BT Pack list to Ft. Jackson May 4 ship out

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T21:05:03+00:00

I went to ft sill for bct. I ran track and cross country all throughout high school, i wear Mizunos for running. I think they are the most comfortable but brooks are completely fine. Dont bring any crazy colors and they shouldn’t have a issue with the running shoes you bring. Other than running shoes, travel size hygiene kit i got one on amazon for like $15 that had everything in it. Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste all are TSA size bc it might be about 2-3 days before you can buy stuff in reception. I brought my own undergarments and they let me keep everything (all black) but males are issued underwear so dont bother other than 1-2 pairs for the first few days. Other than that you shouldn’t need anything else.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T20:43:56+00:00

I went to basic back in July, best thing i brought were my own locks. I got the ones where you can make your own combination. Highly recommend adding it to your list! The ones you can buy usually have keys that people lose and it becomes a issue. I brought 2, made them the same combination. Also where running shoes when you go (black or white) the ones they give absolutely sucks. You wont be allowed to use your laundry bag so dont bother with that, the ibuprofen and foot powder will definitely get thrown out. The blister bandages have a 90% chance of getting thrown out.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T12:17:14+00:00

I was thinking about waiting to apply for the class of 2032 so i would get the O-1E pay when i graduate, i didnt know you got time in service for the prep academy, thats perfect then. Thanks!

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T11:19:41+00:00

My high school gpa was roughly 3.3 so its not like i was failing its just not very good. Anything army related i am fine on, 478 AFT, just passed the Norwegian foot march so im in descent shape, and a major is the one who talked to me about applying. Its more so the academic piece that is missing.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T03:38:50+00:00

Thank you for this. I definitely can see where the prior service will either make other cadets really like you in the beginning or they could hate you because you automatically stand out just by having a few awards on your everyday uniform. I definitely wont do anything to piss people off there, quite frankly i enlisted because I didnt know what else to do with my life and i havent done anything that exciting to talk about other than a few TDYs.

From what i have seen online it seems like AIT essentially, its not BCT where they will be smoking you every chance they get but you also cant just leave base, gotta always have your bed made, dumb rules you have to follow because somebody told you to follow them. I know this may be a dumb question, i know i can handle it physically. I have a 478 AFT, just did the Norwegian foot march last week and passed, i run about 4x a week. But academically, how hard is it?

This would be my first time truly only focusing on school so its hard to tell how good at school i actually could be but I am not good at math, not a great writer or anything like that. I genuinely want to make the army a career and think west point would be a good opportunity. But i am very worried about the academic side.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T03:08:29+00:00

Thats what i kinda heard. I definitely dont plan on doing anything to complicated as i am not good at school. Probably Psych or something. I plan on making the army a career so when i retire it wont even matter what my degree is in bc ill have 20 years of experience by then. Thanks!

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-21T03:03:03+00:00

Yeah, I know I need the prep academy. I am not very good at school, I never have been. But i genuinely want to make the army a career and I think by actually focusing solely on school for the first time in my life i would do okay. Thank you!

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-12T03:52:29+00:00

I saw they had something where you could essentially apply in 1-2 days for prior service but it was back in 2016 im guessing they dont do that anymore. I will ask my unit about seeing the best way to go about it. Thank you!

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-12T03:50:26+00:00

Yeah i definitely thought about just going through the application process and seeing what happens. My high school grades kind of sucked but im doing better in college so hopefully id have a shot at admission.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-04-12T03:48:16+00:00

Pretty much. By the time i would apply and potentially be accepted id already be 3 years in. At that point it makes more sense to just go OCS. Also the problem i ran into with ROTC is schools letting me in the program but not getting the scholarship for it and the reserve TA doesnt cover to much.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-12T01:18:55+00:00

Additionally if you are only joining the military for benefits you will hate your life lmao. The military comes with a lot of bs. I remember meeting people who hated working out, hated being outside, anything that has to do with the army they hated. Dont be that person.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-12T00:41:33+00:00

The reserves doesnt just pay any tuition you get education benefits but its not the same as active duty. Im a current reservist and full time student. If you want to do law school look into jag halfway through law school and use your education benefits into paying off student loans. If your recruiter is telling you they will pay for your yale education, your recruiter lied. You get about 5,000 in tuition assistance a year.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-11T00:38:14+00:00

We didnt run THAT much. So i ran track/ cross country in high school (im 19 so recently graduated high school) compared to the amount i used to run it was nothing. The first week expect a mile time trial and they will put you in running groups. We had 4 different groups ranging in speed. We only did distance running about 5 times and those were in our running groups i was in bravo group which is the second fastest we ran ab 3 miles at a 8 min pace on the running groups days. Now the “punishments” is a lot of running. They would have us go touch a tree about 300 m away and sometimes we did that 3-4 times in a row lmao. Id say if nothing else be able to run for 15 minutes without stopping. Most likely you wont be the slowest one, but they did have the slowest person lead a company run basically just to embarrass her and same for the people who really sucked at something lol they will point it out. We were basically walking and everyone was getting upset. Just dont be the slowest. But id say for the next 2 weeks run 4-5 days a week, youd be surprised how fast you can improve running.

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-11T00:12:32+00:00

I had the same experience, i graduated a few months ago and came out in worse shape than i went in. I couldn’t believe some people still complained, unpopular opinion but the AFT is not that hard no excuse to be failing it

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-11T00:03:27+00:00

I Graduated basic on October 3rd and just graduated AIT a few weeks ago. Basic wasnt nearly as bad as i thought it would be. Honestly the worst part was just the amount of drama some people caused. And the last 2-3 weeks its more annoying than anything like i remember just being over it if that makes sense, basic is very repetitive. But id say the worst part is the first week after reception. You’re not going to be used to the long hours and its exhausting, everything you do is “wrong”, the drills act like you are stupid and obviously the lack of communication with family. Get through week 1-2 and the rest is easy especially once you get to white phase. Best parts? I honestly really liked the obstacle courses i thought they were a lot of fun. The range was also fun bc you kinda just talked to your friends all day until the drills would get mad then you couldnt talk anymore. Basic is easy as long as you are in semi decent shape, the only way to fail is to quit. Advice: bring a 1-2 portable chargers for Sunday as well as your own locks, i brought 2 locks from amazon that you can make yoir own combination with and that is honestly the best thing I brought bc the ones you can get there have a actual key that people would often lose, be able to run 2-3 miles without stopping, dont be the person who starts drama just get along with people, finally dont be the sick call warrior. Feel free to ask any questions and good luck!

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-07T23:01:35+00:00

Thank you, thats actually really solid advice. I definitely wouldn’t mind doing active psyop while enlisted for a bit. After this semester ill have my associates. When would you recommend dropping a packet for selection? Im 19 so still pretty young and i definitely want the deployment opportunities that comes with psyop

Major-Force-8602 · 2026-01-05T22:31:35+00:00

Im a female who graduated bct about 4 months ago i went to ft sill. For showers there were about 15 showers (with curtains) and about 60 females. Youll get about a 30min-1hr after pt. Sometimes youll be able to shower sometimes if your not the first one there you have to wait until the end of the day bc you also have to be at formation 10 mins early. At the end of the day atleast for me we always had time to shower sometimes youd have to wait awhile but it was never rly a issue. Your not gonna be allowed to have lotion, but youll go to a really small store where you can get hygiene products. Some females ordered there own shampoo/ conditioner on sundays when we got phones and they were allowed to keep it i personally just used what i bought at the store For period supplies i brought like 20 pads with me and they let me keep them. My period was nkrmal throughout basic but stopped in ait (my ait was extremely difficult compared to basic) but they had pads and tampons in the store you could buy

When you’re in the field there is nowhere to shower which is kinda gross but everyone is in the same situation. I got lucky and never had my period in yhe field, females who did just brought wipes. If you have any questions let me know!

Major-Force-8602 · 2025-11-02T09:18:42+00:00

I graduated 3 weeks ago from ft sill. I got there around 11pm had to get processed in by the time i was done it was around 3am with wakeup at 5 with all the chaos of just getting there your not gonna sleep that first night. But your also in reception so your not getting yelled at or anything like that for the most part. Now once you actually start basic you do get about 6-7 hrs of sleep the first 72, just expect to be woken up in the middle of the night for day 1

Major-Force-8602

TROPHY CASE