Hi,
I'm at AIT at Fort Gordon right now. I'm training to be a 25N, basically operating computer and telephone networks. I graduated Basic at Fort Benning on the 28th of August and have been at Fort Gordon since then.

Right now, my morale is very low. I'm not sure where to start. I have no free time. I'm not allowed to leave base or ride in a POV. We're made to do pointless details (ie. 'mow' the grass by plucking out individual blades). We spend 3 to 4 hours a day standing in pointless formations. We only get six hours of sleep per night. The sergeants are fickle and often abusive. Our barracks are dangerously overcrowded. There are ~800 people in my company, and it's all jacked up. Honestly, it feels like TRADOC/The Army is hazing everyone here.

If I could leave and just show up for classes and PT, I would be happy; however, doesn't look like that's in the cards.

I visited the chaplain today to talk about my situation. He admitted that the quality of life here is needlessly shitty, and then he basically called me a pussy.

I don't know what do to here. Do I just hold my nose and deal with the remaining 5 or 6 months that I'm going to be here hoping that it gets better when I get to a real unit, or do I try to get an Entry Level Separation. This isn't really what I signed on for.

lol, I don't know how the Army works, but in the Air Force, by the time you get a discharge, and get sent back home, you could have completely your tech school. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, for a lot of the jobs though, but I have seen people wash out/do something stupid, and still be on the base up to 3 or more months after they washed out. The process is far from quick, and in the mean time, you won't be relaxing much at all.

You're a fucking pussy.

...You DO realize that you joined the military, right? You're in TRAINING, they're GOING to treat you like shit in even shittier environments.

Wait until you're operational, it gets a lot better.

I'd suggest keeping your chin up and pressing on. I don't right know how a computer course is a 6 month course, but you'd feel shitty the day your class graduated and you're looking towards another 3 months for your papers to roll through.

A kid in my tech school got separated and waited for a total of 9 months to go home, the first 4 he could have completed the course. Paper-pushers don't give a fuck, they'll make you wait.

I just enlisted as a 25U... I leave next week...

I thought basic was just gonna suck

I didn't think AIT would be shitty as well.

Thanks for the encouragement.

I know getting separated can take a long time. My thinking is that if this is just how it is in the Army, I might as well try for an entry level separation within the first six months rather than wait and have an even harder time getting out.

I'm actually feeling a lot better now. My class ended, so I got put into the 'Inactive' platoon, which means I have duty from 0445 to 1800 instead of the previous 0715 to 0100. From 0800 to 1700 I'm meant to be doing details, but I managed to sham out of them all week this week. Next week, I'll start volunteering at the library during this time, which I'm really looking forward to! I go from 'Phase 4' to 'Phase 5' this Friday which means I can smoke and (legally) leave post until 0100 on the weekends instead of doing details and pointless formations. I also found out that I start classes again (and they're day classes!) on Oct 23. So, things are actually looking up. Now, if only I could find a way to get out of the long, pointless, stupid formations during the week...


Piotr--
Basic and AIT both suck. During both you're doing IET - Initial Entry Training. There's a TRADOC regulation (350-6) that has all the rules for IET soldiers. What's interesting to me, is that Basic and AIT both suck in ways that were and are completely unexpected to me.

I expected Basic to be like Full Metal Jacket, but it wasn't at all. It was just really frustrating and boring. I remember the day we went to the M2 & Mk19 range. We got to the range and waited about 30 minutes for the very hungover range cadre to arrive. They didn't feel like shooting the Mk19, so we only shot the M2, and each only shot maybe 15 rounds with the T&E mechanism fixed. Then, we did police call and were back to the bay by noon. From noon to 2100, it was 'barracks maintenance' ie. sit around in the bay and do nothing, but don't play cards or fall asleep or have any unauthorized reading material...

AIT... well, see my first post. It could be so cool, but it's not. It's needlessly shitty. As a 25U, you'll probably end up in B Co. 369th Sig BN, which is good for you, because the Captain is supposed to be cool as well. If you want, you can drop me a line when you get here and I can give you some tips on avoiding details and show you around Augusta (which is a pretty cool town) once you get phase 5.

Yea sorry for the blatant remark. I realized how rude that sounded when i posted it.

I used to live in Augusta a LONG time ago, so i vaguely remember it.

If you want to contact me, let me know.

I've an AKO set up.

I leave on the 15th so i'm not sure how long reception and processing will take.


Thanks for looking out and for the advice

AIT Sucks. Period. I went to AIT at Fort Eustis and it was sucked. I'd never been so depressed in my life. It gets better once you start getting passes, but let me say this; The real Army is NOTHING like TRADOC. Everything you do in BASIC/AIT you do for a reason and a lot of it you will actually use when you become 'permanent party', but unless you're a Ranger or something absolutely HOOAH(Oh god I threw up in my mouth a bit), the real Army is completely toned down. There's still a lot of bullshit that goes on, but trust me it's way better once you get out of TRADOC. My CO at AIT told us once "There's a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train." She wasn't lying.