Tips and information for surviving before, during and after US Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT)
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Added a page listing some of the jobs and additional duties you’ll have to do at BMT. I think I missed a few though, so if you know of any please let me know.
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Air Force Basic Military Training
This site aims to provide information to people considering joining the United States Air Force and hopes to give them tips on what to expect before during and after Basic Military Training.
My guide on preparing for basic training not sure if any of this will help you but I like your site
How to prepare for Basic training in the Air Force.
The first key factor is start exercising. Most Americans are out of shape so work out has to start early. Aim for making the Run time, pushups, and sit ups passing before you go(you do not want to be the apple in the back of the pack trying to catch up) The goal for Males is 1.5 mile=11:57 min., pushups=45, sit-ups=50. For females it is 1.5mile=13:56 min., Pushups=27, sit-ups=50.(pushups and sit-ups are 1min time limit) Try to exercise with running one day and anaerobic the other days I would go Monday Wednesday and Friday run Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday pushups sit-ups sprints or other anaerobic exercises.
Some Tips for mental preparation is learn to march in step it may sound easy but there is always 1-2 people who can never find the beat if you have to find a dance instructor or music teacher to teach you how to march in step. Don’t worry about marching movements you will learn them and have plenty of time.
“Sir (or Ma’am), Trainee (Your last name) reports as ordered.” let that exact phrase(replacing last name of course) stick in your head. Saying Reporting or orders will get you chewed out. whenever you initiate a new conversation with someone you say “Sir (or Ma’am), Trainee (your Last Name) reports as ordered.” then Sir with what you have to say for example. Sir Trainee Whoever reports as ordered, Sir I enjoyed my meal very much.(do not put a sir at the end or they will call it a Sir Sandwich and yell at you. Oh and one last tip do not leave out the first Sir otherwise you are calling the T.I. A trainee and he won’t appreciate it. If a TI ever calls for you always yell proceeding. If you don’t they may make you do a little dance. assuming the name is whoever the TI will yell Whoever go away come here go away come here go away until you get the hint of proceeding if you don’t he will have another yell fest coming your way.
You can learn ranks it will also help you some in helping you not calling your T.I. by the wrong rank. I posted a link below for learning ranks. Just worry about the air force ranks. Learn the Airman’s Creed I posted a link of a video below. Learn the Air Force Song again I posted a link below. Watch the video on how to make your bed as this will help you when you get to basic. There is a video below. Just a reminder these are all to get you ahead as you don’t want to be the one lagging behind or can’t seem to get it right. Ok so right now you know ranks airman’s creed air force song and how to make your bed. The Air Force has added what happens in basic which wasn’t there when I enlisted and is real good tells you what happens in general each week.
Tips are do not bring electronics you will not be able to use them at all they will be confiscated and locked away. You don’t have to be super plain but don’t wear your pants to your knees or wear anything that makes you stand out as weird. Don’t shave your head bald. Bring enough clothes and sanitation supplies for about 3-4 days. Bring a cheap phone card when you get to go to the BX(a small store that has the essentials) you can get better deals. Avoid Gel anything(shaving cream, deodorant, etc) gel expands slowly so even after you clean it the gel will still seem to ooze. You will have to shave enough to keep the peach fuzz off if you get razor bumps bring an electric razor. Enjoy your sleep you will need it. Drink Water more than what you are used to it will help. Also a lot of people tend to get sick in basic(like first day of school) so learn to love hand sanitizer and take extra vitamin c before you leave might help deter some of that.
Everyone will have a chore that they do here is what I can remember to make people’s lives easier. entering each bay(where the beds are there is a small piece of chrome don’t step on it. try to put all your trash in the bathroom trash cans and never touch the trash cans by the TI’s door. The EC Monitor gets blamed for everyone’s mistakes at EC if you are unsure ask him or he will be doing 20/20/20 for it which is 20 pushups 20 4 count flutter kicks and 20 squat thrust. Also don’t make the EC monitor mad work with him or he may decide to work you every night. In the dayroom pick up trash as you see it and make an effort not to touch the furniture. Try to keep the beds where they are avoid jumping into bed(harder for double bunks). Latrine will probably give you a lot of rules but they have a really hard job. right after people had showers someone left the toilet seat down and when our TI went in there he saw the seat down he called the latrine crew in the latrine yelled at us then he called the whole flight into the latrine and the latrine crew got in the shower room which was still wet and each member of the flight had to salute the toilet and say I will never let you down again while latrine crew did a pushup each time this was said. so keep that toilet seat up at all times and if you see someone make a mistake help them out. If you are alone wipe the sink you use after you use the latrine do not use the chrome shelf and step away when brushing your teeth this will help a lot with mirror and chrome shelf cleaning.
Eating Tips First meal pay close attention to what your TI says hands flat on the tray look straight ahead do not take your hands off of your tray when it isn’t necessary(don’t point at the food). Once you get your food look straight ahead and walk quickly to the chow runner who will tell you where to go do not look at the snake pit as you pass by. The chow runner will till you front or back you go in front of the chow runner or behind him to get to your seat. Set your tray down and they may tell you stay at attention for 3 seconds then sit or they may tell you to stay at attention till the last trainee gets there then they will say “trainees be seated” keep your none eating hand flat on the table at all times except to cut your food . For your first meal get foods that you don’t have to chew much so you get a feel for the time you are given.
Just remember in basic always hurry, but pay attention to details.
Source(s):
Enlisted rank
Officer Rank
Airman’s Creed Video (first line is I’m an American Airman)
Airman’s Creed wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airman’s_Creed
Air Force Song Video
Air Force Song Words(only the first verse)
Army how to make a bed(very similar)
Air Force Cadets make bed(both sides are inspectable)
Air Force Cadet Tips(you don’t have a lot of time and all the materials.)
How to roll a T-shirt(roll it tight hers is very loose)
Basic Training website(has a lot of good videos)
just saw this video recently and has a decent view of the dorms.
I don’t know about the rest of the air force but I don’t remember 202020 our Mti had a bare minimum of 150 squat thrust per screwup
They changed the running time for females to 14:21.
LOL! ahhh basic was such a hard time for me. I remember one time when i was running on the track for a PT test. Another Trainee in my Flight had hurt her knee and decided to push through. A Medic who was sitting on one of the gators ( 4 wheeler) started to cheer. Well, me thinking that was a good idea started to cheer for her as well to help her through. He decided to rip me a new one for mocking him which my intention or thought wasnt even to do that. I was helping a fellow wingman. When i got back to my bay or barracks i was sent to my brother flights MTI for some reason and she had me doin i guess what is called the 20202020. 20 pushups, 20 crunches, 20 jump squats, 20 leg raises and was repeated 4 times. i was hurting so bad i was crying, cus obviously u cant stop. when she was done with me i could barely stand cuz my abs were hurtin so bad. i got back to my bay and calapsed on the floor. I got through it and that was the worst thing that happened to me while in basic.
about the basic types of jobs. theres latrine queen or king usually about 4 people are in this group. they are in charge of eeping it spotless. you have the crome cleaners. there job is to strictly clean the 4 foot long by 6 in piece of crome that lines the doorways of both A bay and B bay. like stephen said earlier dont even think about stepping on the crome. you have the sho aligners. they are responsible for keeping every persons set of shoes right under there bed in a line. usually using a really long stick that stretches from each bed post. you also have the floor cleaners which do such. dusters. again which do such. the closet monitor which keeps everything in the closet or utility room clean and neat. also dont ever enter the closet your supposed to ask the monitor. the reason for this is to keep the utility monitors but from getting chewed. we had a water fountain monitor to keep the water fountains clean and shiney. funny cuz they dont and never will work. you have day room cleaners that speciically clean the day room usually of about 5 people who take on a task in the day room (floor sweeper, duster, chair aligner, mopper, and we had a few other people come in to help us. i also am probably missing a few jobs but thats pretty much the main jobs. and this is just in your dorms.
you also have dorm chief who basically deals with the flights problem and dont make this erson mad cuz they tattle on everyone or you can get a chill person that doesnt care, but honestly to save their butts they are going to tell on you so still stay in line regardless. you have guidon which is the one who holds your flights flag. chapel guide who deals with chapel tasks and helping newly arrived 1 weekers to chapel which is what i was. EC monitor sucks but you basically are in charge of ppl chosen to be it and you get reamed everytime someone messes up while doing it. dont ever fall asleep during this youll get in trouble if they call over the monitor and u dont answer lol. road monitors who step out in the middle of crosswalks and stands with their hand up to block traffic from hittin ya’ll. usually made up of 4 people 2 in from and 2 in back. chow runnner who sends your element in, 1,2 3, or 4th element. I can still remember wat they would say. 4th element prepare to enter the dining facility. lol good times. then drink monitor who pours your water and gatorade, the juices and milk you get for yourself out of a fountain type machine.
then you have different jobs outside of your squadron. you have KP duty. its where you work in the kitchen. you have different mini jobs. tray washer, dishwasher, then a person who slings all the food into a whole that has a trash can underneath, glass washer, all the dishes and stuff were sent through a huge commercial dishwasher but your jobs to send them through. then there were strictly people designated to simply take out the trash to the dumpster. and at the end of kp duty you have to clean the whole place. horrible i say. your there from 430 in the morning to about 930 at night. you also have a warehouse job. made up of about 7-10 ppl who work in a warehouse. my main job when i was there was to stack brand new mattresses all along the huge warehouse wall they came in by the truck loads. i mean semi loads fully loaded semis. 4 of them i believe. was there from 430am to about 7 at night. then there is pad duty. your job here is to clean up the black pad that is right outside downstairs of your dorm i call it. you pretty much get a huge broom and sweep away all the dirt and bird crap cuz birds were always sittin on the steel crossings overhead. then use your own canteen bottle to get water and pour it on the yellow painted dots that are there to clean them off. which was pointless but it had to be done.
then i had a unique job. i was ice getter. ( not an actual job just something my flight made up and used me for) in my flight we had a ton of ppl who were hurt or watever and my job was to get ice. it was cool becuz i had to make the run to the kitchen. when i was there the manager always gave me a granola bar before i left to eat so i got lucky…..(i dont recommend this if you get caught u could get recycled concidered not following rules and not progressing in orders. blah blah blah lol)
im probably missing a whole bunch more jobs but thats the basic ones.
A1C Stacey W.
Aerospace Maintenance Mechanic/ Crew Chief
Little Rock Air Force Base, AR
C-130 Maintainer, 2009-present.
Good luck all!
the running time is now roughly 16:00 or equivilent now under the new 2010 minimum standards for females i believe about a 13:30 for males.. someone correct me if im wrong.
Im about a week away from going to MEPS. The job I want is Tactical Aircraft Maintenance. As a crew chief do you actually get to work on the aircraft or do you just maintain generally? I want to be able to work on the components of the aircraft. Would I have to try and get a specialized job or just tactical aircraft maintenance? Thanks for your time.
Tim,
I have no idea how those jobs work. I’ve never had any interaction with the flying side of the Air Force. I work with satellites. I’d recommend just doing a Google search for the jobs you are interested in and see if you can find people that have that job or find someone that has posted more information about them.
Im a crew chief for the c-130 and as a maintainer u do general work on the aircraft. If u want to work on the engines of the plane u will need to join as aerospace propulsion or engines as we call it, if u want to work on the instruments in the fuselage u need to join as communications and navigations or com/nav or if u want to work on environmental things on the aircraft like oxygen and air condition components and stuff like that join as environmental electric. Other than that all u do as a maintainer is inspections before take off, thruflight or after flights. u do do a little mechanical work but nothing major. Mostly u just insp the plane. Its not that great of a job in my opinion. Im crosstraining as soon as my time comes. Maintenance is really demanding and takes alot out of u.
Hey thanks for all the info. When I get asked by the job counselor, are there going to be more specific jobs than what the recruiter is telling me. While I’ve been researching all these jobs on the internet I end up running into more “specialized” jobs like propulsion or avionics.
Also, What kinds of things do they go into for security clearences for jobs? Just curious. Nothing bad on my record at all.
Thanks again.
The investigation for Top Secret is quite in-depth. They go back to your full work and school history. They’ll interview family and friends, past co-workers and bosses, previous teachers, etc. They’ll of course pull up any criminal record and financial history as well. They’ll want to know about any international travel or any contacts with foreign nationals. There is also a 3 – 5 hour interview you have with the investigator.
Best advice is to just be honest. If you are honest you won’t get tripped up telling a different story. Your old friend from high school that tells them you did drugs together won’t mess up your story either.
Depends. When u go to meps u will have to obviously show ur strrngth on a machine called. The x-factor if i remember right. Basically u lift a bar that has been weighted at a certain amount of weight over ur head. Depending on how much weight u lift will determine what jobs u can qualify for. For example: electrician u need to lift 90 pounds over ur head. Crew chief is 80. My advice, wen they call u up to the machine. Start out with the most weight u think u can handle. Wen i went through. He strted me at 70 pounds. I lifted it. Then he told me to lift 80 pounds. I lifted it. Then he told me to lift 90. I couldnt do it cus i was already worn out from the first 2 reps. The job i wanted required me to lift 90 and i couldnt do it. So i got disqualified for that type of job. If i wouldve known that i would have started at 90 first. Start out high in wieght. Also ur asvab scores play a huge role in what jobs u qualify for as well.
As far as security clearance they check ur background. On everything. Whether uve been arrested or charged with anything. Basically a routine FBI background check. But they have access to everything. U should be fine tho.
Depending on what type of plane u are assigned to will determine ur security clearance. Secret or top secret.
Any other questions?
Haha, no other questions at the moment. This is probably the best forum I’ve read. My wife and I are trying to get as much information as possible before I join. The decision has already been made that I WANT to do this, its just a matter of preparing ourselves for the moves and lifestyle. If you have any info on being married in the AirForce, that would be great too.
Oh ya, I was talking to my Pops earlier, he’s QA at a Naval base in South Texas (civilian). He said that if I get an aerospace propulsion job that it would help me get my A&P license. Is this true or does it just help with having the experience? Thanks again.
I’ll copy/paste some info that I’ve posted on another site before regarding what it is like for wife/family. If you have more specific questions, please let me know.
———– copy/paste ———–
It can be difficult for family, and a lot of it depends on your job, or your husbands job rather. For instance I am a space operator working on satellites, my job very very rarely ever deploys. I went to Iraq in 2009 for four months as a volunteer assignment, but I didn’t have to take it. Other jobs, like cops, personnelists, etc are deployed every 6 months for 6 months at a time, so the wife and family are left on their own for basically half the time that the person is in the military.
Even my job is difficult at times because most missions require being operational 24/7, meaning that the people performing the job have to work all hours of the day. When I was on an operational crew I worked 2 day shifts, 2 swing shifts, and 2 night shifts, then I was off for 3.5 days. So you have no weekends, finding childcare is hard if the wife works because you’re always on or off on random days. Before that I worked 13 hour shifts with 4 day shifts (6am to 7pm) then 4 off, then 4 night shifts, 4 off, etc. For those four days of work you basically can’t do anything but go to work, maybe have supper or breakfast with the family, then go to sleep and get up to work again. It’s a very difficult schedule.
You also have to realize that the mission and Air Force comes first most of the time, so expect missed birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, baby births, etc. Again, this depends on your job and luck of the draw. Some jobs in the Air Force are 7:30am to 4:30pm Monday – Friday. I was in Iraq for my own birthday, valentine’s day, etc. A friend of mine that I was there with has already gone back to Qatar this time, for a year. Luckily he was able to be there for the birth of his daughter, but he had to deploy 2 weeks later for a year so he will miss most of her first year of life.
There’s a saying that the hardest job in the military is that of the military spouse, and it is true in some ways. If you have kids now, you can expect to be raising them on your own some of the time.
Again it’s really heavily dependent on the job. I don’t want to scare you that you’ll never see your husband again if he joins, some people are in the full 20 years or more and never deploy once. Others are gone half the time.
There are a lot of good things about the AF as well. For one the insurance is free and good. My son has some health problems and we haven’t paid a dime for any of his care other than a very small co-pay for some medication. His last hospital stay was $18,000 just for the room, not including all of the specialized tests and doctors and everything. It’s such a relief to not have to worry about that cost. Even with a lot of civilian insurance the co-pay would have been significant for that fee. The military also has a lot of support for families, lots of activities on base, counseling if you need it, and a lot of the families stick together and support each other pretty well. We live on base right now, so it’s really safe and we go out for walks all the time and there are playgrounds everywhere for our son.
I think my wife would say that overall it’s a positive lifestyle and the sacrifices have been worth the benefits. There are bad days where we’d both like for me to quit if I could so we could just go home, but they pass. However, if I was deployed for half of the 4 years I’ve been in, I imagine she would have a different opinion about staying in.
If u want to raise a family. Then i suggest picking somethin other than maintenance. U will be deployed alot and it takes a huge tole on family life. Ive deployed 2 times this year and have been gone for 4 months at a time. And they just raised the months to 6 months now vs the 4 month deployment.
Im not tryin to make u change ur mind i just want u to expect the worst wen joining maintenance.
And to get ur A and P licence. Any job in maintenance will get u closer to that. The way it is for me is. U are required to work on the flightline for 3 yrs just to get referred to take the test. Then u go away for about a month. Yhere they basically teach u the test and then u take it. U have to take an individual test for the propulsion part and a test for the other components and airframe.
So in that u will have to wait 3 yrs of ur first enlistment just to get referred to take the test.
U cant start doing anything until u get ur 5 lvl and all of ur core tasks complete
As a crew chief. Ur job consists of refueling, jacking the plain, towing the plain, inspecting before flight, thruflight and after flight, and making sure the aircrew is prepared for takeoff. Other than that u do a few things here and there on the plane. Maybe change a light bulb here or there. The only major maintenance u do is change tires, brakes, maybe a leading edge, change windows (which takes forever to do), panels on the plane, and miscellaneous things that are other than specialist jobs like engines E and E or Com/Nav.
U are able to assist those specialist but thats usually after u have attained ur 5 lvl and have completed ur core tasks. And if nothing else on the flightline is going on( which is nvr).
If u want to be in maintenance i suggest picking engines or somethingg other than crew chief. Those jobs are better than crew chief.
Nice. Thanks for the suggestion. I was just going over some jobs and I’m leaning more toward aerospace propulsion. Although I know I could end up doing something else, its all good. Sorry for all the questions. Again, I’m just trying to get as much info as I can before I take off to BMT.
So, overall, you seem like you like the AirForce and don’t regret it. Am I right? We’re getting real excited over here about me leaving, but it’s a long process it seems just to get to BMT.
I absolutely dont and never will regret joining. It was a great decision and i wouldnt be where i am today without it. Nevertheless i dont like being in the military. I miss ppl back home and miss the “freedom” feelin of civilian life. I miss doing and choosing to do my own thing. Im not proffessional nor am i serious and never will i be. I have 2 years left and cant wait to get out. I joined for 4. Its been great. Im just not made for the military. Im not a bad Airman. Never been in trouble. But i want my “freedom” back.
The decision to join has set me up for success. I will be a veteran. Can get loans and services from the VA. Always will be taken care of through medical needs from the VA. I will get disability wen i get out from some medical issues i have. And will still have my life insurance from the military as well. Dont forget the G.I. Bill. Not to mention the experiences and skills ive obtained from my job. Since ive been a crew chief i should have no problem gettin a job at an airport or airlines job. I actually have it set up already for me to join southwest in there services as a ramp agent. Cant wait for that.
So i mean definitly love what the military has gave me. Im just not made for the rigors and setbacks it entitles.
Wen they say u sign ur life away. They mean it. They own u. Lol!
Also be prepared to work crazy hrs. There are three shifts. Days, swings, and mids. Day hr are 630 to 230, swings are 230 to 1030, an mids are 1030 to 630. Mids is the worst and swings is the best. Days is a normal job. I work swings. The hrs are fantastic on this shift
I’ve worked similar hours but on a rotating schedule. Two day shifts, two swing shifts, and then two mid shifts. It’s pretty brutal. There are lots of different ways to make a schedule for people that have to work 24/7. Most of them suck.
Yes lol wen i was deployed i worked 5 days on and 1 day off and it just kept goin like that so my day off was a diff day each time and i was on 12 hr shifts. 1230pm to 1230am. Man that sucked big time. Lol. For 4 months. Im goin back in jan lol. This time for 6 months
Damn, I’ve worked crazy hours before but nothing like that. Is it true that if I get stationed overseas that my family will be able to go with me, but not if Im just deployed. Thats a different thing?
Yes if you are permanently stationed overseas your family would be able to go. That’s only to certain places like Germany though. And yes if it’s a deployment like to the middle east then they can’t go. You also have long remote tours overseas like to Korea for a year where you can’t bring your family. All depends on what job you get and what assignments are available and what you get selected for.
In maintenance the 1 yr assignment does happen. As of right now where im at the 1 yr tour to korea is volunteer. If u do decide to volunteer for that u are able to choose ur next base instead of the military choosing. It has its perks.
What course are u asking about?
Hey I just booked a SERE instructor job. Do y’all know any SERE instructors?
Nope.