EMAILS, Comments, and Questions

Friday, April 18, 2008 3:17 PM

Hey,
 
Thank you for your website on WTC. I have boundlessly searched the web for anything on White Sand and WTC and came up with pretty much nothing except what the Army says the training will be like... I am prior service Navy, so I know not to put to much stock into what the government says something will be like. lol. I will be enlisting for the Army after my physical in a few weeks.
 
Anyways I had a few questions if you don't mind helping a "shipmate" out. I am in pretty bad shape right now, and I need to PT like crazy, I know. Could you let me in on the PT regiment that you used before leaving, or what you'd recommend for a guy who has slightly let himself go to seed?
 
Also is it like boot camp at indoc where they yell and scream at you till you spin around in circles? I mean to say, is this going to be like P Days all over again? (P-Days are processing days, i'm not sure if the Army lingo is the same, sorry) Where you are broken down and deprived of all sleep for the first week-
 
And any additional info that you may find valuable would be received that way by me. I am in the dark here, and I have probably not much time to bust my sorry ass into shape before I suck it up and roll with the soldiers, I want to make sure I will be able to physically do this... Mentally I am already there.
 
Thanks a lot, your advice will be looked forward to.
 
Best,
David Yankovich (IS2)

ANSWER:

David, first of all thank you for choosing to go back into service for our country! It's not an easy choice to make - and an even tougher one to fulfill!  As a former squid, myself, I'll tell you to leave your pre-conceived notions behind.  Sergeants are not like Petty Officers.  Every Petty Officer I worked with was a bit of a buddy, kind of like a big brother who was set on helping you up the ladder of advancement.  Sergeants are (for the most part) more like a boss at work or a mini Drill Instructor.... they don't let you forget that there's a difference between the number of stripes on your sleeve and his.  Nothing against the Army, it's just a different way of working.

I can't express strongly enough how you need to get in shape!  for the push-ups and sit-ups, the thing that works/worked for me is every morning push out as many as you can without stopping, even if it's 10, 15, or whatever.  During the PT test, you will get your most PU's and SU's in that initial burst out of the gate.  After you stop and rest, each SU or PU is twice as hard to push out, so it's better to just crank out as many as you can in your initial set.  Try to go at least 45 seconds straight without stopping.  Then take it to a minute, a minute and 15 seconds... etc...   As far as the run... there really is no shortcut to running except to run.  Run around your block, run around a nearby park.  Run/walk.. run as hard as you can for as long as you can, brisk walk or power jog... do whatever you need to do, but get your legs moving and get used to running, that's the only way.

Ft. Sill is not quite as bad as P-Days... depends on the Drill Instructor who is with you that day (The DI's rotate as to who will handle you that day).  It's not QUITE as bad as boot, but you certainly will have a few flashbacks from Great Mistakes, Club Diego or Orlando... depending on where you went to boot.  Just take a deep breath and roll with it and you'll be fine.

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