Done with basic training HOOAH!

[tryin2gain]

Hello guys and gals, I hope someone remembers me, or at least my avatar. I graduated on thursday, and was left Ft Benning on friday. I am now at Ft Gordon which is right next to Augusta Georgia. Right now I am on pass for my first weekend, so of course I found a computer with the internet and hopped on. Lucky for me the library computers are free and one of the sites they dont block is BB4U. But if I want to access anything like facebook or myspace I have to pay rediculous amounts of money at the IET rec center.

So as of now, I am back in a limited sense. I will be in the field training for a week starting wednesday. But after that it sounds like I will actually have free time on the weekends and stuff. Even better, I get to use my cell phone during personal time .

Im sure I missed a lot while i was gone, but I might eventually become a productive member here again. I still need to ask my drill sergeant about working out at one of the gyms on base. But I was told not to ask them any questions for the first few weeks. No worries, I will be here at least until January, if not longer. Word around the barracks is classes often over fill and so people get pushed back and end up waiting 1-2 months just to get into their classes. But im army reserve, and so we usually get slots over active army guys.

I suppose I could talk about basic training a little bit. Even though im a skinny guy, i ended up loosing a bit of weight. I got sick right off the bat because of living with 60 other guys in one room. But eventually i got better and my appetite increased. But i know i lost some upper body strength and some size on my arms and shoulders.

Pretty much all of the training was endurance. Very little strength/size training is involved. One thing we did a lot was core workouts. We did a lot of sit-up variations, as well as flutter kicks and leg lifts. We also did a lot of cardiovascular training. On my first PT test i ran a 16 minute 2 mile. On the last one i ran it in 14 minutes, so Im happy with my progress. Hopefully while im here at Gordon i can max out my PT test with push ups and sit ups.

Diet was very lacking here. Every morning we had scrambled eggs with either bacon, sausage, or biscuit and gravy. Then you could get french toast, waffles, or pancakes with syrup, a piece of fruit, and maybe a bowl of cereal. Not exactly the ideal health breakfast.

Lunch and dinner always consisted of a meat product with some starch. Either mixed like chili mac, or seperate like beef and noodles. They also had rice available. With every meal we were required to have a piece of fruit, usually an apple or pear. Sometimes they had oranges and bananas.

As for drinks, water water and more water. We also were required to have a glass of powerade with every meal. But we had canteens on us at all times, and were required to wear ogden cords with knots in them to represent how many canteens we had that day. We needed to drink 8-12 per day, especially if we were in the field training. It was HOT down at fort benning. It was very rare to see the temperature drop below 90 degrees during the day. It would also rain for brief periods and then heat up again, so the humidity was always high.

Thats about all i have right now. I can answer questions if you have them, I should be able to check back on this topic at a later date. I might even be able to get back on later tonight, it all depends on if i have free time later today and if the library is open.

Go hard or go home.
-Tryin2gain

[Hannainnc]

welcome back! glad you made it through okay. Where are you going to be stationed? What MOS are you in?

[howardalex]

hey they may not eat healthily but I guess you're gonna be spending so much time doing physical activities you'll burn it all

sounds like you're gonna enjoy it, hope you do! Alex

[NiteHawk]

Congrats my friend. I wish you the best.

[B4n3 0n3]

Glad your back! That sucks about those workouts though what do they want a bunch of puny soldiers with no muscle exept for abs?

[howardalex]

hey I just thought of this the other way - you're gonna get to eat nice food all the time and they're gonna keep you so busy that you burn it off...

damn I'm drooling thinking about pancakes with syrup for breakfast!

[USMC102703]

Originally Posted by tryin2gain

Hello guys and gals, I hope someone remembers me, or at least my avatar. I graduated on thursday, and was left Ft Benning on friday. I am now at Ft Gordon which is right next to Augusta Georgia. Right now I am on pass for my first weekend, so of course I found a computer with the internet and hopped on. Lucky for me the library computers are free and one of the sites they dont block is BB4U. But if I want to access anything like facebook or myspace I have to pay rediculous amounts of money at the IET rec center.

So as of now, I am back in a limited sense. I will be in the field training for a week starting wednesday. But after that it sounds like I will actually have free time on the weekends and stuff. Even better, I get to use my cell phone during personal time .

Im sure I missed a lot while i was gone, but I might eventually become a productive member here again. I still need to ask my drill sergeant about working out at one of the gyms on base. But I was told not to ask them any questions for the first few weeks. No worries, I will be here at least until January, if not longer. Word around the barracks is classes often over fill and so people get pushed back and end up waiting 1-2 months just to get into their classes. But im army reserve, and so we usually get slots over active army guys.

I suppose I could talk about basic training a little bit. Even though im a skinny guy, i ended up loosing a bit of weight. I got sick right off the bat because of living with 60 other guys in one room. But eventually i got better and my appetite increased. But i know i lost some upper body strength and some size on my arms and shoulders.

Pretty much all of the training was endurance. Very little strength/size training is involved. One thing we did a lot was core workouts. We did a lot of sit-up variations, as well as flutter kicks and leg lifts. We also did a lot of cardiovascular training. On my first PT test i ran a 16 minute 2 mile. On the last one i ran it in 14 minutes, so Im happy with my progress. Hopefully while im here at Gordon i can max out my PT test with push ups and sit ups.

Diet was very lacking here. Every morning we had scrambled eggs with either bacon, sausage, or biscuit and gravy. Then you could get french toast, waffles, or pancakes with syrup, a piece of fruit, and maybe a bowl of cereal. Not exactly the ideal health breakfast.

Lunch and dinner always consisted of a meat product with some starch. Either mixed like chili mac, or seperate like beef and noodles. They also had rice available. With every meal we were required to have a piece of fruit, usually an apple or pear. Sometimes they had oranges and bananas.

As for drinks, water water and more water. We also were required to have a glass of powerade with every meal. But we had canteens on us at all times, and were required to wear ogden cords with knots in them to represent how many canteens we had that day. We needed to drink 8-12 per day, especially if we were in the field training. It was HOT down at fort benning. It was very rare to see the temperature drop below 90 degrees during the day. It would also rain for brief periods and then heat up again, so the humidity was always high.

Thats about all i have right now. I can answer questions if you have them, I should be able to check back on this topic at a later date. I might even be able to get back on later tonight, it all depends on if i have free time later today and if the library is open.

Go hard or go home.
-Tryin2gain

congrats sir!

it musta been hotter then hell at benning.

[tryin2gain]

Sorry i kinda dissapeared again. I spent a week in the field at a simulated forward operating base. I learned a lot about what i can expect if i get deployed and a lot about my MOS.

My MOS is 25B, information systems operator. From what ive heard from my NCO's, its a lot of networking and systems administration.

Once im out of training i should be able to hit the weights again. A lot of the NCO's i talked to said they lifted a lot overseas and most got pretty big. But the army PT is all about endurance, which you need in the army.

Im still settling in here. I have a little free time today because our barracks are being inspected by the Command Sergeant Major, and so they told all the privates to clear out when we got done cleaning. I should have some time on the weekends too, so hopefully ill post on the weekends still. Eventually ill reach phase 5 and have more freetime. I might get a PSP to take advantage of the internet capabilities it has. My company doesnt allow laptops or pda's, so thats pretty much the best chance ive got.

Hope to chat more soon, take care for now.

[PhiSigPhi]

Hey man congrats...

That was me over 5 years ago haha...

Yeah you get to eat alot. For breakfast alone I would eat cereal, milk, powerade, grits, hasbrowns, eggs, pancakes, and fruit...that was just breakfast lol.


Congrats on the run time! Use your time there to get your time below 13. B4 AIT I was runnin about the same as you. By the end, I ran a 12:07! It can be done, just push yourself.

Im currently over in Iraq, so if you or your guys want to know whats goin on, just let me know.

And dont get a PSP. They suck. I got rid of mine shortly after arriving here =P Internet capabilities are **** also.
-Zach

[NiteHawk]

Glad to hear you are doing good. Thanks for keeping us updated.