Here are 8 things you don't miss about basic training

Here are 8 things you don’t miss about basic training

For anyone who's been through it, recruit training (or boot camp or whatever your service calls it) conjures up memories of hard work, new life lessons and a real sense of accomplishment. But while the reward at the end of the experience…

By Alex Licea

Updated on Oct 22, 2020

For anyone who’s been through it, recruit training (or boot camp or whatever your service calls it) conjures up memories of hard work, new life lessons and a real sense of accomplishment.

But while the reward at the end of the experience seems worth it when it’s over, a lot of boot camp just plain sucks.

So here are eight things you surely don’t miss about basic training.

1. Losing sleep

The days of sleeping until noon are over. Getting up at 0400 or 0500 every morning is the norm. At times, trainees only get four hours of sleep due to night training events. Eventually, recruits learn to take “power naps” during moments of downtime to make up for the lack of sleep.

But don’t get caught. Recruits run in place during an incentive training session March 5, 2015, on Parris Island, S.C. Incentive training consists of physical exercises administered in a controlled and deliberate manner and is used to correct minor disciplinary infractions, such as falling asleep in class. (Photo by Sgt. Jennifer Schubert)

2. Eating in a hurry

During basic training, you have mere minutes to eat your food. This is where the old saying of “eat your chow in a hurry, you’ll taste it later” earns its meaning.

U.S. Navy recruits eat lunch in the galley of the USS Triton barracks at Recruit Training Command, the Navy’s only boot camp, Oct. 31, 2012.. (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom)

3. Fire Guard

You are sleeping comfortably following a long day of training when suddenly a fellow trainee wakes you up and tells you “it’s your turn for fire guard.”

It’s 0200, you walk around the barracks or sit at a desk while making sure the doors are secure and everyone is accounted for is part of military conditioning during training.

On fire guard, you must also be alert because drill sergeants could show up at any time to make sure guards are not sleeping on duty. They may even ask you some military questions or ask you to recite your general orders.

4. Running everywhere

United States Air Force basic trainees from the 323rd Training Squadron run in formation during morning physical training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, April 8, 2015. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Trevor Tiernan)

Some days you may have felt like Forrest Gump because at boot camp you “just kept running” everywhere you went. “Double time” is a way of life.

5. Buffing floors

It feels like trainees should earn a special badge for the number of times they buff the floors during basic training. The sad part is those floors only stay clean for about a half day.

6. Doing push-ups

Petty Officer 1st Class Stephen Luedecke, a company commander at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., motivates a recruit through incentive training, July 31, 2013. (Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Donnie Brzuska)

Doing hundreds of push-ups every day will make you stronger. However, at some point your arms will feel like they are going to fall off.

7. The gas chamber

Recruits of Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, break the seals on their gas masks while in the gas chamber Aug. 25, 2015, on Parris Island, S.C. (Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Jennifer Schubert)

I don’t think anyone misses the feeling of choking, thinking your eyes are coming out of their sockets and mucus flowing out of your nose.

8. Getting yelled at all day long

A U.S. Marine drill instructor motivates recruits with Alpha Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, as they perform knee-striking drills during the Crucible at Parris Island, S.C., Dec. 3, 2015. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jamal D.Sutter)

After finishing boot camp, you’ll appreciate having a conversation with someone who isn’t 1 inch from your face and screaming in your ear.

Tell us what you don’t miss from basic training/boot camp in the comments section below.

Follow Alex Licea on Twitter @alexlicea82

Summary

For anyone who’s been through it, recruit training (or boot camp or whatever your service calls it) conjures up memories of hard work, new life lessons and a real sense of accomplishment. But while the reward at the end of the experience seems worth it when it’s over, a lot of boot camp just plain […]