Whats a typical day at Navy Recruit Training like??????????

Question

Also what kind of food do they serve? Also I ship out in Nov. so I will be training during the upcoming winter season. I found out that we have to PT in the cold as well as shovel snow during the middle of the night, is this true? I don't have a problem with that, just curious. Thanks you!

Answer 1

they serve galley food.

I'm not sure about the rest. but i have a freind that JUST got done with it and he has told me alot.

I'm going into navy boot camp in November also (the great lakes, -they only have one now).

if you like, e-mail me [e-mail]

Answer 2

First of all, I'm assuming you're headed for Great Lakes.  You should have insisted on Orlando (like me) or San Diego before you signed.  Great Lakes in the winter will, to put it mildly, suck.  I go back a few years so things might be a little different, but this is generally what you can expect:

The first night you will be tired but they will keep you up doing paperwork and stupid stuff like standing at attention.  Expect yelling.  It's meant to mess with your head, don't let it get to you.  You'll get very little, if any sleep that first night and you'll be in a huge room with about a zillion other guys. Three quarters of them will snore.

The next few days are RIF (recruit in-processing).  You'll box up everything you left home with, and I mean everything, even the clothes on your back, to send home. If your recruiter or anyone else told you to bring any kind of sports equipment (every group has one guy show up with his golf clubs) or anything like that, they were pulling your leg.  

You'll be issued your clothes, duffel bag, etc.  You'll fill out more paperwork.  You'll get your haircut.  You'll fill out more paperwork.  You'll be assigned to a company (training unit) with the guys you'll be doing the rest of your boot camp with.  Together, as a newly formed team of proud Navy men...you'll fill out more paperwork.

Once you're assigned a training unit and you're in your barracks, things settle into a routine.  There are three basic parts to your training: classroom, PT, and neatly folding anything that can't be shined.  

The classroom part is probably easier than anything you did in school.  You're taught things you're expected to know as a sailor, and then tested on them.

The PT is basically stuff you probably did in PhysEd class, but more of it.  A lot more.  Don't worry, you'll get through it.

The third part is the most misunderstood part.  You'll be shown how to fold clothes.  Even socks and underwear have to be folded a certain way.  The reasons for this are 1) to make sure you can follow instructions, and  2) you have a very limited amount of space to keep everything you own.  There will be lots and lots of inspections.  I am not exaggerating when I say everything must be perfect.  You will learn the Navy way to clean everything in sight.

Every day will be a mixture of those three things.  You will get some free time here and there, more as your training progresses, to write letters, etc.  You will get to go to church or synagogue each week if you so desire.  With few exceptions you go everywhere as a group.

The food in the Navy is actually pretty decent.  You may even get to prepare it yourself.  For one week (service week) everyone is assigned a job that they perform outside their training unit.  Most people wind up in the galley, cooking, cleaning, etc.

At first, it will all seem overwhelming, but trust me, it's a well-oiled machine of a process turning out thousands of recruits a year, and before you know it, it will seem like you've been doing this stuff forever

and you'll be doing it without a second thought.

You will learn how to put out a fire on a ship.  (Seriously, you and your new pals will pick up a real hose and put out a real fire on a mock-up of a ship, which might be quite the adventure at Great Lakes in the winter.)  You will learn how to use a gas mask by being placed in a room which will be filled with tear gas.  Then to learn what tear gas is like, you will have to remove the mask.  (Again, I'm not kidding.  Don't bother trying to hold your breath, you'll be asked to sing as a group.)



Again, I'm going back a few years.  Some things may have changed, but what I've mentioned is pretty much what you can expect.

Now the important part - advice from someone who has been there:

There will be yelling and screaming and name-calling and a need for constant attention to the smallest detail.  There will be times you want to quit.  TAKE NOTHING PERSONALLY!  The whole idea of boot camp is to see if you can take orders, act under pressure, and perform repetitive tasks.  The people doing the yelling were doing it long before you got there, and they'll be doing it long after you're gone.  It's just their job, and when it's over, they'll shake your hand and congratulate you.  The first week is the toughest, you'll get used to it quickly.

You're going to make friends with people you never imagined yourself meeting.  Guys from  literally  all over the world, all walks of life, and when you live and work together and go through a common experience, it's like you've known them all your life.

This is probably more info than you wanted, but I think it's good to know what to expect.  Just go with the flow.  You'll be fine.  

One last thing.  The clothes they issue you are yours to keep.  HANG ON TO YOUR PEA COAT!  It is one of the coolest items of clothing you will ever own.  It looks good with civilian clothes, and people spend big bucks on fake ones.   You'll have the real deal. It's a d**n fine coat. And when someone asks you where you got it and what it cost, don't hesitate to tell them.

BEST OF LUCK!!!

EDIT:  Just read the first answer.  Guess I can't blame you for "picking" Great Lakes, after all!

Answer 3

The previous poster had it right except a couple things have changed, even since I joined. No more service week. I had a lot of fun during service week.

I don't know if they do it differently for every group or what, but when I went through the gas chamber they had us in ranks and the first row had to take off their gas mask, and they went to each individual and had them state their name, rank, division etc. So if you were at the end of the line it sucked.

I don't know about the shoveling snow part. But it wouldn't surprise me. I left bootcamp in November but stayed in Great Lakes for A school and it gets really cold. We had watchcaps (knit hat or whatever you call it) stolen all the time. I had to find a new watchcap every morning. It was ridiculous. It was the same with gloves. And if one person doesn't have gloves then nobody gets to wear them.

Oh, I wanted to add something about the food. Sometimes its not bad. But for the most part I lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.