One of the most difficult questions to answer about any military branch’s boot camp is also one of the first questions interested people pose: what can you expect at basic training? We all think we know what going through training is like, but until we actually lace up the boots and slip into the uniform, our impressions are really only based on stories we’ve heard and movies we’ve seen.
The reality of basic training, you might not be surprised to learn, isn’t quite like what you may have seen in the movies. This video, uploaded by the U.S. Army National Guard, takes some of they mystery out of boot camp and offers aspiring recruits the opportunity to see what they’re getting into.
The video opens from the vantage point of a new Army recruit arriving at Fort Jackson for training. For a lot of us, this is the part of boot camp that we have trouble remembering–those initial few hours where you’re trying to adjust to a very different environment and culture. Within a matter of days, these recruits will already be on their way to becoming soldiers, and the frantic, confused young men and women we see in this footage will be gone forever.
If you’ve been thinking about enlisting into the U.S. Army, this video offers some valuable insights into what you can expect at Basic Training, at least at first. If, however, you’re a salty old man like me, watching these videos might stir up some old emotions that had long been left dormant.
As the saying about Fort Jackson goes, “Victory starts here-right here!” That victory they speak of isn’t only for the Army–it’s for each individual recruit that works their way through training and emerges on the other side as a United States soldier.
Feature image courtesy of Sgt. 1st Class Brian Hamilton, U.S. Army
