how much diff is AIT compared to basic?

[KentuckyGirl]

I will be going to ft. lee after basic, i have a little over a month left of basic,
and i really don't know what AIT will be like, other than you go to school and do a lot of job related stuff and when do you do PT and stuff ??

[Mom's Mistake]

Someone who has your MOS will know the details better, but from what I've gathered is that AIT is different for everyone. What seems to be the same for all is that it's a restrictive form of college where you're on a schedule with formations, and that it goes through phases. As you get into each new phase, you're given more liberties.

If you're prior service, then AIT is more like active duty where you do your morning PT then "9 to 5" schooling, and the nights and weekends are yours.

[speed_of_dark]

For me at Ft. Jackson, we generally got out of class anywhere from noon to 4pm. After that was "barracks maintenance" (personal time, just don't get caught sleeping) until chow. Then personal time until lights out at 10 pm. A lot more freedom than BCT. Your MOS will determine how much training time you have and I'm sure your free time will depend on what company you're with. Some have lax Sergeants and some have strict Sergeants (or a combination, so it depends on the day what AIT is like). Weekends we did cleaning details and then got an on post pass, so most ppl went to the PX or the bowling alley. And at least from my experience, the smoke sessions in AIT are a joke compared to Basic. Getting put in front leaning rest over and over is no smoking. I had worse at reception.

Edit: For a second there I was wondering how it is you have a month of Basic left and you're on a computer. Then I realized you must be on Christmas Exodus.

[PFC Lowe]

Once again, your AIT experience will vary by brigade, batallion, company, platoon, and even what DS are around. Wait until you get there and find out.

[7011USMC]

[QUOTE=PFC Lowe]Once again, your AIT experience will vary by brigade, batallion, company, platoon, and even what DS are around. Wait until you get there and find out.[/QUOTE]

Thats what I'm talking about "SHOCK and AWE".

[PFC Lowe]

Here was my AIT experience. Sundays we had free time after breakfast and depending on how jacked up platoons were, some of us got on post passes. Mon-Sat we PT'ed at 0430 like we did in BCT, but we also did evening PT. We did a lot more PT and MOS training as a platoon rather than with the entire company. Somewhere around week 5 of AIT (halfway point) we were kicked back into red phase. Supposedly for most of the MP companies at FLW you go back to red phase before hitting gold as a shock and awe treatment and to remind you that it can still happen if you lose military bearing just because you are about to graduate. It's also in part to see if people can hold it together and stay focused.

[KentuckyGirl]

wow AIT sounds pretty crappy.. ahhh

[California Major]

Usually more relaxed than basic, think of it as your "probationary" phase. If you can manage yourselves, you will collectively get more freedom. Act like you need supervision, and you will get plenty of it.

[Lance13A]

here is an example of my experience: At basic, we were allowed 3 px trips (marched there by a DS) the entire time. At AIT, we went to the club/hotel party/sports bar/western bar/anything involving drinking every weekend after like 3 weeks.

But, i was in one of the strictest BCT companies at Ft Benning, and one of the easiest AIT batteries at Ft Sill. Just depends on luck. I wouldn't have had it any other way, though.

[PFC Lowe]

On that note we got an off post pass the weekend after phase V FTX and then the weekend before graduation we got an off-post overnight if you passed everything.

[SC kid]

ait for me was wasn't bad.. up at 4 am, pt 5-630, barracks mantiance, chow, school from 730-1700 w/ chow at 1130, chow at 1730, then personal time depending on how the barracks looked depended on the gi-party. we had cell phones, laptops, everything you could think of... but mine was suppose to be 25weeks but got done in 17.5. saturday and sunday was just whatever. even went home a few times. you'll enjoy it!

[kswat07]

[quote=PFC Lowe]Here was my AIT experience. Sundays we had free time after breakfast and depending on how jacked up platoons were, some of us got on post passes. Mon-Sat we PT'ed at 0430 like we did in BCT, but we also did evening PT. We did a lot more PT and MOS training as a platoon rather than with the entire company. Somewhere around week 5 of AIT (halfway point) we were kicked back into red phase. Supposedly for most of the MP companies at FLW you go back to red phase before hitting gold as a shock and awe treatment and to remind you that it can still happen if you lose military bearing just because you are about to graduate. It's also in part to see if people can hold it together and stay focused.[/quote]
Gold phase for us was worse than red phase. AIT for D795 was more like extended BCT. We only got maybe 4 sunday passes that lasted 4 -5 hrs. Except july 4th was like 10 hours.

[7011USMC]

[QUOTE=kswat07]Gold phase for us was worse than red phase. AIT for D795 was more like extended BCT. We only got maybe 4 sunday passes that lasted 4 -5 hrs. Except july 4th was like 10 hours.[/QUOTE]

OOHRAH! I'm glad some of the "Hats" are still holding the line.

[clyde]

[QUOTE=KentuckyGirl]I will be going to [B][I]ft. lee[/I][/B] after basic, i have a little over a month left of basic,
and i really don't know what AIT will be like, other than you go to school and do a lot of job related stuff and when do you do PT and stuff ??[/QUOTE]


I got home from Ft Lee 2 weeks ago and I'm glad to be done with training. First of all, what is your MOS? I'm a 92Y. We had 2 companies of 92Y's. Bravo and Papa. I was at Bravo. Papa was awful.

Typical day at Bravo (M-F):
0345-0420: Hygiene and clean your room (with only 1 mop bucket and 4 brooms)
0420-0450: Toe the line till PS checked your room.
0450-0500: first formation/march to chow.
0500-0545: Chow then march to the school hours.
0600-1330: LOOOOOOONG day at class (don't fall asleep)
1340-1415: form up outside of school and march to chow (yes no lunch break at school)
1415-1500: Lunch Chow then march back to the company.
[B]1500-1645: Battle drills and training for Log Warrior challenge (yes you still do battle drills)
1645-1700: Change into PT's
1700-1830: formed up and marched to the PT track. PT lasted about 45 minutes and was usually really good [/B]

[I]Our afternoon scheduled changed almost daily. We never got the PT they said they would give us. Infact, we got smoked more at AIT then I ever did at BCT. Now, I'm a 35 year old man and never "liked" being smoked, however, when it was the only PT you got (last 5 weeks of AIT) then you didn't mind it.[/I]

1800-1945: personal time, conduct personal hygiene and laundry. Also, Bay-guard shifts ran every 2 hours from 1800 till 0400. Usually you were assigned Bay-guard 3 times a week.
1945-2045: Final formation and accountability.
2100 lights out.

Now if you actually got to sleep at 2100 you may get enough sleep. But I could never sleep till 2200. Usually 5.75 hours of sleep each night (M-F)

Weekends were a little better:
Saturday
0600-0630 wake-up, hygiene, clean room
0630-0700 first formation and march to chow
0700-0745 breakfast chow.
0800-1200 Area Beautification (400 soldiers raking the area with 12 rakes, 15 trash bags, and 6 brooms.) This day sucked
1200-1300 Listen to the First Sergent talk about what not to do, or "you'll get the Business." ex SF and all high speed. When you saw the 1st sgt, you knew that your personal time was going to be eaten up.
1300-1400 Room Inspection(don't go on pass till rooms are clean)
1400-1500 Passes issued. (when you get your pass, get the heck out of there!)
2145-2230 final formation/accountability. Be back on time!
2300 Lights out.

Sunday
NO wake up on Sunday.
No first formation
No Breakfast Chow!

0930 Brunch served (till 1330) if you wanted to or, you were released on pass. (get out of Dodge folks!)
1930-2030 final formation/accountability
2100-0345 SLEEP.

Now keep in mind you still are assigned Bay-Guard on the weekends. If you have an off-post pass, you can pay a battle buddy to do your shift for you. If not, you had to be back at the barracks in time for your shift...Don't ever be late!

You're experience will be different than mine, I'm sure. Each battalion, company, and platoon will be run differently. Also it is different for each MOS. I left Ft. Benning with 65 people going to Ft. Lee. 15 of them were 92Y. I only saw a handful of the other 50 on the weekends or while at the various doctor appointments through the training. My experience was positive. I know we had the best (most laid back ) Platoon Sergents in our company. Also, we were the most well behaved. We maybe got smoked 2 or 3 times as a platoon (the rest were with the company) I enjoyed my time at AIT but sooo glad it's over. My right-of-passage is complete and not a moment too soon.

If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

[7011USMC]

Welcome Home Clyde. I bet you don't take your freedom for granted now?

Congrats! Now it is easy street from here on out; Soon you'll be a supply NCO and will be everyone's buddy or enemy:D.

[KentuckyGirl]

wow sounds like basic part 2. at jackson now, they don't check our bays really, our lockers are set up the way we want them set up... gotta feeling AIT is going to suck really bad for me. instead i thought you slept in a dorm like room and got more freedom, less battle drills, thought it was PT, classes... stuff like that.:confused:

[kswat07]

[quote=KentuckyGirl]wow sounds like basic part 2. at jackson now, they don't check our bays really, our lockers are set up the way we want them set up... gotta feeling AIT is going to suck really bad for me. instead i thought you slept in a dorm like room and got more freedom, less battle drills, thought it was PT, classes... stuff like that.:confused:[/quote]
It all just comes down to your cadre and MOS.

[PFC Lowe]

[QUOTE=kswat07]It all just comes down to your cadre and MOS.[/QUOTE]

Gee I think I've seen that said once or twice before:p

[kswat07]

[quote=PFC Lowe]Gee I think I've seen that said once or twice before:p[/quote]
I know, but some people just need to hear it more than others. Lol

[apagea99]

LOL Clyde! That's a fun schedule. I've been at Ft Sam since 12 Nov and I got to fast-track straight to phase 5. Up until exodus, here's what our schedule has looked like:

04:30 wake up (sometimes earlier or later depending on what's going on)
05:10 first formation
05:30 PT (if and when we actually did it - 1 to 2 times a week has been the norm LOL)
06:30 showers and bay maintenance
07:30 chow formation
08:30 formation and march to class
13:00 lunch chow formation
13:50 formation and back to class
17:30 formation and released for the evening
21:00 final formation/bed check/make sure your buddies don't get caught doing whatever they were doing for the last 4 hours or we're all screwed check

Friday night bed check has been 23:00.

Saturday schedule:

07:30 wake up
08:30 first formation
09:00 released for the day
23:00 bed check

Sunday schedule:

07:30 wake up
08:30 first formation
09:00 released for the day
18:30 recall formation
21:00 bed check

Yeah, we have off-base passes after class every night and every weekend. We should be phasing up again when we return this weekend and getting some more privileges.

[KentuckyGirl]

[QUOTE=apagea99]LOL Clyde! That's a fun schedule. I've been at Ft Sam since 12 Nov and I got to fast-track straight to phase 5. Up until exodus, here's what our schedule has looked like:

04:30 wake up (sometimes earlier or later depending on what's going on)
05:10 first formation
05:30 PT (if and when we actually did it - 1 to 2 times a week has been the norm LOL)
06:30 showers and bay maintenance
07:30 chow formation
08:30 formation and march to class
13:00 lunch chow formation
13:50 formation and back to class
17:30 formation and released for the evening
21:00 final formation/bed check/make sure your buddies don't get caught doing whatever they were doing for the last 4 hours or we're all screwed check

Friday night bed check has been 23:00.

Saturday schedule:

07:30 wake up
08:30 first formation
09:00 released for the day
23:00 bed check

Sunday schedule:

07:30 wake up
08:30 first formation
09:00 released for the day
18:30 recall formation
21:00 bed check

Yeah, we have off-base passes after class every night and every weekend. We should be phasing up again when we return this weekend and getting some more privileges.[/QUOTE]



can you have laptops? did you get to keep your cell phones entire time?

[apagea99]

[QUOTE=KentuckyGirl]can you have laptops? did you get to keep your cell phones entire time?[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure about Phase 4 soldiers, but Phase 5 can have cell phones, laptops, etc. DO NOT ever carry your phone to class or even have it on you during instruction hours. We even have people with TVs and gaming systems in their lockers. It probably depends on what company you belong to.

[PFC Lowe]

[QUOTE=apagea99]I'm not sure about Phase 4 soldiers, but Phase 5 can have cell phones, laptops, etc. DO NOT ever carry your phone to class or even have it on you during instruction hours. We even have people with TVs and gaming systems in their lockers. It [B]does [/B]depends on what company you belong to.[/QUOTE]

Fixed it for you

[KentuckyGirl]

[QUOTE=apagea99]I'm not sure about Phase 4 soldiers, but Phase 5 can have cell phones, laptops, etc. DO NOT ever carry your phone to class or even have it on you during instruction hours. We even have people with TVs and gaming systems in their lockers. It probably depends on what company you belong to.[/QUOTE]


that's crazy, i thought at least you get your cell phones. more lies that I was told... awesome... isn't phase 5 like close to graduating, big deal.

[7011USMC]

[QUOTE=KentuckyGirl]that's crazy, i thought at least you get your cell phones. more lies that I was told... awesome... isn't phase 5 like close to graduating, big deal.[/QUOTE]

LOL we tried to forworn you. Embrace the suck. You are a trainnee until your MOSQ'd. The more inconvenienced you experience the better the quality of training you recieve. LOL not really. Look at it as a "rite of passage".

Good luck going back to training day 1 after exodus.:D. Remember it will end soon and you will go back to your normal life. Then it's one weekend a month and two weeks at AT. Unless you get MOBed.