What to do now?

D

DjSanguine

USAFA '15 Appointee
5-Year Member
Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
57
Hello all.

I was wondering--Is there anything I could start doing or memorizing for BCT now? I keep hearing about all of these "quotes" that Cadets have to memorize while in Basic, and I'd like to prepare in advance, before all of the stress of BCT comes into play. I've already got ranks down (I've been an AF kid my whole life), and I've memorized the Airman's Creed.

Any advice would be much appreciated =]
 
Go memorize random stuff. Focus on efficiency. Memorize things quickly and accurately, accurate to the punctuation mark. The faster you can get stuff down the better. The stuff you'll need to know here you'll figure out when you get here.
 
Without getting into the never-ending argument on these forums of whether or not you "should" memorize things, I will say that you can easily purchase a copy of Contrails through the USAFA AOG. I bought one for my son last year after he had his appointment and he enjoyed just reading through it and learning more about the academy and getting "psyched" to go. I also made him a countdown calendar (which I usually do for family Disney trips), only instead of putting Disney trivia under each card, I put a piece of knowledge for him. Even without Contrails, probably 90 percent of what I used you can figure out you'll be expected to know and search for easily online - things like the code of conduct (I'd put one number for him to memorize each day), verses of the AF song, Mission of the AF, Mission of USAFA, phonetic alphabet, Core Values, and Vision are a few off the top of my head.

That said, I can't say that my son really bothered memorizing any of them before he went (other than the Code of Conduct which I kind of forced him to!), and really don't think it makes much difference in the long run. As he wrote from one of his letters during Beast "you'd be amazed how fast you learn in the front leaning rest"! :wink:
 
I think you should only memorize things that would be natural to know if you are enthusiastic about the Air Force. For example, memorize the different rankings structures, info on different air planes, air force "heroes", etc. I think if you actually memorize the exact information from contrails, then you will lose some of the experience but you also might look like a suck up if you know the specific wording to many of the questions right away. For example I got a look at my brothers book and the statement about the elevation of the Air Force Academy says something to the affect of how "it is at 7,000 something feet above sea level which is way more than navy or army". If you show up and know the exact wording I think that might draw too much attention to yourself and earn you some unwanted "training".
 
RUN, RUN, and then when you're TIRED, GO RUN SOME MORE!

Find a pull-up bar...do them EVERY DAY. Same with pushups and situps. And keep doing them.

If you're NOT in the best condition of your LIFE NOW...get there.

Those will be VERY helpful!! :thumb:

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
agree with flieger.

run, run, run. do pullups, pushups, situps, and flutterkicks.

run.

do more pullups, pushups, situps, and flutterkicks

run.

and you'll be fine. absolutely no need to memorize things beforehand; cadre notice that stuff instantaneously and we'll give you a more difficult time for it.

run.
 
I'll further emphasize, having been a basic, a 4 dig, and a cadre, don't memorize any quotes. Go ahead and memorize ranks if you so wish, but only do it if you are simply interested and want to know. From my previous experiences on all sides of training, as a peer I became very agitated at those who knew it already because it made the rest of us worse off because, honestly, if someone knows it they can't hide it. As a trainer, not only did it irritate me that they thought they could make it easier for them, but the usual pompous which came with that knowledge highlighted them, for the worse.

Do as others have said, focus on your physical condition.

Even more importantly, have fun! Be safe, don't be foolish, and enjoy the rest of your time before the beast begins.
 
You won't actually do much memorization during basic, at least compared to the academic year. Also, purchasing Contrails before basic would be an absolute waste. You won't be required to learn any (or at least 95%) of the knowledge in Contrails until the Academic year starts. As far as quotes go, you will probably only learn a few in basic. The vast majority of memorization will be focused on staff lists, for which you really can't prepare yourself. You will have to learn the rank, name (first, last, and middle initial), and job of each cadre member in your squadron + those on group staff. That totals 50-60 cadre.

My advice: don't buy Contrails and don't memorize anything before hand. There is no benefit to knowing a piece of knowledge that your fellow basics have not learned yet. You will either make your classmates look bad, or make yourself look bad by "pimping" your classmates.

The best way to mitigate the stress of basic is to show up in good shape. Focus on push-ups, pull-ups, flutter-kicks (with boots), and running (again, with boots), not memorizing knowledge.
 
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