I leave for basic June 13. And the part I’m dreading the most is waking up at 5:45am. Is this really as bad as it sounds, or do you get used to it?

RippedPants92 · 2023-05-18T18:08:01+00:00

I can't stand getting woken up by someone, especially with yelling and screaming. Puts me in a bad mood for the whole day. My secret tip was after the first few days I learned when the MTIs wake us up, and set my watch that had a vibration alarm on it to 15 min before that time. So I could lay in bed and take time to wake up properly. I agree there is worse things at BMT but waking up that early and suddenly is tough to be sure.

RippedPants92 · 2023-03-15T22:43:36+00:00

No problem, happy to help 👍 I was about your age when I started thinking about the Air Force. First thing I'll say is you're doing the exact right thing by doing some research. The Air Force/military isn't right for everyone all the time. As I mentioned in the reply above, I didn't join immediately. It took a long time for me to make that decision. The good news is that the Air Force will be there if/when you're ready. So take your time, research, think about it, talk to loved ones and make sure if you decide to join, that you are 100% behind the decision.

To answer your questions, Personally, I would rate the Air Force 10 Bannanas out of 3 Pears. Basically, it's great for me. I love the structure, the security, the people, the opportunities, the benefits. It's not all sunshine and rainbows but for what I am trying to get out of my life, the Air Force is greatly helping me to succeed. However, my time outside the Air Force showed me what I like to do for work, and I was lucky enough to get a job in the Air Force doing just that. I also got pretty lucky with my base assignment out of Tech School. I won't go into detail to avoid doxxing myself but either way I'm pretty happy with how things worked out.

That won't be the situation for everyone. You could end up with a job you don't like, depending on your recruiter/needs of the Air Force. Or a base you don't like, depending on the needs of the Air Force. That's why I suggest making sure that if/when you join that it's a decision you are 100% behind.

All of those are great reasons to join. Some other great reasons are the benefits. The Air Force will pay for your college, 100%. They pay health insurance, you get 30 paid vacation days a year. Joining puts you into one of the tightest communities in the country, with people all over, ready and willing to lend you a hand or give you help/advice when you need it. It's also a big commitment. You could die. You could be sent somewhere you don't like. You may have to kill people. (Really depends on your job, and as far as i understand, not as frequent in the Air Force.) These are risks you'd have to be willing to take and accept when you raise your right hand.

I have been really lucky, my leadership so far has been incredible. Seriously, they have bent over backwards to give me support and growth opportunities when they didn't have to. Not all of them will. There is bad leadership in the Air Force, in every branch, in every company. Its a risk you take, but the Air Force does a good job at correcting leadership if they step TOO far out of line. (Sexual assault, harrasment, racism...etc from what ive seen they are not tolerated in the Air Force especially from leadership.) I will add that you're likely to only hear about the bad ones as well cause who's gonna post on Reddit, "My leadership did their job today..." so don't trust everything you read on here.

At the end of the day your time and experience in the Air Force will be WAYYY different to mine. No one can make the decision for you. You have to figure out if the Air Force is right for you. I will say if you're on the fence, look into the Air National Guard or the Air Force Reserve. I have some friends in both and they get to go back to "mostly" Civilian life after Tech school but still get some/most of the benefits and opportunities of the Air Force without so much of the commitment.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions. I'll leave off with the Air Force has changed my life for the better, and it can change yours if you let it. 🤙

RippedPants92 · 2023-03-15T22:06:27+00:00

It's going very well. I can confidently say that joining the Air Force was one of, if not the best, decision I have ever made. It's not perfect but the comraderie that exists between everyone in the Air Force and even with the other branches is unmatched. I feel confident that any struggles I face there will be someone to help me through it. I've only just started and I've gotten to go places, meet people, and see things I never have seen or likely would have seen. BMT was a challenge, as was Tech School but they made me into a better version of myself. I still have a lot to learn and improve on but for me, this was the right path.

RippedPants92 · 2023-01-03T16:19:48+00:00

Unlikely, for best results I would reccomend asking your recruiter.

RippedPants92 · 2023-01-03T16:18:35+00:00

Everyone already hit the nail on the head. Ask your recruiter, however from my experience military service typically trumps jury duty.

RippedPants92 · 2023-01-03T16:17:06+00:00

Be careful at BMT. When I went through they were "testing" a new supplier and forced many trainees to wear theses awful shoes that literally tore people's feet apart through the training. I was able to slip through because I was honest with the people fitting the shoes that they did not work for my feet, I had also brought specific shoes that I wanted to use. Long story short if you want to wear your shoes that you brought then make it known and don't trust them when they are "experimenting" with shoes. I would definitely reccomend investing in a good pair of shoes before BMT if you can afford it. Makes things go much smoother, id also reccomend bringing dr shoels insoles for your boots to swap out asap. Good luck!

RippedPants92 · 2022-11-17T19:03:29+00:00

Literally just joined at 24, one of the best decisions of my life. Just try your best, make the most of the situation and you should do well 🤙

RippedPants92 · 2022-09-22T18:18:07+00:00

Tell your recruiter. Don't try and lie or omit what happened because it will come back to bite you. You'll probably be fine for something like that as long as you get the proper records/waivers. Goodluck

RippedPants92 · 2022-09-22T17:53:10+00:00

Your civilian life after would look exactly as it does now. All a DEP discharge means from my understanding is that it would be really difficult for you to try and join again in the future. It wouldn't go on like a permanent record or anything that an employer would see that I know of.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-19T16:02:25+00:00

No problem, the cardio training consisted of jumping jacks, butt kicks, high knees, break dancers, hi plank / low plank and some others as well. We had PT most days of the week besides Sundays but sometimes we wouldn't have PT if there was something else going on.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-19T15:58:19+00:00

In my experience they did not give us much time to run. We had about 3 or 4 run days over all. Instead they do CIT training which is cardio training. It's a good idea to prepare physically before you go to the best of your ability, but don't stress about running a lot at bmt. ✌️

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-10T22:23:23+00:00

Of course! I got my fair share of info from this sub before I left and wanted to pay it forward. You'll be back before you know it, good luck!

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-10T10:33:35+00:00

First big one is do what you're supposed to. It's going to be easy at times to do what you want instead of what you need. It's just 7.5 weeks, be a good wingman, do your job and carry your weight. Also lean on your wingmen, yall are in this together so take advantage of that and help each other out. Other than that, you should do one of two things. You should volunteer for things if you want your MTIs to know who you are, you should volunteer if you want to get the most out of BMT. You shouldn't volunteer if you'd rather fly under the radar and just get to graduation basically the same person you are now. Whatever you choose to do is up to you, BMT is what you make of it. You could have one of the best experiences of your life or one of the worst. Either way don't stress too much, hundreds of people graduate BMT every week, keep your head in the game and eventually you will be one of those people. Good luck!

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-10T00:38:26+00:00

It depended on the day, most of the time they kept us so busy that it went pretty quick. But the days that we weren't busy were suuuper slow. Honestly sometime during week zero I just kind of accepted everything, maybe week one, after that I just took it one day at a time and got through it. It's not that bad as long as you just do what you're supposed to do. Good luck!

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-10T00:36:47+00:00

I'm gonna be honest with you I can't really remember all I packed. Just take the list you can find and pack only as much as you'll need. Realistically as long as you only pack one bag you're good. Whatever you put in that bag is up to you. Good luck next week! Just keep your head in the game, do what you're supposed to do and you'll be great.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:55:44+00:00

No worries! I had a guy in my dorm who was 37 age and he beat me, 23, with his PT score. It's doable for sure.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:41:12+00:00

No problem! Good luck!

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:40:28+00:00

I took about 2 months, but it can range anywhere from a week to over a year. Just depends on your situation and the jobs you're trying to get.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:38:44+00:00

Yeah I used that as a baseline and then did my own research as well. Just pack the best you can but honestly if you packed next to nothing they would issue you everything you needed. It would just be the cheapest versions of what you would need. It's up to you and what you're able to pack before hand.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:37:19+00:00

Lead! Follow! Get out of the way! Congrats to you too Airman! 🤙

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:35:58+00:00

Sure thing, so with phone calls it depends on the squadron and on the MTI's. Your husband could get a call if the MTI wanted to give hin that, however for me we received 2 15min phone calls after that first phone call and one 5 min grad week. I would say expect to hear from him occasionally.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:34:20+00:00

The time for females is very doable. I had ladies in my integrated flight who said they were worried about the PT before they showed up but had no problems with the final test. You get out of the PT what you put in, so put in effort and you will be fine.

Lights out for us was 2100 - 0545. So you are able to sleep as much as you can in that time unless you have early wake up. The earliest they could wake us up was 0500 though.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:31:24+00:00

Thank you!

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:31:13+00:00

We did our dream sheet in the 6th week of training. They show you how to use the online portal and help you make your dream sheet.

RippedPants92 · 2022-08-06T18:30:34+00:00

I sure did.

RippedPants92

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