Spook
10-26-2014, 10:52 AM
I'm in A-school right now in Pensacola, Florida on Corry station. I graduated bootcamp about a week or two ago. There are a lot of things people seem to get a little fuzzy on this website. I'm going to recap from the day I arrived.
Bootcamp essentially starts at the Chicago O'Hare airport. After leaving the USO the whole group of you will meet up with a petty officer who will handle your transportation to bootcamp. just listen and you'll start off fine. You'll hop on a bus to RTC. On the way you'll watch a quick video on "The CO's top 6". Once you arrive, you hustle off the bus and line up inside the p-way. Your P-days start here! The first portion of the night will consist of you being issued your PT gear (your uniform for the next week) and shipping your civilian items back home. While you're in the process of shipping your items home youll decide what items you'll be keeping with you throughout bootcamp. If you have a bible, pictures, medallions, or anything that isn't considered contraband you will be putting it into a knit bag. A knit bag is about the size of a sheet of paper (maybe a tad bigger). The items you have will HAVE to fit into that bag if you wish to keep it. The rest of the night was pretty fuzzy for me, I was tired. Your basic military necessities will be issued to you and you'll be brought to your home for the next week. The people you see around you are your division. However, you will not meet your RDCs until you are out of P-days. P-days suck, a lot. Anyone you ask will tell you that they were the worst part of bootcamp. Its not that you're getting yelled at, for most its the fact that there life just changed in an instant. It doesn't take long to adjust to the lifestyle though. During these days you will learn the basics of folding and stowing your items, making your bunk, and developing your military bearing.
Everyone should know that the Navy is ALWAYS changing. What my bootcamp experience was like will more than likely be different than someone else's. For instance, When I arrived, when boots where issued you wore them for the remainder of the time you were in bootcamp (while in proper uniform of course). Now, Boots and sneakers are alternated because recruits kept complaining about the blisters.
Leadership rolls. When I left Navydep put me under the impression that leadership rolls were randomly selected. Maybe for the first few days for for the sake of having someone to lead the division, otherwise there are no random selections. High profile leadership rolls (RPOC, Yoeman, MA) require you to show your RDC's what you got and show that you want it. Volunteering can also get you a leadership position that is a little less high profile. If your locker and bunk look amazing all the time and they have nothing wrong with them there is the possibility of becoming a Section Leader. Your RDC will either go through everyone's bunks and pick some candidates for the positions or there will be a group that volunteers and their rack will be looked at. Mail, Head, and Laundry POs are the positions that get filled by volunteers. There are always pros and cons to being in any position. So keep your ears open for the opportunities.
A large portion of your time in bootcamp will be preparing for inspections. You will have inspections over your uniform, bunk, locker, and marching. These inspections determine how well your division matches up against all others in your training group (divisions graduating at the same time as you). Your score on your inspection among with everyone else's will be averaged, effecting your divisional score. The maximum score a division can get is 5.0. depending on your score, your division will earn titles such as "Battle Bug", "Battle E", "CNO", and "Hall of Fame". Scoring high enough to be counted among CNO or Hall of Fame is not easy. On a basic level, these flags show everyone how well you did in bootcamp. The only perk comes with being a Hall of Fame division. If you don't make Hall of Fame your division will stand watching during liberty after graduation. Hall of Fame divisions do not. Plus they get bragging rights. My division was CNO and I, unfortunately, had to stand watch right after graduation.
Please ask more questions. I have answers.
Bootcamp essentially starts at the Chicago O'Hare airport. After leaving the USO the whole group of you will meet up with a petty officer who will handle your transportation to bootcamp. just listen and you'll start off fine. You'll hop on a bus to RTC. On the way you'll watch a quick video on "The CO's top 6". Once you arrive, you hustle off the bus and line up inside the p-way. Your P-days start here! The first portion of the night will consist of you being issued your PT gear (your uniform for the next week) and shipping your civilian items back home. While you're in the process of shipping your items home youll decide what items you'll be keeping with you throughout bootcamp. If you have a bible, pictures, medallions, or anything that isn't considered contraband you will be putting it into a knit bag. A knit bag is about the size of a sheet of paper (maybe a tad bigger). The items you have will HAVE to fit into that bag if you wish to keep it. The rest of the night was pretty fuzzy for me, I was tired. Your basic military necessities will be issued to you and you'll be brought to your home for the next week. The people you see around you are your division. However, you will not meet your RDCs until you are out of P-days. P-days suck, a lot. Anyone you ask will tell you that they were the worst part of bootcamp. Its not that you're getting yelled at, for most its the fact that there life just changed in an instant. It doesn't take long to adjust to the lifestyle though. During these days you will learn the basics of folding and stowing your items, making your bunk, and developing your military bearing.
Everyone should know that the Navy is ALWAYS changing. What my bootcamp experience was like will more than likely be different than someone else's. For instance, When I arrived, when boots where issued you wore them for the remainder of the time you were in bootcamp (while in proper uniform of course). Now, Boots and sneakers are alternated because recruits kept complaining about the blisters.
Leadership rolls. When I left Navydep put me under the impression that leadership rolls were randomly selected. Maybe for the first few days for for the sake of having someone to lead the division, otherwise there are no random selections. High profile leadership rolls (RPOC, Yoeman, MA) require you to show your RDC's what you got and show that you want it. Volunteering can also get you a leadership position that is a little less high profile. If your locker and bunk look amazing all the time and they have nothing wrong with them there is the possibility of becoming a Section Leader. Your RDC will either go through everyone's bunks and pick some candidates for the positions or there will be a group that volunteers and their rack will be looked at. Mail, Head, and Laundry POs are the positions that get filled by volunteers. There are always pros and cons to being in any position. So keep your ears open for the opportunities.
A large portion of your time in bootcamp will be preparing for inspections. You will have inspections over your uniform, bunk, locker, and marching. These inspections determine how well your division matches up against all others in your training group (divisions graduating at the same time as you). Your score on your inspection among with everyone else's will be averaged, effecting your divisional score. The maximum score a division can get is 5.0. depending on your score, your division will earn titles such as "Battle Bug", "Battle E", "CNO", and "Hall of Fame". Scoring high enough to be counted among CNO or Hall of Fame is not easy. On a basic level, these flags show everyone how well you did in bootcamp. The only perk comes with being a Hall of Fame division. If you don't make Hall of Fame your division will stand watching during liberty after graduation. Hall of Fame divisions do not. Plus they get bragging rights. My division was CNO and I, unfortunately, had to stand watch right after graduation.
Please ask more questions. I have answers.