Our little Toby is all growed up, and off to the military he goes. Seeings how this will be a new experience for him, I was thinking that some pointers from those of us that have been through it might be a good thing. You know give him a heads up so to say. I'll start.
There will be lots of yelling, it is not personal.
Be where you are suppose to be when you are suppose to be, and it never hurts to be early.
Paste Wax for floors is your friend, screw that liquid stuff they tell you to use. You will never get a shine out of it. BTW, Ammonia is the best floor striper in town. If you can't get away with Paste Wax, use nuetral shoe polish. Just put a little X with the polish on each square as the guy behind you runs the buffer. Don't get too far ahead, the stuff drys quickly then you will just have shinny X's
Make sure that you give your address to all the people that you know, so that they can send care packages. Cookies, candy, cigarettes (if you smoke), etc, all the things that you will not be seeing in a long while and will be craving.
Buy liquid laundry detergent at the reception station before you get sent to your unit. You will need it and the shopping trips are not a luxury that you will have. Liquid is easier to clean up off the machines then powdered. AND, yes, you will be cleaning those too!
ATTENTION TO DETAIL!!!!!! You can never do anything too good so try harder at every task!
Hey Photo, what do they call the instructors int he navy?? I know when I went to Army Basic, the drill Sgts at reception told us that we had to call the drill sgts at our company "Drill SGT of the Year" because the company had one some award. But the joke was on us when we got there and started calling them that. What do they call them in the navy??
Toby, Do as you're told, When you're told, Where you're told and How you're told. The instructors hate smartasses. Don't jump the gun, so to speak. The instructors may have a different method that they want you to follow. Get used to being yelled at, nothing personal but it gets the point across.
Don't ever volunteer for anything, you will regret it if you do.
Get used to doing lots of push-ups. Sometimes they will have the whole unit in front-leaning rest position pumping them out for one persons screw-up.
Get used to doing lots of PT (Physical Training), It will help raise your stamina. Since you will be in the Navy, be prepared to swim your ass off.
If you are religious, go to a Christian Book Store and get yourself some pocket sized Scriptures. They will come in handy. You will get the opportunity to go to Church on Sunday. A good way to get out of cleaning the Barracks for a while at least is to go to Church.
Don't dilly dally in the mess hall. We had 15 minutes to eat cause they had to run our whole battalion through one mess hall.
If I'm not mistaken, they did'nt let us use the exchange until our 4th week.
And follow everything that USA has said.
__________________
There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those that make things happen.
Those that watch things happen.
Those that wonder what happened.
Which one are you?
When I was in Army Basic we had to address our instructors by rank and last name. We had to know our ranks inside and out like the back of our hands. Heaven forbid if you make the mistake of addressing someone by the wrong rank and demote them. Can you say Front Leaning Rest Position, Move.
-- Edited by CTR man at 23:02, 2006-05-31
__________________
There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those that make things happen.
Those that watch things happen.
Those that wonder what happened.
Which one are you?
We had to have our bunks made so tight that you could bounce a Quarter off of them. Navy probably calls them racks.
__________________
There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those that make things happen.
Those that watch things happen.
Those that wonder what happened.
Which one are you?
Oh, and Toby, I will see if I can put you in touch with Big Daddy, the guy I had you talk to awhile back, to see if he has anything to add to this thread. 16 yrs Marine, 10 yrs Navy. I'd say he knows his stuff.
__________________
There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those that make things happen.
Those that watch things happen.
Those that wonder what happened.
Which one are you?
oh yes, you must always satisfy the monkey. 
