Colonel Jack Jacobs

Basic is the story of basic military training for the United States Armed Forces. Through anecdotes and other sources of information, we are shown how Civilians are transformed into soldiers. The only previous introduction I had to Basic Training, or Boot Camp as it is sometimes called is in movies, the primary one being Full Metal Jacket.

I figured the movie would have taken some liberties, and I was correct in that. For instance, it shows that Blanket Parties are not a part of the deal anymore, which is pretty good, but it had happened before. They also dispel other myths and things. There are many common threads throughout the training of our armed forces, and one of the major ones is PT or Physical Fitness. So they have people reminiscing about people that try to break rules and get out of training, and it's really interesting and amusing.

I would recommend it but only if you plan to join the Marine Corps, Army, Navy or Air Force of the United States.… (altro)

I picked up this book going into it like I was going to get a lot of tips but also just a lot of dialect. Yes this book does have dialect but it is not stale. It is actually very enlightening. Throughout the book are quotes from military movies or actual personal that endured boot camp/basic training. Although I have never actually been in the military, I did get a little taste of what it would be like to enlist in the military. I was in the Civil Air Patrol and I was gone for a week at the Air Force Academy. I had to follow all of the rules as if I was actually in the military with the 45 degree hospital corners, dusting and cleaning my room, the bathroom, and polishing my boots as well as ironing my uniform. Oh and taking a shower what is that. I was lucky if I got to take a 5 minute shower. It was because of this that I have learned to take quick showers and get dressed quickly.

So I could relate to stuff that people were talking about. I even understood the reason for the yelling. The stories that people would share were funny. This is a well-written, quick read.… (altro)

Talk about bringing back memories. Reading Basic: Surviving Boot Camp and Basic Training made me remember (sometimes fondly, sometimes not so fondly) things I have not thought about in since they happened way back in 1968 while I was in the process of completing Army basic training at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. I am certain that anyone who completed basic or boot camp during the Viet Nam era (because most of the book’s first-person anecdotes seem to come from those years) will react the same way. The awakening of those memories, along with a better understanding of things that made little sense to most of us while they were happening, makes Basic a fun (and worthwhile) read.

But, first things first. The title of the book might seem a little redundant to some because it references both “Boot Camp” and “Basic Training.” There is, however, good reason for that: Marines complete “boot camp” and the Army’s “soldiers” complete “basic training.” And, although I am less certain about it, I believe that the Navy puts its recruits through “boot camp,” while the Air Force prefers the “basic training” designation. So, although the training is somewhat similar across all branches of the U.S. military, the terms really are not directly interchangeable.

Basic describes each of the segments and milestones that are part of a military recruit’s first few weeks of military training, beginning with the calm-by-comparison first week during which hair is shorn, shots are given, and uniforms are issued, and ending with the graduation ceremony. Along the way, Colonel Paris describes both training whose purpose is apparent and “training” that seems to have little purpose at all. Through a combination of stories from those who have gone through the training themselves and the colonel’s explanation of what that training entails, the reader learns about things like: close-order drill, hand-to-hand combat training, bayonet training, guard duty, barracks life, weapons qualification, mess hall protocols, and PT training and testing.

Colonel Paris emphasizes the two distinct types of training that occur during basic, physical and mental, because it is critical that new soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen, be as well prepared mentally as they are physically to take on the responsibilities for which they are training. That being the case, most of the training whose purpose is not so readily apparent most often relates to the mental aspects of basic training. Those in charge of such training believe that new recruits must first be broken down before they can be rebuilt into the military men and women they are meant to be. And they are correct; the process works beautifully.

At the end of a recruit’s training, the Drill Instructors who were his worst enemy (and someone to fear), suddenly turn into peers who show him as much respect as they have demanded from him just a few days earlier. And that has to be one of the best feelings in the world, something that no graduate of Basic Training or Boot Camp will ever forget.

Bottom Line: Basic: Surviving Boot Camp and Basic Training will be of interest both to those who have not undergone the training and to those who have. I had fun with this one.… (altro)