I'm 17, turning 18 in about a month, and about to sign up in the Army (probably as infantry). Since I know a lot of you have already been through the military, I'm hoping you could tell me if I'm phsyically ready for basic: I go to the gym at least 5 days a week to lift weights, I can do at least 120 GOOD push-ups (and 200 bad/fast ones), at least 20 pull-ups, about 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes, the most I've jogged is 65 minutes straight, and can run 6:30-7:30 minute miles (depending on how I feel).
I'm not trying to brag, and I'm not lying, but I would really appreciate an honest answer. I was also kinda hoping Ranger School would not be out of the question. Anything else I should be doing to prepare myself? Thanks to all who reply...

Looks like you're in pretty good shape. I would work on wind sprints, and try to bring your run time down a touch. Are you doing dead-hang pull ups?

Jarhead_22,
Yes, they're dead hang. I can do about the same amount with palms facing as palms outwards. The most I've done was 23 pull-ups in front of the Marine recruiter for the pull-up challenge at the state fair. Now I'm doing weighted pull-ups to bring up that number. Thanks...

    Ditto on what everyone else said, many get to basic only scoring in the one hundreds on the PT test. Sounds like physically you're good to go. The toughest part of basic is the psychological bs they play, if you go infantry expect to not use a phone for oh, the first 2 months, all showers under 45 seconds for the first eight weeks, no caffeine for the duration, stuff like that. If you can handle the mental games it's not too hard and you'll eventually have good memories of the place.
   All this will vary depending on where you go for basic. There is incredible variance just from platoon to platoon in each company as far as what freedoms you have and such. Some platoons get babied and some get the maggot treatment. And it does show when you get to your assigned unit.


    As far as Ranger school goes, the usual way is to do jump school after OSUT, then the 3 week RIP program(Ranger Indoctrination Program methinks ) and if you complete all that, you go to one of the Ranger Battalions. After being there for a while you will eventually get to Ranger school. But if you go regular leg or airborne inf. it won't be too long , if you're a decent soldier, that your chain of command will be pushing you to do Ranger school anyway. It is probably the most important school for an infantryman to do if he wants to have a good career.
     One thing to think about, if you get a "Ranger Contract" and wash out of RIP (quite a few do) you become "needs of the Army" and have a good chance of being a leg in Korea, Ft. Wainwright , Alaska (Fairbanks/ shithole)  or some other less than desirable locale.  Good luck and hope this helped.

If you do not enjoy running then learn to enjoy it. If you do enjoy running then learn to enjoy it even more. You need to get your one mile times as low as possible, especially while you are young. Set goals for yourself and try to continuously shave a little more time off your average mile time. Start running long distance of 5 or more miles at a time and teach yourself to pace an average mile time. Once you start running a consistent one mile pace then start working on getting that pace time lower. You need to learn how to pace and control your breathing and build your endurance both for long distance and short distance for your PT tests. I can not stress how important the running is.
There are many benefits also from the running, such as improving your breath control and heart rate for shooting, makes the marches a lot easier especially with your gear, and the conditioning just might one day save your own life or somebody else's life.
I was also stationed many places where we ran a minimum of 5 miles for PT every work morning.
Learn to love it.
Good Luck J_MONEY. GO ARMY!

Hmmm.....sit back and crack open an ice cold beer!!!
My friend you are in excellent shape!!!

MAKE SURE YOU GET WANT YOU WANT!!!

What I mean is when you go to the MEPS center to actually get your physical and sign up, the guy is going to sit down with you at a computer terminal and ask you what you want to do. He is going to try and talk you into whatever the ARMY needs people for. When I enlisted they tried talking me into Armour. I said nope, I want Airborne Infantry with a direct attachment to the 82nd Airborne division. He said, "No way, can't do it" I said ok and started to get up.... and he said "Hold on"....made a phone call and printed out my orders, MOS 11x with Airborne school, and first duty station of Fort Bragg NC.

The only thing he couldn't guarantee is 11B, which is straight infantry, when you get to FT. Benning GA. they assign some guys to be mortar rats, and 60 gunners etc. hence the designation "X" in the contract. "X" is not a job, it means that portion is open to army needs.

You can also get A shot at Ranger school guaranteed in writing...if you are thinking of becoming a Ranger do it now. Once you get through basic and are assigned to a unit, even the 82nd, you will have to be put on a waiting list to get a shot at Ranger school. If you make it part of your contract, then you get assigned to a Ranger battalion after basic while you wait for school.

Good luck buddy, and remember 90% is mental.

Sounds like you shouldn't have any problems on the PT tests, but just know that your excellent physical condition won't help you very much when you're getting smoked by the drills for someone's fuckup - an hour of pushups, mountain climbers, dying cockroaches, etc, will do you in. I'd have to say that the single most important thing to remember is DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONAL! For example, the drills will stop the formation on PT runs and smoke you mercilessly because you're not sounding off loud enough - you could be singing so loud that the drills' ears are bleeding, and they'd still do it. Basic training is 90% mental and 10% physical, I wasn't in very good physical shape when I went, and I made it through with no problems.

[insert evil laugh, the young one things he's ready...Just kidding.]
And, certainly don't even ever think of coming close to bragging or showing off in front of your DI.  You will be put in your place.  I don't care if you can do more pushups, more situps, and run faster than anyone else, they will find something you can't do.  How well do you do situps after running hard?  Have you tried running with a heavy pack?  Have you tried running as fast as you can until you throw-up?  What kind of surface are you running on?  Having to run downhill was my (literal) downfall.  My tibialis anterior muscles were weak when I joined.  Your weaknesses will be found.  They will be eliminated.z

Damn I wish I was 18 again. Enjoy it, it'll be over soon.

Join the Air Force, instead.  It's a more comfortable life.  Hardship will be when the cable goes out or the air conditioner goes on the fritz.

Strong people join the Marines.
People who like to run a lot joing the Army.
People who like to get drowned during basic training join the Navy.
Smart people who want to live well join the Air Force.

My choice for an enlisted job in the Air Force would be refueling boom operator on a tanker. Not a complex task, but it takes skill, and you get to lie down on the job and pass gas while officers chauffer you around the sky.  And the view out the boom compartment is INCREDIBLE.
If you like to fly, it's one of the coolest enlisted jobs.  If you like planes, it's even better, because every plane in the Air Force will come to visit you for a fill-up.


Physically, you're more than capable as of now. You will have an easier time with the physical part of basic training than some people, but your instructors WILL provide you with a challenge nonetheless.  If you can crank out a thousand perfect pushups, they'll make you crank out 1200 and they'll tell you that's not good enough.    But if you can't manage ONE pushup when you first start, and you can do 50 by the end of basic, you'll pass.    The point is to do as you're told and make progress, nothing else.

You're raw materials.  They'll make a soldier/sailor/airman/marine out of you if you bring the motivation to succeed, and they won't give up on you as long as you're giving it your best.

CJ

Zoom,
When I run long distances I run around through neighborhoods, with huge uphills and steep downhills. I also sometimes run through the woods. When I do a timed run I go to the track at the high school. Just last night I ran a 6.12 minute mile. That was after I ate and I felt pretty crappy afterwards.
I was thinking about Marines for a LONG time, but the recruiters around here really turned me off of the USMC because they would call EVERY day and come to my house to get me to sign up with my parents. And my whole family's always been Army so I want to continue the tradtion. Thank you all for helping!

I worked on getting into decent shape before I joined the Marine Corp.  I went in being able to do about 15 pull-ups and 70 sit-ups in two min.  Not long after I was in basic training, I was so torn down I could just muster about 4 pull-ups.  After that though, I came back up to twenty.  I dont know if it was normal or not, but it is something to think about.  Dont let it get you down if you backslide a little.  It will come back.

What garheadjr sort of referred to, but nobody that I've EVER seen before has, is that there's the pushups you do on the outside, and there's the pushups you do when you're there.

If you really want to be ready for basic then you've taken a good first step, but now you need to take it to the next level.  Start going to bed at midnight, set your alarm for 0500, get you self out of bed immediately after the alarm goes off, get showered shaved and dressed immediately, start walking anywhere you need to go that is less than 5 miles away.  This will get you ready, but it'll be even harder in basic because you'll be pulling guard duty for a half hour or so during that 5 hours of sleep you're allowing yourself.  The sleep deprivation until your body adjusts to the new routine is going to make it much harder to perform.

As for the pushups, doing a lot of them is great but you're not doing them the right way.  Try doing them in sets of 50, but pause for several seconds on the down and up positions.  You're body had better be off the deck when you're in the down position and I need to emphasize the several seconds.  

And after you've done all that, you need to understand that it has little or nothing with how difficult basic training is for you.  The instructors in basic training have years of experience and training that makes them expert at taking arrogant pieces of shit like you, who think you can get yourself in shape for the military on their own, and making it as difficult as possible.  

If you took that last sentence personally, then that's something else you will need to work on.  You're going to be hearing much worse for the first several weeks you are in basic as they break you down into component parts before molding you into a fighting machine.  If what they are doing doesn't seem like it is taxing enough for you they will find a way of making it harder.  This is how the factory works, and it works very well.

What?  We usually got plenty of sleep (with a few major exceptions).  We were just made to think we didn't since we got up so early, but we went to bed early enough to more than make-up the difference.  Most of the guys just didn't realize it.  When sunset is at 7:30 PM, and you go to bed an hour later, if you wake-up at 0400, you've still had 7.5 hours of sleep.  If I remember correctly (this was a long time ago), we only trained 15.5 hours a day (leaving 1.5 personal and 7 sleep).   Have things changed that much?z

You can do 120 truly good pushups without stopping??? I've been training for pushups for about 4 months now and can barely do 100 good ones without stopping.

I was at Ft.Benning in 95, "Lights out" was at 2200 and then you still had to shower, do laundry, shine boots etc. The lights didnt come back on til 0600, but you had better be up,bed made, shaved and ready to go at 0600, add in an hour of fire guard duty in the middle of the night and you get about 5 hours if your lucky, no days off, you train 7 days aweek, the only reprieve you get is if you go to church on sunday, the preacher lets you sleep.


J-Money,

A few more tips.
You will have a green wool blanket on your bed, and another at the foot folded up to cover your pillow during the day. Use the blanket that covers your pillow during the day to sleep under at night. This way you don't have to disrupt your entire bed while sleeping, just wake up and tighten everything up, then refold your blanket, saves a ton of time.

Also do not tighten your boots tight at the top, your ankles and calves will swell during road marches and if your boots are tight it will cut off your circualtion.

Do not tighten your LBE belt tight either, use your suspenders/straps to keep your belt up.

Do not lock your knees while in formation, you will pass out!!

Do not put the little powder drink mixes from your MRE's in your canteen, DI's get really pissed about this one.

Do not shave your head before reporting, barber will cut your hair REGARDLESS IF YOU HAVE HAIR OR NOT!!

Wear your rucksack as high up on your shoulders as possible, makes it easier on your back.

Pushups - any variation you can think of.  Do them all!  If you want to go to Ranger School, get ready - they will have you doing the "koala" pushup where the DI's just handed you the regular goodies.  The "koala" is a pushup done in the free handstand position, and will wear you out in a hurry!  Also practise holding "Leaning Rest" (top of the pushup, arms extended,) and "Face Down" or "Five Points" (bottom of pushup - on hands, toes, and nose.)  Assume and hold position as long as possible.  Don't make it look like you've been practising when you get there, but who said only the DI's get to play headgames?

Running - start running with a ruck.  Keep it tight up against your back when you run, and work your way up to caryring 80-90#.  I don't remember what the weight of the reg ruck is anymore, but it's around there or less.  No harm in overtraining - if done properly.

Get ready for fast meals.  We only got a few minutes for mess each time, and the rule is "take all you want, eat all you take."  Know how much you can eat and still exert yourself.  DO NOT leave anything on your plate, and DO NOT get busted with food in your pockets!  And always remember that "Food is Sleep."  You won't get enough sleep, but taking on calories will help make up for that.

Practise ironing and the like now, it will come in handy later.  Also, get REAL good at "boots and brightwork" - you'll do plenty of both...

You already are in good shape PHYSICALLY - so hone yourself MENTALLY and start sorting our your skills.  Still, do not slack of physically, or it will bite you in the ass when you get there...

One other thing you may want to do - get a copy of the Ranger Handbook and start reading it.  DO NOT TAKE IT WITH YOU - your DI does not need to see it!  Instead, start working on things in there, and you will get trained more thoroly if and when.  Even if you don't make it to Benning for Ranger School, a lot of what you learn in there won't go amiss...

Be ready for hazing - not only from your DI, but any OTHER DI that happens by, and when you get to Benning, you will get it from all the RI's there.  It don't end, you are an FNG until you leave!

Hope some of this helps.  I will dredge up what other memories I can...

FFZ
Benning, 5-90

Hoplophile,
Not taken personally. When I say 'good' push-ups, I mean slow. I do slow pull-ups too. I learned that slow w/ good form builds muscle faster than quick and sloppy.

dpilko,
I do push-ups every night before bed and at the gym on my chest workout days. I do at the VERY least 85 slow push-ups every night, but usually pull off 100-125. If I go fast I can get around 200.
I'm also pretty light weight. I only weigh 145+/- lbs so lifting my body weight is easy for me.

FreeFireZone,
80-90 lbs is a lot compared to my body weight, but I'll work at it. I remember reading in "Clear and Present Danger" (by Tom Clancy) that a soldier should only carry 1/3 of his body weight to keep from becoming fatigued. Is this false? It seemed a little low to me.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's advice. It's been REALLY helpful. Every day I'm getting more anxious to sign up!

Nothing against any vets or active servicemen{or women} but u have to be a complete moron to join the armed services, not trying to change your mind but how would u like to be  the dead solider's parents having raised a child only to have to bury that child long before there time,as many americans are doing during this war on terror.                  


                 just my warped mind

p.s. i would think about it long and hard
many of good men before u had the same feelings about the military u have and are no longer alive or able to function in normal soceity,not to mentionthe soldiers that we're used as test subjects like in the gulf war or nam. so just think before u join     peace   4 dead in ohio[>(]

But from your post it looks lke u go to



peace

The MOS book that I looked at when at the recruiter's said something like "...while carrying 65lbs distributed over the body" when describing what infantry do (march, climb ropes, hang from helicopters, etc.) I'd say it's actually closer to 80 for the rifleman, and most likely around 100lbs for a machine gunner or Dragon missile gunner. I'm not sure if the M60 has been replaced 100% by the SAW in line units, if it has then the machine gunner may be down around 90lbs. But, by the time you add flak vest, MG ammo (everyone carries it), radio batteries, chemical detectors/alarms, etc, to your issued gear, it adds up quickly.

kentstate4,
I've wanted to join the military my whole life. I used to dress in camo when I was about five, then started having nerf wars when I was like 10, then paintball when I was 14, and now I have real guns and go shooting. I wrote to the Marine Corps when I was 14 also, and that was when I seriously started to think about the military. Then I started going to recruiters when I was 16. I'm pretty sure my mind's set on this issue.

Aside that, I don't see what makes me a moron. I'm currently on honor roll, I have a 3.36 accumulative GPA, and my parents have money set aside for me to go to college. Unlike a lot of my fellow students, I actually want to serve this country and not just talk sh!t about it.

And since you're mentioning death. Every day of my life, I can easily be hit by a car, killed in an accident w/ a drunk, shot on the streets, or break my neck on my dirt bike. The world isn't safe, and obviously the danger goes up when you're in the military, even still you could be killed hundreds of other ways just as a civilian. I may not want to die, but I'd rather be killed on the battlefield than live the rest of my life like a coward (no offense intended).

Not trying to start a fight, just giving my $.02

Thanks everyone!

Go to college.  You will have opportunities while there and later if you want.

My dad left college for active duty in the 60's.
He didn't go back until a few years after he got out, and says it was tougher after forgetting a lot of what he learned in High School.

Hmmm... reading the post above brings a certain little phrase about "the exertions of better men" to mind.  But in retrospect,  the above post is absolute proof that I did my Duty to preserve Liberty and Freedom in an exceptional manner, for those who so richly deserved it, and also for those who do not.

kentstate4, While I agree that the murder of those 4 students has been covered over by those in power, it does not excuse your abusive reference to Veterans and Service men and women of this country as "complete morons".  I find your comment to be a personal insult and I demand a public apology.  

Moderators, I call your attention to this matter.

not trying to flame anyone, but i was a marine from 71-78. 0311 infantry.
try to get something better. look around and this is what you will see.  a lot of dead white guys!!!!!!! they are the ones getting killed.  the blacks and women get the good jobs that pay big bucks when you get out. yea a few support people die every now and then. but its always the white guy who does most of the fighting.  the infantry, true soldiers etc. are security guards at the places where they pre mentioned preferred people work. that's the truth.  there is nothing waiting for you when you get out, and you can't fry up those medals to feed your family.

J_MONEY, as far as being in good enough shape, you don't have anything to worry about.  If you are set on going Army then more power to ya.  God knows the Army needs some good warriors too!

A really good way to hack a bunch of time from your run is wind sprints.  Operation tempo permitting, I would PT my Marines three days a week.  We would never run less then 3 miles on any PT session.  I always reserved one of those days for wind sprints on a one mile circuit of road with telephone poles every 50 meters.  I would lead the run with a 6 min mile, then let the Marines slow down to a 9 min/mile pace (but no slower, if they did then they were behind me, and you don't want to be dragging ass behind some old Staff Sergeant)for 1 telephone pole interval and then sprint the next interval, sprint, jog, sprint, jog for an additional 3 miles.  I had several Marines who could max the pullups(20) and crunches(100 in 2 min, everybody could do that) and still had enough left over to run 3 miles in under 18 minutes.  Nobody took more then 21 minutes to run 3 miles on a PFT.  From your description of your weight, you should be a rabbit, sub 6 min/mile for 3 miles, sub 5:15 min/mile for 2 miles and that is after pushups/pullups and crunches.  Those are some high standards but they are not impossible, in fact 21 minutes for 3 miles can be done by darn near anyone not suffering from some kind of medical condition.  If you think about world class marathon runners posting 5:15 to 5:30 for 24 miles, it seems rather tame.

Good luck, and thanks for having what it takes to keep us in the graces of Liberty!

Go for it J Money. You only live once. If you don't you will probably regret it when you are older. I support your decision to go into combat arms MOS's, especially 11B. I joined right out of high school. I took the exam and scored high on it. I had already decided in my mind I wanted 11B. The recruiter told me he could get me into any MOS. I said I wanted to go 11B. He was a little visibly shocked. Normally they have to talk people into going 11B.

The Army always needs intelligent grunts. If you go 11B I would go Airborne at the very least. You will end up at 82nd or 101st Airborne Divisions. This will be a good stepping stone if want to go the Ranger route or Special Forces route.

I got lucky in that I did not go to jump school, but I did end up in the 101st Airborne Division. I only enlisted for two years and that's my only regret. My company commander Captain Kastner got me a slot for jump school and all I had to do was extend for at least six months. Stupid me was in such a hurry to go to college and so I  decided to get out.

It was the most action packed two years of my life. I got to be a grunt, go to Air Assault School( a breeze), fly around in Black Hawks and Chinook C-47Ds, carry the M60 machinegun (happiness is a beltfed weapon), go to some cool ranges, meet some good people whom you will be willing to lay your life down for each other.

When you get out you will have matured in some ways that only combat MOS's can. You will have tested your mind and body in ways most people can not understand.

I will say it not all fun and games. You will be extremely sore and tired at times especially coming out of the field after a week or two. You experience weather like most people never will unless you are homeless. The pay is not the best, in fact it ain't good at all. You will spend hours digging a fighting position with a E-Tool (a big spoon)only to leave it hours later sometimes. Sometimes when you are not in the field they will have you doing stupid stuff. They will have you over clean your weapons to the point it becomes boring at times. The worst waste of my talents was having to go on work detail and mow grass. What a waste I was trained to mow down the enemy and I'm mowing grass.

So J Money go for the Infantry there is nothing more honorable than being a front line soldier for your country. Don't let anyone talk you into becoming a REMF they are lower than Whale Poopy. You don't want to say hey I was a truck driver or pencil jockey when you are out of the service. You can do that silly stuff  in the outside world.

No Slack!

I guess our spellchecker program is PC it does not recognize machinegun. Damn English Majors.

Here's the excellent and very apropos quote to which DPeacher referred:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
--John Stuart Mill

When it comes down to "miserable creatures" and "better men," I guess we know where some folks stand, don't we?

If members of our armed forces are "complete morons," what does that make the members of the NYPD, PAPD and FDNY who rushed into shattered, burning buildings on 09.11.01, and for that matter, on any other day?

Semper Fidelis,
Jarhead_22 (just another "complete moron")

DPeacher,
Well I've never been all that fast of a runner but I will definately listen to your advice and work at it. I'm relatively quick for short distances, but when it comes to over 1 mile I need to continue the pace. It's really hard to stay motivated to run when you have to jog by yourself and have no one to push you. It's a pretty feeble excuse I know, but I will try to be consistent.

Although I said I was joining the Army, the Marines still haven't been dropped from my choices for enlistment. When I'm ready to sign up, I'm going to weigh the benefits of both the Army and the USMC and make a final decision. The Army looks more promising as of now, but that might change. As always, thanks again for all your help and I'll try to make you proud!

You know what proves that the nation is in a state of decay, people morn the death of 4 dupes.  So is it wrong to shoot those that provide aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war?  Maybe the useful fools would have thought before helping their nations enemy between bong hits, they wouldn't have been there.

J_MONEY,

From your description, you are in good shape.
You are a little on the small side, which can hurt when it comes to the "Load". But, I know plenty of smaller grunts that carry their load and more.

Having served with several different services, I feel that you may not have weighed your options fully.(I also worked for the Army Recruiting Command for a couple of years)

I tell you this: Go to each services recruiter, and get the best deal you can get. YOUR best deal. Get it in writing BEFORE you sign anything.

You can't enlist to go straight to Rangers, Recon, Special Forces, SEALs etc. Those schools are earned by doing well during your initial time in the specific services.

Also, consider the larger picture. I know that it is difficult to imagine what comes after the service, but try to think of a couple of things that you would like to do "after". Then you may be guided to an MOS that will compliment your choice.

Infantry is not a great life, but being an EOD tech can suck also.....along with any other job, civilian, or military.

"going shooting" is great. However, remember, as with all of your training, the service that you choose will teach you how they want you to do it. I have seen MANY self proclaimed shooters fail during Basic Training because they could'nt do what they were told.

kentstate4, tread lightly. You speak here at the pleasure of several veterans. I take the vomit that you wrote as a personal insult, along with an insult to the other veterans that write here. Don't do it again.

Lew

As others have pointed out, basic training is more than a contest to see who's the biggest PT stud.  If you're already in above average shape, you might want to start focusing on some other areas:

1) Swimming.  Be ready for "water survival training" which involves things like getting dunked while you're fully clothed and carrying 20+ pounds of gear.

2) Drill and ceremony.  Learn the position of attention, how to salute, how to march, and basic rifle drill.

3) Memorization.  Start learning things like enlisted rank structure, the general orders, and all the info in the operator's manual for the M16A2 service rifle.

4) Shouting.  The instructors want you to sound off in a LOUD and confident manner.  Learn how far and how long you can push your voice without hurting yourself.

Good luck!

Actually, Mr. Tippie, (and I know this is going to stir up a WHOLE CAN of shit) the Army is now offering initial enlistment option for 18X.  Provided you can hack, you go to Infantry OSUT, Airborne, then JFKSWCEN for the SFAS and then the Q course.  Fuck up at any point before completing the Q, and you go to a line infantry unit.

QS

I stand corrected.

I'd think you better be a bad dude to make that leap. From the SF guys that I have met.....Q course ain't a walk in the woods.

Lew

Tippie,
I have not put too much thought into life after the military. I'm hoping that I will like military life enough to stay in and make it into a career (retire after 20 yrs!). If not, then I hope to become a police officer. Unlike some teenagers who have their careers already figured out, I'm a little lost as to what to do in life. Hopefully my time in the military will give me time to think about my future.

Thanks everyone!