Have all of your friends and family write him. For a time this will be his only connection with home.
I went in when I was 17, quitting high school in my junior year in December 1973.
At least your son is a medic and not an airborne infantryman, but he will be on patrol with the boots on the ground.
American soldiers are the finest in the world. You have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Bootcamp is easy.
1. Keep your mouth shut!
2. Attention to detail! Listen! Try to do EXACTLY what the D.I. says.
3. If you can’t be the best in your group, be one of the invisible ones and be darned sure you don’t finish last.
4. Man up! No excuses.
5. Remember, the purpose of boot camp is to weed out those who are either undesirable or incapable of conforming to military life. The D.I.’s job is to try to make you quit.
6. And lastly, it’s not personal for the D.I. When he gets in your face and screams, it is a psychological technique to force your square peg into the Army’s round hole.
Make sure he knows ranks, and never ever look the drill sergeant in the eye. He will try to get him to do this, make sure he always focuses on his ear lobe or something.
He'll do just fine. I was Air Force and was told to laugh at everything in basic training - because all of it is pretty funny. Strange enough, that advice did help.
Yes. When ever your commander tells you places that are off limits, you will know the good places to go.
Keep your mouth shut and learn to sleep standing.
Becoming invisible is a great trick learned quickly by smart people.
Listen. Details matter.
Have a sense of humor. Don’t be a commedian.
Show respect and you will earn respect.
Neatness counts.
My advice is simple and the same whether he is interviewing for a job, starting a job, asking a girl for a date, or entering the military.
Do your very best at all times and do it joyfully. That means do your very best whether you’re cleaning latrines or on the shooting range.
My advice for all of life is also simple. Do not exchange what you want most for what you want now.
Please thank him from me for his service to country.
My dsaughter entered the reverves and was deployed to Iraq as a Combat Medic ... and I gave her this advice before she left for Iraq:
1. I know that as a Medic you are not allowed to carry a weapon - juts make sure a close froned near you has a spare one clean, armed, and ready to go.
2. When in doubt, shoot, I would reather you be in the stockade than in a body bag.
3. Trust nonne of the poulace around you - never let your gaurd down. A 5 year old chold and a woman can kill you just as qucik as a man. They do not play by the rules - so don’t expect them to have your values or the values you have been raised with.
4. Know how to read a map and use a compass (even if you have GPS - they can fail, break, be stolen, or lost). Be extrrmely familar with your AO (Area of Operation), Always knoe thw lcoesest freidnly untis location at all times. Know where you are at on the map at all times. (The person you depend on knowing where you are may be the first person killed.)
5. Clean the “close spare weapon daily” - as well as the ammo and magazines (having dirty ammo or a magazine that sticks is just as bad as having a weapon that james).
6. Know how to use the radio, know your unti’s call signs, and the call signs of the surrounding units and you next level up command’s call sign. Know all the frequencies for rweaching whatever help you need when the SHTF. (The person that normally operates the radio may be the second person killed).
7. Have a very sharp knife or bayonet handy and on your person.
8. Never pick anything up or check anything out that looks strange.
9. Never buy food or liquid from a national. Never accept a gift of food or liquid or anything else from a national.
10. Know how to call in artillery and close air support - the person who does this may be the thrid person killed.
11. When the action starts - KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN! (The person that was with my daughter did not follw this advice and when the shooting started he raised his head to see what was going on ... and died immediately.)
12. When a national approaches you or your vehicle and you command them to stop and they don’t shoot them.
13. If you are not absolutley positive that you can pull the trigger to kill another human being, it is best you don’t have a waepon. It only gives them something to use on you.
14. Last but not least, I told her, you can do everything I said and do it perfectly, but some times it is just not your day and you are going to die. Make sure you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ right now - then if you are to die, I’ll get to see you again.
As soon as his enlistment is up, get the hell out.
Tell him to keep is mouth shut and pay attention to the instruction. Until he has a feel for what’s going on the his comments aren’t needed.
Congrats to your son and parents.
my advice...
Have fun
stay out of trouble (choose friends wisely)
enjoy (some of the best times of his life)
be smart
I have no advice ... just good wishes, prayers, and a big thank you to your son! My wonderful DH is currently in his 28th year of military service ... he enlisted in the Air National Guard as a 17-year-old high school student, and he’s been in ever since.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT be the last guy to finish or show up or exit the building etc...
Tell ‘im do everything you’re told. And, when you do something, pretend it’s the most important thing you’re ever gonna do for the rest of your life. Put your entire heart and soul into every silly thing they make you do. CCs (or DIs, or whatever) never seemed to mind if you weren’t the best recruit, as long as you had that kind of attitude.
And also: never ever ever crack a smile. At least, not until your last week. Then it’s okay. Eat everything you pick up in the galley. And in marching always step off with your left foot.
If it moves.....salute it!
If it doesn’t move.....paint it green!
MI, Medic, and SF are all completely different fields. You can volunteer from any field for SF, though. If he’s an enlisted medic he’d most likely end up an 18D which is SF Medic. MI is just unending nerd school (like my current job). There’s no shortage of information on SFAS and SFQC as well as the language training. If he really wants to pursue that angle, he can call up an SF recruiter, they aren’t hard to find. Best to focus on Basic and AIT first.