Although I endured Army basic in 1969, I can be confident that much of what I learned still applies.  In reading the Army manual to prepare for writing this I've seen a few changes that make good sense, and I know that the training I underwent was less brutal than similar training during World War II.  In the Army, however, the basic systems are very slow to shift.  If you go through training this year, you'll share a training system and philosophy that was much the same during the American Civil War.  There's a lot of tradition involved and not everything makes good sense.

I won't repeat what most people have done online when writing about what to expect in basic training.  You won't be prepared, no matter what you do beforehand.  Basic won't be the worst experience in your life, but it will be the worst one you've had so far.  Don't overthink it.

Basic training won't ever be incredibly different, and every generation looking back will probably say that the new system isn't as tough as the old one in our day. You can bet it will still be tough, and things will still happen that aren't officially supposed to be happening. Basic will always be Basic, the hazing process by which you learn to march in step, stand in straight lines, and salute properly. Along with that you'll learn things which are essential, like basic weapons handling, but basic training is hardly enough to prepare anyone for combat. It isn't really about that. What exactly it is about, I'm still not quite sure. Yelling seems to be very important, as well as spit polishing boots and living in a high stress manner that makes you incredibly tired. Some, but not all of that is toned down a bit when you go on to AIT and your eventual duty station. In my rather short military career, the best assignment I ever had was in the combat zone of Vietnam, where people didn't sweat the small stuff so intensely. I had only a brief view of the stateside Army and wanted no part of it.

Since those days there really have been some major changes. Basic training is co-ed with male and female recruits training together. Something called on-off training has been instituted, with hard PT days alternating with more relaxed training days. I bet we had that when I went through basic but it probably wasn't and isn't noticeable in practical terms. All training days are hard days.

Recruits don't run in combat boots now--you buy your own approved running shoes! That's incredible! And in my opinion probably wrong to do, since modern running gear causes more foot problems than combat boots ever did. Never mind that in real working and crisis conditions you won't be wearing running shoes--it's just a small example of the way you must learn to do things The Army Way.

Tobacco free training? Oh my. Cigarettes used to be standard issue with C-rations, in a little five pack like chewing gum, and in training nobody got a smoke break unless everybody smoked. So, everybody learned to smoke. The Army used to be the best advertising campaign the tobacco industry ever had, and I am glad to see that's changed.

Possibly weapons training is better today, at the basic training level, than it was in my time. In my time, it was pretty poor. The training machine was cranking out soldiers for Vietnam back then, and the general assumption was that you'd be learning the real stuff when you got there. On our rifle range, we were instructed never to place our M-16's on automatic for fear we'd shoot each other, and I'm sure that was correct advice.  For a couple of weeks our company ran out of money for ammunition and instead of shooting blanks during exercises or live rounds at the rifle range, we yelled Bang! I'm very serious about that, the Army is normally a strange place and the Army when swamped with civilians being prepped for a war zone is much much stranger. I got in trouble for yelling Pow! instead of Bang! But, that's the Army.

The only other weapon we trained with was the hand grenade, and only once with a live one. If you get better training in your cycle, feel fortunate. Combat training was fun, especially the night combat simulation courses, lots of explosions, constant machine gun tracer fire three feet above our crawl zone--I felt very safe out there away from the D.I.'s. Was it pertinent? Hard to say.

The major difference between now and back then is the absence of the draft. Everyone you'll serve with today either wanted to be in the Army or decided it was the least of the evil options. You may still see the division between those who joined for economic reasons, striving for a leg up on higher education or technical training, and those who want to be lifers or career military. Don't fall for any peer pressure that aims you against the system, because when promotion slots are open, everyone will be competing for them. Those who protest the most loudly against the way the Army works are the ones who'll be showing up first, prepped and pressed for the promotion interviews. However tough things may seem to you, the system really is better than it was. Do your best.

Be aware that Army recruiters are not there to do you a service--recruiting sergeants have one purpose, which is to sign up bodies for the Army. Possibly things are different now, but in other times they were paid bonuses by the head for every body above the monthly quota. If the practice no longer applies, I'm sure there are similar incentives in place. Whatever decision you make about employment in the military, make it away from the recruiting office and out of the influence of the recruiter. Choose your own occupational specialty and do not let any possible monthly quota system influence what you want to do. This will be your last independent decision for a very long time.

You can be sure that the attention you receive, which will probably include statements like, I've seen a lot of people come and go through this office, but you're one of the special ones, or the friendly gestures like inviting you to lunch at the Army's expense, are all there to sell a product. If you waver in your decision, expand your job search and land that dream job at MacDonald's, you'll get a speech about how much effort has been expended on your behalf. Again, that's sales pitch. Make the decision to join yours.

True, a minimum level of fitness is required, and it does make some sense to go beyond the minimum standards by training before you actually take the oath and get on the bus. But, the last week or two weeks before you go, you should rest. Eat well, do things you enjoy, and don't do anything that will cause a blister. You'll soon have plenty of opportunity for blisters, and for physical training of all sorts. Beginning the process with injuries, even minor ones, is stupid. Rest will become a thing of the past soon enough--get it while you can.

Leave as much as you can behind. Wear comfortable shoes because in reception you'll do a lot of standing. Until you get your uniforms, you'll only have what you bring, but don't bring much. Probably whatever you bring will get thrown out anyway. Learn the rules if you want, but that's unnecessary because you'll be learning them again soon enough, and you may regret having wasted any of your precious civilian time on that kind of military knowledge.

In the beginning you'll be assigned to a reception station, where you'll do an extraordinary amount of in-processing, answer a lot of irrelevant questions, learn the basics of standing in line, and eventually receive your military issue of boots, uniforms and duffel. Whatever else you need will be available and you'll be forced to get it. Don't get anything that isn't on a list. In the Army, you're part of a group. The instructors are there to find breaches of conduct, even the minor ones, and when an individual strays the entire group is punished. If you want to be part of the group and not an outcast, play by the rules.

I learned two important lessons in reception battalion in 1969 and probably they still apply. First, break in both pairs of your boots by wearing each on alternating days. Don't just wear one pair, so you can preserve the polish on the other pair. You'll need both, one to wear and the other to dry out, or you'll wind up with one pair of bad boots and one pair to break in during training. That's a poor time to be breaking in new shoes.

The other lesson was something I learned about two o'clock on the third day, when I was in between processing tasks and just hanging around the temporary barracks. I thought since I had nothing to do I'd lie down on my bunk for awhile. Literally seconds later a sergeant walked into the barracks, said, "You! You've got nothing to do and I need someone for K.P.!" and I was immediately on my way to my first Kitchen Police duty.

It struck me then as only a coincidence, but it's actually about as predictable as mathematics. I was on K.P. for 24 hours, with a few fifteen minute breaks for meals, and arrived back at the barracks, exhausted and disheveled, at just about 2 p.m. Having truly earned some rest, I laid down on my bunk, and seconds later a different sergeant walked in, pointed out once again that I didn't have anything to do and he needed someone for K.P., and I was off to the mess hall again.

You'd think that a person of ordinary intelligence would learn that lesson by that point, but the next day I was very tired and not really thinking straight--a condition which would last for several more months--and even though I explained my case fervently to the next sergeant to show up, and he even expressed some sympathy for my situation, I found myself back in the mess hall kitchen. When I finished that shift I went to the movie tent and slept in a folding chair for the rest of the day. I'm fairly sure Kelly's Heroes was playing.  Although I didn't see much of the movie, I would have many chances, since it played frequently at every Army movie theater at every duty station I had for the next three years.

The result of this, adding to the aftermath of a week long camping and hiking trip before leaving home for the great adventure, was a broken pair of boots that dug a hole in a pre-existing blister on the back of my left heel. The hole stayed with me for the entire training cycle, growing larger daily, and took months to heal.

Don't be a show-off. Do what the D.I.'s tell you to do--they'll undoubtedly tell you to do more than is possible anyway. Basic training started off with a few easy days, when I did it, but it was only easy in the minds of the D.I.'s. If you do more than is required, you'll probably be punished, and you deserve it. The system is hard, but it usually works well enough if followed precisely. Any variation from the program and you really are in trouble. Worst that could happen is being recycled for medical reasons due to injuries, or failing a PT test and going through extended basic training. Unless you screw things up in ways too horrible to consider, you will graduate the course. If you do it right the first time, that's much better for you.

Some useful things I learned from that experience include eating all mess hall food that's available. Even if you don't like it, eat it. Otherwise you'll wind up with a caloric deficiency that will just make things harder for you. If you're underweight, or overweight, instructors might put you on a special diet. Otherwise, clean your plate. The first few days there may be some vomiting after breakfast. That's fairly normal.

Extra duty is pretty common in the Army, and isn't limited to K.P. We did have that, but we also had regular guard duty at night, fire watch in the barracks, and even special "holidays" devoted completely to military chores. Some of that is considered a break from training, some of that is punishment, some of it just the Army. The rule here is do not volunteer for anything extra. In the Army, extra chores come naturally to those who simply wait.

Do try to learn the rules. That can save you so much trouble. What will impress the D.I.'s is someone who can fold clothing properly, make a bed to standards, and do the other things needed to pass company inspection. At first no one will be satisfactory, but towards the end of training if you are one of the elite who can follow the rules, the negative focus will shift towards those who can't. You do not want to be one of those.

The parts of basic training that will have some practical value--beyond learning the instinctive skills of saluting, marching, and standing in line--have everything to do with weapons. Hand to hand combat training and bayonet skills are taught, but not at a level that has much real application. Army hand to hand favors large people over small people, and if you aren't large it isn't likely to do you much good in a fight. Most bases do have classes available in martial arts which you can attend on your own time and probably at your own expense, and if you want to learn to fight you probably should do that, after basic is finished. The American Army favors weaponry, and you should definitely pay attention to weapons training. You'll be expected to know the basics, and if you haven't mastered them there many not be much chance to catch up later, when you may have a military specialty that isn't weapons based. Learn all you can in basic.

Soldiers I have met from other Armies, like South Korea and Thailand and Vietnam, have very little respect for the hand to hand fighting ability of American soldiers. From what I've read, that's a fairly widespread point of view. Individuals may excel, but as a group the American Army does not. The American Army is based upon technology, not fists. These same foreign soldiers have a great respect for America's technological ability, and really do envy the quality and variety of our toys. Learn them well.

The truly amazing thing about the basic training process is that it does work. Hardly anyone washes out. The system is not in place to eliminate people, because the Army is an unpleasant place that runs on bodies. In spite of that need, you'll likely be hard pressed to make it through. It tests everyone. Whether it does what the common folklore says, and makes a real man of every man or woman who goes through it, I doubt. Fundamentally you'll be unchanged, but you'll be on the other side of basic training. That separates you from the rest of the human population that never had to do that, and that is a true chasm that will never be closed.

If you're serious about being in the military, realize that basic is just that, very basic training.  You get minimal instruction in critical skills like orienteering and survival, and unless you qualify for elite training later on you probably won't get much more than that.  No matter what MOS you have, those things could be important.  Take some initiative and learn them on your own.

Basic takes people and runs them through the system like raw meat through a grinder. You don't need to do anything to prepare for it beyond getting off the bus. Don't do any of those things I said not to do. I did them. I know what happens.

I wish you luck.