That is good to hear! At summer seminar, we had "doolie for a day". The yelling and stuff wasn't too bad. I feel like I can take that...but physically, I was SLAUGHTERED! And they told us they didn't even take it that hard on us! Do you get used to basic? And by that I mean, does there come a point where you just don't really care that you are getting yelled at or "beaten" or any of that other awful stuff? Do you get used to the lack of sleep? Does your body get used to the PT? I am so excited to hear from USAFA whether or not I got in, but I know the about ten minutes after I find out, reality will kick in and I'll be shaking in boots when I think about basic. I remember even at SS, lying there in bed the day before doolie for a day, thinking "what have I gotten myself into?!?" and regretting every life decision that led me to be there. Of course, that was my midnight delirium, laying there imagining the horrors to come (which really wasn't bad at all; I think they took it really easy on us). But I don't want to be like that every day at basic. Also, which part of BCT was easiest, 1st or 2nd? From what I have seen and heard, it sounds like the cadre ease up on you a bit there, even though you have some tough and challenging things there. Is that true? Thank you guys so much for taking the time to answer my questions; I am sure you are very busy. It really is awesome to hear from cadets, though. For so long I have idealized USAFA cadets and I am so excited thinking I might actually get to BE one!
You do get used to parts of basics, other parts not so much haha. I know that neither myself or anyone in my flight ever got used to the wakeups. You get better at it to the point where you don't think about them anymore, but each one was as stressful as the one before it. As for the lack of sleep, nooooooo. Basic is the most tired you will ever be. I was talking with one of my cadre at lunch the other day and he said they put us to sleep at 9, then 930, then 10, then 1030 each week. You wake up at 430 each morning, but I could never tell that we were getting more sleep. Briefings are hell because no matter what you do, you will fall asleep. This is where wingmen come in handy haha. I remember that I fell asleep while marching and I woke up behind my chair in Mitch's once. Your body will do crazy things. There does come a point that you grow accustomed to everything that's happening. You know when the beatings will come, and most likely what they will consist of, but no matter how good you are, there will come a point each beating where you probably won't be able to do anything more. At that point, all the cadre want to see is that you are trying to do more and that you aren't just giving up. As for lying there at night, you can read how I felt that first week here:
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?p=383241#post383241
I think the general consensus is that second beast was better. You go out to the rodeo and when you get back, you have an entirely new set of cadre and 2nd BCT has begun. Everyone was terrified, but we reallllly liked our new cadre. They were tougher, stricter, and expected so much more out of us, but they were also so much more motivating. Their mentality in first bct is more of a "you suck, why are you here, go home, just quit" but 2nd bct is more of a "you can do this, we'll help you, come on push yourself." The mentalities are just totally different. 2nd bct is also in Jack's Valley, which is pretty fun in itself. Instead of just rooming with one person, you're with half your flight now. Going into Jack's, I knew my roommate and maybe the kids in my alcove and that was probably it, just because we hadn't had much time to socialize or anything before that. Jack's Valley is just a huge bonding experience. It's totally physical, there is almost no academics from what I can remember, which was awesome because briefings were by far the worst part of 1st bct. It was by far the most fun of basic that I had. Just get ready for the train...
Runner2020 said:
You said they'll be between 2-4 classes a day. Does the Academy work on a block schedule, with half your classes one day, and the other half one the second day, or do you have the same classes every day? How long are classes, or does it vary?
USAFA works on an M-Day, T-Day schedule. These don't correlate to Mondays or Tuesdays or anything. You'll have certain classes M-days, and certain classes T-days, and only on those days. There are 40 lessons total, which makes up 80 days. We have M-31 tomorrow, which means T-31 Thursday, and then M-32 Friday. There are 7 periods in a day, the first starting at 7:30 and ending at 8:23, with the last starting at 2:30 and ending 3:23. Most science, PE, and airmanship classes are two periods I think. So for example, on M-days, I have Japanese 2nd period, English 6th period, and I am free to do as I please on my off periods. Then T-days, I have Japanese 2nd period, Chemistry 3rd and 4th, Engineering 6th period, and Calculus 7th period. T-Days are not fun...