Any tips on learning the General Orders & Chain of Command

[SeanGl91]

I leave for boot camp Jan 21st 2014 & I'm having trouble memorizing both the general orders and chain of command. Does anybody have any suggestions/tips to make my life a lil easier before bootcamp?

[peterson0015]

I have a one gallon jug I drink everyday and I took a Marker and wrote them on the jug and measured some lines and leave it in sight at work and at home and i just glance at it try and say one and if i get it wrong I have to take a drink from line to the next good way to get your water intake for the day needless to say i pissed alot when i first started it haha

[HMSEIFERT]

I memorized the general orders by listening to them on YouTube over and over

[LT Guppy]

Well, the chain of command will change once you get there.

There's a good mnemonic device on this site.
I learned them by saying them backwards. So the first is:
"To take charge of this post and all government property in view."
I learned it by saying to myself:
"View. In view. Property in view. Government property in view. All government property in view. And all government property in view. Post and all government property in view. This post and all government property in view. Of this post and all government property in view.
Charge of this post and all government property in view. Take charge of this post and all government property in view. To take charge of this post and all government property in view."

Also, learn them out of order, because you'll b asked "spew hats your fifth general order?" or something like that.

[Soccer_cat]

I recorded them on my iphone and listened to it while driving

[cswheeler12]

My best advice to learning the general orders are to repeat them at attention in your room every night. It seems obnoxious and pointless but trust me you will benefit from it when you get there. Also, learn your ranks. You will be asked questions during inspections such as, what does the Commanding Officer of RTC wear on the sleeve of his dress blue uniform? Learn everything!!!!!!

[llamayamaa]

I found that writing my orders down helped me learn them, word for word. I started by just writing the number and what each order was about, i.e. 1- take charge, government property. Then I gradually started memorizing the words in between my cue words, to "take charge of this post and all government property in view." You can also know for certain if you added a within vs. in, 'an alarm' vs 'the alarm,' 'time of challenging' vs 'time for challenging,' etc. Plus, you can practice your recruit handwriting at the same time.

As for the CoC, don't worry about learning the names of anyone in the command since some of them will most likely change with the new year. Instead, learn the order of titles, i.e. SECNAV comes before CNO which comes before the MCPON, etc.

[BubbaGumps64]

Flash cards. They have become my best friend when it comes to memorization. Then shuffle them up so they're in a random order, the general orders any ways.

[Auridan]

I've seen a lot of people at A school studying these things (yes, you still need it, and yes, somehow people manage to forget!) very poorly, and the biggest bad habit to avoid is practicing mistakes. If you're reciting an order and you miss a word, STOP, and start over. Don't ever reinforce a mess-up, or it'll be that much harder to get the right one cemented.

As for chain of command, you'll just have to figure out how to do that for the rest of your career. You're always going to need to know who your boss is. When I was in JROTC it was very helpful that we had an actual diagram with pictures in it. Also, try to learn them in groups. For example, RDML Mewbourne and CMDCM Walker of Naval Service Training Command were paired in my mind by the fact that when I first heard it, I thought the admiral's name was Newbourne. Newborns don't Walk. Bam, association: silly, but effective.