bar. Healthier and gives you more time to eat anyway.

A salad bar? At basic training? I heard that the AF had it easy, but maaaaan. Are the meals catered by Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse too?

[ 09-28-2001: Message edited by: PatrickM98 ]

[TheSpoon]

I was in Lackland for USAF basic 25 years ago, so I am not currently familiar with it, but do remember it as a most exciting and grand time. The PT was similar to Army, and the whole world was waiting.

Very simple, only say one of 3 things:

1. Yes, Sergeant,
2. No, Sergeant
3. NO EXCUSE!, Sergeant.

Something about the smell of the chow hall while your standing at attention at 0530 will make you feel invincible....

[DMS 525]

I'm sure AF basic has it's times, but then again, trainees are not issued backpacks, not issued a rifle as a regular thing to work with, and basic only lasts 6 weeks? Can't be as bad as the Army. Not to mention barracks are called "dormitories." Give me a break!

Then again, I wish I'd done the Air Force instead of the Army. Probably would have enjoyed the service a lot more, and perhaps made a career out of it.

My advice: Show initiative, never question an order, do not complain out loud, and don't take a lot of what you hear personally.

[Niteshift]

I'll try not to trash the Air Farce to much.........

Best advice I ever heard for boot camp was that your goal should be to have your drill sgt. ask you at graduation "Who's platoon were you in?"

[Kala]

Thanks for all the advice. I can't wait til january. Running and lifting weights daily!

[jpa]

Yup, there is a salad bar. Not sure about the whole catering idea though. She was in Finance tech school, so I don't know if she just had it cushier than everyone else b/c of her area. She's pretty ****ed right now, her whole base got deployed to Hawaii (all the engineers, bomb squad, sp's, etc) and she's sitting at home doing nothing. I guess there's not a big need for finance people at the moment.