My dad was drafted in 1967. He took his Basic Training at Ft. Benning, GA. In those days he said the Drill Sergeants were ruthless, most of them were Korean War vets. He said they'd beat a recruit senseless if needed and if you complained , well you didn't out loud. After Basic he went to Ft. Gordon then Ft. Bragg . Then the Army wanted him to use the skills he acquired so they sent him to Vietnam......Then he stated he knew why the Drill Sergeants were so ruthless, war is no joke.
@@Neal_Schier I just watched an old 1970 USMC basic training video much like this. Obviously they aren't going to show the beatings and the extreme yelling and "motivation", but they did show a bit of the yelling, funny thing is they have that marine yelling talking that you see today. That said they also show how there's a good amount of classroom study and field study as well.
That ruthlessness paid off. Those Koreans vet wanted the upcoming generation to be some of the best warriors to live and they were. God bless your father and all those who served
My grandfather volunteered for the Army during Vietnam as soon as he turned 18, in order to escape the fate of working in a coal mine for the rest of his life. He was flight engineer for a CH-47 crew. I'm glad he survived being shot down twice so that I could be born and, more importantly, have someone like him to look up to.
I just caught myself wondering how many of these recruits depicted in this film were killed or wounded in Vietnam. My absolute respect to all of them (and their families) for serving under those conditions.
Probably none of them. casualties in Vietnam compared to how many men actually served is really small. The NVA lost close to a million combat personnel by the end of the war we lost about 58,000
@@mattbanco4406 we lost 58000 and the enemy lost over a million. Some out there say we lost the war....but where i come from thats thats a victory! Dont get me wrong i wish we could have lost zero but war is war.
@@briandavenport8971 Ironically in the long run, communist Vietnam became a popular tourist destination for Americans. Imagine telling that to an American back in the 60-70's.
In 1967 I was 9 years old and my uncle was 18 and he went to the marines, he went to boot at camp legune I believe. When he finished he came home a totally different person, then on to Vietnam until 1972, he was a mess, drinking, drugs, nightmares, he's now 72 years old, retired from post office, 4 grown daughters, thanks for everything uncle clarence.
I remember when I was 6 my brother was a marine and went to Vietnam when he came back he had really bad PTSD my brother felt really guilty because during a firefight one of his friends who was a corpsman got killed by a sniper my brother didn't grab him and put him back in the bushes when he was standing next to him the other thing that really messed my brother up was when his squad got overwhelmed and the killed everyone but my brother survived by throwing one of his dead friends over the top of him after the nva left after they stripped everything off the dead marines it took 4 days for a marine unit to find him after he came home from Vietnam I rarely saw him for a long time my parents said he joined a commune but I think it was more than that When he finally did come home to the family you learned not to wake him up because he had real bad flashbacks and thought the nva was trying to get him he passed in 2015 he had agent orange and his liver was shot but before he passed a nurse that was taking care of him told me that he thought someone was trying get him and I told her that he was a Vietnam vet though after he passed I learned more why he did that it was because his whole squad got wiped out and he was the only survivor his at peace now no more flashbacks like he had for the last 50 years after he came back from Vietnam I appologize for ranting about this.
@@borisyelp5195 man thats not a rant, thats a memory of your uncles haunting memories of war, as a kid myself I recall my uncle, I joined the navy in '77 and was amongst vietnam vets and only missed Nam by a year or 2.
After finishing a session of unarmed combat training the drill sergeant said, God help you if you ever get in a fight and have to depend on this. He was speaking the truth.
I served in afganistan and desert shield, and storm. I guess the only difference is that I was not drafted. I made a choice, and these guys didn't. All my respect to them.
As an investor in big oil, I thank you for your service. Your sacrifice helped make me wealthy. Who cares about the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children who died?
+Joe Rock He says as he eats food brought to him with... Oil. You might hate it, but oil prices affect the price of everything else. Our economy runs on oil. Obama's approach to destroy it was treason. If you want to replace it, you need to make clean energy cheaper and superior in every way. The free market will then automatically phase out oil. If you have any better ideas, feel free to present them. Whining like a little bitch isn't constructive.
1967, I was only 17yrs old then, quit school, roaming the streets, till 1 day I Volunteered for the Draft. I had my dear mother sign for me to go. I was the youngest of 5, and I was sent to Ft. Polk, La., where I did my best, my memories are fading now, but as I have reach the sun set of my life, I know I will see my buddies again, we were all so young back then. Thank You.
I love these basic training videos, my Dad went into the Army in 1967 at Ft. Benning, GA. I did Air Force boot camp in 1992 and my son did AF Bootcamp in 2021.
In 1967 I graduated from High school and attempted to enlist in the USMC. I was 17 and need my parent's signature to enlist. My Father, the WWII infantryman was not going to send his son to Viet Nam. In 1969 I was drafted, then enlisted at the reception station. My DIs were more like "Full Metal Jacket" than those depicted here. They could and did lay hands upon you as they saw fit to motivate you. It worked!
@@ralphgreenjr.2466 thank you for you’re service.🫡🇺🇸 my grandfather was almost sent to Vietnam he was full Chinese and he used to be called a viet. His sergeant told him “this is what we kill” I hope you the best.
Went through basic twice 1956 and 1963. Attended jump school and photography school during 1st tour. Reenlisted in 1963 went through basic again, but wore tailored fatigues with shadow of SP4 insignia and jump wings. That caused a lot of questions, but my company commander looked at my form 20 and verified I earned them. Went to grunt AIT then Infantry OCS First assignment went to The Domican Republic during combat, two tours in Vietnam. Retired 1980 as a major.
Impressive. I wouldn't want to go through basic a second time. Would feel like shit to be sorted back with boots when I've been in longer than they've had hair on their balls.
The drill sergeants in my area of time figured out how to beat somebody up without touching them. They would make it seem as if it was my fault that all the other men were doing extra push-ups then they had a grill going where if you screwed up you had to do 20 push-ups. Well then men in the barracks would give you a blanket party if they figured they were doing push-ups because of your mistakes. Then of course the drill sergeant would say that the pen is mightier than the sword. He said will send you the Leavenworth that's a prison in Kansas. Or they were just plain run you around the barracks till you dropped. Most of my drill sergeants were Vietnam veterans and one was a Marine when he was in Vietnam and then afterwards he became a drill instructor with the Marine corps. He went over to the army side and there we have him making us push-up fort Gordon. And we couldn't go to the dayroom we didn't have time till after basic training.
My Dad was drafted in 1966 into the Army. Being the only son on a farm he talked to the county agent on getting a deferral but was told even after going through hoops to get one it would only be good for 6 months and then he'd be back on the draft list. The agent said "just go and get it over with". (He ended up in West Germany thankfully. I think my grandparents did a lot of praying.) He said at the end of boot camp his drill sergeants marched them out to the woods and had them fall out to tubs of iced down beer and soda that they'd bought on their own as a little treat for finishing basic.
In '66, all he needed was a marriage license to not be drafted. It was later changed to also having a child. As an "enlisted volunteer", it was a different matter.
My cousin was drafted around 1968 and was dreading going to Nam. He thought for sure he was going die but he was sent to W Germany and had a great time. You never know.
Don't waste time money and pain getting them drilled and filled. They are only going to lead to root canals and eventually broken-off crowns down the road. Just have the cavity teeth extracted and install implants. By the time you are my age you will have a pristine mouth ear-to-ear in fake, indestructible. beautiful crowned implants and you'll not only never have to see a dentist again but you won't even have to brush or floss!
Many of them are still alive. My father was also drafted during the Vietnam war and did basic training at Fort Benning. He ended up being in the ninth infantry, division, He is still alive and well. His older brother served in the Korean War who just turned 94 last year and is also doing very good..
I found myself in Army BCT 4 years after this film was made. Hadn't seen it until now and this is as close to reality as it was in my time. Found myself nodding, laughing, and shaking my head while watching because I shared most of this. Good times.
Not bad advice, but as far as attracting unwanted attention,THAT pretty much is, or WAS, (at least for me), a "crap shoot"...Didn't matter if you DIDN'T "volunteer"....You got picked for shit anyways. Though if you had a strange sense of humor like I did that made jokes about "union organizing" for better "working conditions", THAT could bring some SERIOUS unwanted attention from not only the ENLISTED Drill Sgt,, but the higher ups in the COMMISSIONED ranks as well. Don't recommend cracking jokes like THAT.😶🤣
My oldest brother was sent to Basic Training at Ft. Ord, California back in 1970. Then off to Viet Nam in 1971. He was with the 1st. Cav. Div. . Came back from Nam in 1972. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. To this day he still remembers all his drill Sergeants name's and Officers too. Wow. To all you Viet Nam Vets out there, Welcome Home.
Army guy here 1966 thru 1967. I love watching this, I was 19 when I Enlisted. Yes film is sugar coated, but, The Army took care of its own. I loved it. Thank you for posting.
I took BASIC, B-17-5, in Ft Knox, KY in 1974. On my 2nd day in a recent graduate told me, "The next 8 weeks will be the hardest in your life. But when you've graduated, you wouldn't trade it for anything." He was right! Although this film depicts 'different' training, I still remember mine, 44-years ago, just like it was yesterday.
@@saabab1474 Thank you. No, as per my'contract' I went to MP school in Ft. Gordon, GA then to Ft. Lewis, WA and was in the 9th Division MPs when Saigon fell in April, 1975. That makes me a Vietnam Era veteran. I was in Ft. Lewis for 12 months and then was ordered to go to Germany. I was in the 793rd MP Bn, Company A, first squad and was assigned to a little kasern near Illesheim, FRG. Spent the rest of my active tour there (16-months). Boy was I glad to come back to CONUS (the USA), so happy in face that after disembarking the flight at McGuire AFB, NJ, I got down on all fours and kissed the tarmac. (Got in a a lot of trouble for that), but what the hell, I was HOME!
I was drafted into the Army during Vietnam. NOBODY failed basic training during that period, the Drill Sergeants “fixed” it so everybody graduated basic training. I even saw a drill sergeant fire a weapon for a trainee so he could qualify on the firing range & graduate basic training. Uncle Sam needed body counts in the ‘Nam!
Anyone brave enough to enter that jungle has always had my deepest respect. American heroes. I missed the draft by ten years but saw this on the nightly news.
@@shawnpa Well, thank you for your comment, but I wasn’t brave, I had no choice, I was drafted into going into the jungle. During Vietnam, good soldiers were betrayed by gutless politicians, the Vietnam war was run by a bunch of four star clowns who wound up giving away the whole circus. Because of Vietnam I’m a pissed off, grumpy old Vietnam veteran, dark humor, biting insults and sarcasm are my coping mechanisms. Fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, ruined my outlook on life forever, hell, it ruined my life forever! 🪖🇺🇸
I enlisted in the army in 1975 and went to Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training. The first week I was there I would’ve done anything to get out. But after the third week, the drill sergeants began to treat us like soldiers. I began to love the army. I will never forget one of my drill sergeants name, Doyle Cawthon. He was firm, but fair, and he knew his job well. We all respected him. I would love to hear from anybody who went to Fort Dix for basic training and possibly had sergeant Cawthon as a drill sergeant.
Wow, reminded me of Ft Jackson , SC basic training in August ,1972 . Tore my ankle up in the 6th week . Was in the hospital for 2 weeks and had to start all over . Didn't get out of basic until November .
Lived in those same WW2 built barracks . Graduated as trainee of the cycle from my company . I was one of the soldiers up front during graduation ceremony. @@jamesmack3314
May of 65 I enlisted and left the day after high school graduation. Went to Jackson for basic and lived in “tent city” for almost 3 months. Best days of my life in the Army. It was nasty and hot. But the men who trained there were the best of the best.
I got guard duty. For the entire evening I was sent to guard the PX, that’s Post exchange. I was to walk in circles With my rifle that shoulder arms around the building all night long. As the hours dragged on it seemed very difficult and Unnecessary As it was dark and there were no people about. I sat down for a while.
Basic training,Fort Bliss,TX Jan to March 1957.Lot different.We still did the low crawl under live MG fire both day and night.Old time brown Boot army stuff.Got out in December 1959,Basic was with the M1 Garand firing range was like in the old WW2 movies.Went back into the army in 1961 had a refresher course,I don't remember which rifle we used either MI or M14. When I was sent to Vietnam in 1966 we were using the M14 I was not issued an M16 until 1968 in Korea.Fun times but too old to do it again,retired in 1979.
@@stevepowsinger733 No,I was not infantry.First tour 1966/1967,I was with 538th Trans.Co.out of Long Bihn.We hauled motor fuel in 3Dand 4th core area.Second tour 1971 started with 402d Trans,again at Long Bihn.We operated the Ammo dock at Cogido,close to Long Bihn.Spent the last part of that tour with 510th Engr Maint.
In 1985 I walked into the Times Square recruiting station and joined the Air Force. I just got out of college and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but was always curious about the military ,thought I could learn a new skill .I got shipped off to San Antonio Texas for basic, and since I went in open general, they decided to make me a policeman which was totally against my desires. I got shipped off to Beale Air Force Base outside of Sacramento and within two years I found my way out. thank God -basic was the best part of the experience.
Funny this popped up on my feed. I was in fact drafted and went through this training in 1967. My memory of these procedures has faded over the years but I enjoyed seeing them again to be reminded. I am far removed from the military mindset but believe me you take this stuff seriously. I would’ve liked to have seen advanced infantry training filmed as well. The Drill sergeants were actually Easier to deal with in AIT because we had proven that we were good basic soldiers. It was hot as hell in the summer of 67 in Georgia at Fort Benning. You came to identify with that olive drab uniform so when they changed to camouflage it didn’t seem right. A high percentage of the trainees, as they called us, completed the course successfully. I went in in July, finished both training courses how about October, then went to armored personnel driving school. I didn’t get to Vietnam until January 19 68. That we found was somewhat different from what we have been trained for.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
I had a student deferment myself for 1965 and 1966. I began to feel guilty about it, I guess you’d say, and dropped out of school. I served one tour Nam - plenty long enough to get killed or wounded in.
I lot of people thought "The Last Train To Clarksville" was about a soldier at Ft. Campbell, KY because the largest city near there is Clarksville, TN.
Who was anti-war? The Monkees? I know the Beetles were but this was 1967 not 1970 . The anti-war songs only became prominent late in the sixties. I still remember the popularity of “The Green Beret”, a pro-military song, about 1964.
I took.basic training from January to March 1967. So it was too early in the year for me to be in this film. I was at Fort Bliss, Texas. Bliss, now there's a contradiction. There was nothing blissful about it. What was unique about our training company, it was made up of RAs, ERs, and NGs. That's right. No draftees with us. The question has been asked, "Who went over to Vietnam?" I did with the 101st Airborne Division that was still at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I served two tours as a combat medic. Today I am killing it out on the dance floor with three dance demonstration teams: a Thriller dance team, hip hop, and a Scottish Country Dance Team.
Yeah 67 it was still a meat grinder over there....guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
@@saabab1474 No could not be possible...not enough bodies to do that....less then 1 percent of Americans in military now.....WW II guys and Korean Vets up until the 80 s made up around 70 percent of all members of the house and senate...they do not make men like that anymore like my Dad who was WWII Vet....now we have guys that pluck their eye brows, skinny jeans and selfies....
@@US_ARMY_25_INF._DIV. guys now are all wearing feminine shoes in my city its bizarre I never would put on girly purple sneakers I just wear waterproof brown boots. Would you recommend the Air Force or Air Guard ? thinking of joining in Nevada.
@@saabab1474 it all depends on how old you are and what you want to do.... if you are younger and want to see the world definitely do a enlistment for three years on active duty you may go to Hawaii Germany or Japan and then you can do the airguard that's what I did ....but I know guys that went straight into the guard or reserves and never did active-duty when they were young and they regretted it.... they wish they had done at least one active enlistment...depends on what you want to do in life...
I owe Vietnam a major thank you...all of my drill sgts did tours in country in 1979... They took an 18 year old high school dropout and taught me how to serve with honor..I did for 12 years
I was at Fort Knox in August 1967. Before NAM: I was transported by Indian Trails Bus Lines from Owosso, Michigan to Detroit early on the 23rd of August 1967, for induction into the Army. We arrived in Detroit and were sworn into the Army. We were put on a train in Detroit and we were sent to Cleveland to pick up other Army recruits going to Fort Knox, Kentucky. We arrived at Cleveland and picked up the other recruits. Many of the recruits were drinking adult beverages. Most were horsing around and out of control. I sat in a train car at the very front in the right hand side seats. To my front and right was a door to the rail car. After a period of time, the recruits from Cleveland began to go in and out of the rail car door and hold on to the side of the rail car while riding outside the train door. I had gotten up and proceeded to the back of the train to use the restroom. I was coming down the train aisle when someone pulled the emergency chain. The alarm chain in a passenger coach is designed to create a break in the continuity of the brake pipes (whether vacuum or air brakes ), immediately resulting in a loss of brake pressure (or vacuum) and thereby causing the train brakes to be applied. Everybody was yelling that someone had got caught in the tunnel. I proceeded to my seat and sat down as the train came to a stop. The train began to back up. I looked out the window and as the train backed around the curve. I could see the body lying in the middle of the tracks, on the outside of the tunnel, at the south end, where the train had come out of the tunnel. I could look down below and see a road. I saw the ambulance arrive. We waited for the ambulance to arrive before taking off. I didn't know Joseph Zagorski or his name and often thought about the incident for over 50 years. I never saw Joseph drinking any adult beverages. I recently did some computer research and found his obituary with research I did through Find-A-Grave.
We had a suicide at Fort Lewis June 1969 while we were all in the central receiving area waiting to be sent to our training units. The senior sergeant called a mandatory assembly of all recruits. The man said that if any of us felt that there was no other choice but to kill ourself to avoid Vietnam that we could go to his office where he would give us bus fare and a map to the Canadian Border. He said it would be easier for him to deal with the Army's discipline for him doing that than to deal with another suicide.
My grandfather was drafted into Vietnam in 1967. He did his basic training at fort benning georgia. He survived the war and achieved the rank of sergeant during his service overseas. I'm hoping to spot him in this video but he was with a Very Small Unit.The 199TH INFANTRY BRIGADE.
Ft Sill OK, 1981. I had a love/hate relationship with the Army. In hindsight it was the best thing I ever did but at the time it sucked. Eventually went to OCS became a Battery Commander and resigned to start a successful business. I was a leader in every organization that I was involved in after that. Life worked out better that I ever dreamed of back then. No regrets.
1/5/1968 Fort Knox KY Echo - 17 - 5 E for excellence SGT! 32 years later retired Master Army Aviator, Aviation Brigade Commander....hell of a ride folks. We all started out at 18 years of age..who knew.
Airborne to that Sarge... @ Time line 20:61, How the hell did he earn those bloused jump boots? Talk about fast rank at Bragg... went straight from Pfc. to acting jack buck Sgt. in a year and a half. Didn't receive E-5 pay till i had 2 years in. Have a Damn good Memorial Day Weekend. Co. C 1/504 71-74 -gilpin 5-28-16
"Acting buck sergeant"? That means you were an E--4 corporal (same pay as a Specialist E-4). Going from E-3 to E-4 corporal (or SP4) in one year is par for the course. After making corporal, or "acting buck sergeant", it's usually another year or so to make E-5, so going for E-3 to E-5 in two years is fairly typical.
Did basic at Bragg from late 66 into early 67. E-9-2 and every DI had a parachute on his fatigues. We were the first cycle to use the barracks in which we were housed since Korea. Fun times for this kid from Northern KY.
Seeing this now, my grandpa who graduated at Fort Jackson during the Vietnam days hadn't been through very many different training scenarios that I did in 2014, from the same base. That's very unique and.. there's a lot of tradition in this uniform. It really helped me. A bit emotional after watching this.
I went to Army BCT exactly 40 years after this was released. Sure some things were different about my experience, but it's amazing to see how little has actually changed! Great video.
This video brings back memories of my Army basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky I was sent to Vietnam and that’s where I received my Purple Heart, and my disability.
Imagine seeing this and picturing a cool G.I. Joe summer camp, then arriving and hearing the first few screams of your drill sergeants. The immediate feeling of betrayal and regret would be incredible.
The navy was no different in the 60s. I was at Great Lakes in 1966 and the drill instructor was a screaming and swearing guy. He was a chief engineer from a submarine.
Wow, this brings back a lot of memories. I was in Ft. Jackson, SC from July - Sept. 1980 and was billeted in WWII barracks just like those in the video. A few differences from the time of this film to 1980, but not much change. "Join the people, who've joined the Army!"
"Be all that you can be". I didn't....Even though I can't complain about my time in the Active Duty military, hindsight NOW tells me I should NOT have entered, or at least entered as YOUNG as I was....Immediately right after highschool at the "peachfuzzed" age of 18....Probably should have waited until I was at least 22??
My brother did his basic training at Fort Bliss Texas in 1966. He was then sent to Fort Polk Louisana for combat training. After being stationed at Fort Polk he was sent to Berlin Germany and was with the Seventh Army. He was a graduate of UCLA and had a bachelor's in German. He spent his entire four years in the army as an interpature. Leo was a spec five in very little time. His title was secretary of the chief of staff in Berlin. After four years his time was up and the army did everything they could to keep him over there but he wanted out of the army so he could go back to the states and resume his education and go into teaching. The FBI and the CIA both offered him jobs but he declined. After getting a master's degree he and his German wife went back to Germany to pursue a carrier in teaching. He went to college And learned how to speak Spanish and Turkish at the college level. He taught for forty years
This video about basic is such a hoot. If you were to believe it was this easy, and the sargents were were so pleasant, everybody would join up. I'm surprised they didnt tell us that you got weekends off, and a free pass to the strip club. 😂 Nobody yelling in your face, but lots of smiles. This is about as truthful as the newer videos, showing recruits riding seadoos, and playing golf. 🙄
No it isn't just you...This video over romanticized things just a tad bit...Probably by LEAVING OUT the gruesome details of what happened to poor "Stan" to either get him to "straighten up and fly right", or if he may have even had an "accident" that literally cost him his life, or gave him a permanent disability with perhaps a dishonorable discharge as well??? Best case scenario?? "Stan's" FULL NAME can be found on that black memorial wall in Washington DC.
Had BCT starting in January 1980 at Ft. Jackson months after some trainees drowned during night training. The drill sergeants had backed off the hardcore hazing and shark attacks, but they would drop trainees for pushups and situps for the slightest reasons. The new BCT barracks weren't ready so we stayed in AIT styled ones with 8-man rooms. Our battalion was the furthest from the ranges, so we had many LONG road marches.
It was sure as hell different when i went through. First we were crammed into cattle trucks and had exactly 5 minute to get off the vehicles and into the barracks
Memories. Wow. I completed basic and AIT at Ft. Knox,Kentucky. 1967. August. So hot they gave us salt pills. I was used to hard living on the farm. Was easy for me. Plus i was in the Devil Pup Marine program @ Camp Pendleton when i was 14. A boy to a man in 16 weeks...mas y menos. Gracias Dios
The wooden barracks kinda made me homesick! Reception station was kicked back compared to basic. We were met by our drill sergeants in their dress greens and they yelled at us for most of the morning. I sucked at doing the overhead bars and the inverted crawl. By the end of Basic, I got a passing PT score. I was so glad when the Army changed the PT test to just push-ups, sit-ups and a two mile run a few years later. I never had a problem with PT tests after that.
We are damn glad that you made it back able to tell us that! We were done there by the time I was of age, and they had stopped the draft some time before that. In the late 70s I went to a concert that reunited Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and CJATF did an updated Feel Like I'm Fixin To Die Rag and during it I toasted a spliff of skunk and thought about you older dudes so I sort of figuratively had your back, in spirit. Then years later, in the early 2Ks, the cool ol' guy working on the house next door to mine turned out to have been of the S&D Trio that located and arrested Lt Calley. He said Calley surrendered without incident. He said Calley was simply all about "MY boys are coming home"
Fort Jackson, SC reception, Fort Gordon, Ga. Basic and Infantry AIT, winter 1969. I lived in one of the wooden firetrap barracks during a cold winter We were the last cycle out of our area at Ft. Gordon as they were closing down the basic training; building maintenance was not a priority. Our platoon had little or no heat and several of us were sick. This, of course, was a constant source of amusement for the DIs when it was time for sick call in the morning. One morning there was actually a coating of ice in the toilets--this place really sucked. We had very little winter gear available, nothing but my ill fitting combat boots one day when it snowed; it was a wonderful day on the range. My feet have never really been right since...
Same scenario at Ft. Leonard Wood. Fall and Winter, 1969. Woke up one morning with 2 inches of snow on the blanket I used to cover my head. There was an 1 1/2 inch gap under the window behind my rack.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
Ft Gordon became an AIT school for the Signal Corps. As a senior NCO with an additional MOS, the existing DS were not enough to handle the cadre; so the seasoned NCOs stepped in. Lots of new soldiers got a shock when the NCOs did not tolerate what the newbies thought they could get away with. I happen to have more time in service than the school CSM as I was a reservist. He was also shocked I was not intimidated, having completed my MS and starting my PhD academics upon finishing the school. The Base CG tried his crap until learning he got his commission 2 weeks before I went through MEPS.
I've never been in the military but I think their was a bunch of people that watched this back in the day and then got a reality check when they actually showed up to training and heard the drill instructor start screaming
That reality was MUCH MORE harsher for the DRAFTEES. (It was pretty harsh for ME as a VOLUNTEER 20 years later....My first thought off that bus being: "MY GOD WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!?!?" Some NCO who greeted me and "welcomed" me just to IN PROCESSING and that could read my mind: "YOUR'RE GONNA FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH BOY!!"👹
Nobody's basic training was easy, but I did later learn that there were things we didn't do at Fort Dix or did differently than at other forts like Polk or Knox. In fact, I remember being shown this exact same movie during basic training-- only it must've been an earlier version of it because it was in black and white.
I went to Ft Benning in '83 and, there certainly was no Army Band there to great us....what we received was a 'Shark Attack' that seemingly lasted for hours on end lmao. The young man next to me in formation was so scared he literally pissed himself! Once 1 of the Drill Sgts saw that, it was a full scale 360 degree onslaught on him....he was given the nickname Beaker because he looked just like that muppet character lol. He was 1 of the 1st casualties, he didn't last long at all. First building we went into was a building where we sat down and were told...1 by 1 why we wouldn't make it through the 1st week of Basic Training! I GUARANTEE you there was NO way that Basic Training in '67 was that relaxed. It was a rough 13 weeks, as those of us in the Infantry did Basic/AIT in 1 Duty Station....that was 13 looong weeks with the exact same Drill Sgts lol. I must admit though, I was proud to have graduated and there was about half of us that started, that graduated that day. Some were Recycled and you certainly didn't want that to happen. Funny, I don't remember any touch Football games lol. The 1 day we had that was relaxing was the 4th of July.
@@gnarl12 I'm surprised they were allowed to last as many years as they did. It was 0 fun to go through it but, once I graduated from Infantry School, I honestly got a laugh out of the memories from that long, hellish night lol. I was never more grateful to get to bed in my life (up to that point), than that night and even in the barracks (at the infamous Harmony Church), 1 of the Drill SGTs paced up and down that center aisle (in what sounded like taps on the bottom of his boots) for quite awhile lol. I made a mistype when I said 1 Duty Station...it was actually One Station Unit Training, in which was what those of us in the Infantry went through, and AIT was like Basic Training on steroids (too me any way lol). I think on avg, we got like 4 hours of sleep a night....many nights not even that much. It was hilarious the number of positions we could grab a few winks in lol. The Cattle Trucks were great for catching a few! I remember actually falling asleep walking during 1 long ass road march lol. I also remember being sent into the barracks to find a soldier that wasn't in formation. I found him sleeping inside the supply closet in the barracks lol. I have so many funny stories from that part of my life in '83. Sorry I keep writing so much but, like any old man I get lost in memories sometimes lol.
@@saabab1474 thank you....I was only a Reservist, and then I joined the Army National Guard. I was really upset with myself for not going Active Duty, or what many called the Regular Army lol. By the time I finished my original obligations, and could have asked to go Active...my now ex-wife had a different idea lol. I mean I could have, if I didn't want to stay married and see my daughters lol.
Ft. Benning Ga. Harmony Church was really mean back in 1986. We had WWII barracks with no AC and Vietnam Vets as Drill Sergeants. The place has not changed since WWII when I went through. Going through summer in August till November really sucked. This is when OUST (One Unit Station Training) for Infantry that meant Basic and Infantry School was one streamlined training. It was 14 weeks for being a basic 11 Bravo rifleman and 11BC2 M47 Dragon Anti-Armor Specialist. Us guys who had Airborne or Ranger Contracts had special attention from the Drill Sergeants also with extra PT for an hour or two after training when everybody in the company could relax. The training paid of for me when I went through Airborne School. The push ups and running I did well but I also practiced on the pull ups which helped a lot. I never will forget that experience in my life.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
I went through Basic in this era and it was nothing like the Boy Scouts, as this propaganda depicts. I remember the M14 rifle; recruits were still being trained with it years after the M16 was regular issue. You'd train on the M14, then never touch one again.
We knew that we would transition to the M16 at our units after using the M-16 in trainingl. The first time I as handed an M16 I didn't realize it was a real gun. I thought it was a training aid to practice teardown and reassembly. I didn't really believe it was a rifle until the live fire range.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
@@mnpd3 I think M1s/M14s lend towards making you a better shooter for everything else. Outside of the trigger pull, the Armalite design shoots way easier, so if you can shoot an M14 well the M16 shoulda been a breeze.
My dad was a Drill Sgt. at Ft Bragg in 1967 then he was off to Viet Nam. I still have Plt. pics and often wondered how many died in Nam. Dad died of cancer in 1993. Rip Pop.
Not a whole lot changed from then to 2003 when I went to Basic in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. The biggest difference I saw was we didn't take any of those tests at the front because we weren't drafted and we had the ASVAB to complete before MEPS. Everything else was still virtually the same.
I mean, that's what the computer said. We typed: 'take Vietnam' and then it turned blue. Odd, must be something faulty with our calculations. What? It cost 68,000 American lives? Well, shit. We'll have to take a closer look at the computer. Something's not right, here.
I did basic at Ft Bragg home of the special forces and god they picked on us any time they saw you. The one time we did get a days pass into town there were lots of fights between trainee's and green beanies as we called them.
Sgt Hulka ...blown up Sir am I to understand you completed your basic trading on your own? That's the fact Jack. the Army looks like cub scouts compared to Marine Recruits
When I was drafted in 1983, it was basically all the same, from the official drafting process, the medical examinations and of course the basic combat training. I went through a 6-month long NCO training to become a tank commander, the first two months being the basic (infantry) stuff. After graduation and the oath-taking I served another 2 and 1/2 year in a combat unit near the inner-German border at the seaport city of Rostock until my honourable discharge in autumn of 1986. With other words, I served in the East-German army (NVA) at the other side of the fence than the most of you. In the barracks of Rostock (a 3000 men infantry regiment, the MSR28) I also had to execute the basic training for the ordinary draftees (18 months compulsory service) as a drill sergeant - training them from folding the bed linen, keeping the uniform in order up to how to use, shoot and hit with the AK47s, orientation and survival in the open (summer and winter), close combat and hand-to-hand , bayonet fighting and of course the marching trainings. On top were lessons about national defence and international laws during war like the Geneva convention etc., legal and illegal orders etc. After 8 weeks of basic training the new draftees were then introduced to the tanks and their crews. If you like to know about the Soviet Army and its recruits at the about the same time, watch this guys videos: the USHANKA SHOW where he is going into all the deep details how it was done in the USSR. For you all, who were servicing at the other side of the iron curtain, you will be surprised how similar everything was. Peace! from Dresden / Germany
Enlisted in 1970 and went to Basic at Ft. Ord CA. Training was already very different than this. For example, we used M16’s instead of M14’s and there was no bayonet training (bayonets no longer issued). And, of course, no pool tables and darn little time (or energy) for football games. Afterwards, I went to Signal School (31M) at Ft. Gordon GA. Got orders for Vietnam after Signal School, but those were rescinded the next day and replaced. Instead, went to Ft. Benning GA (Airborne School) and Germany.
.......and then they shipped us off to Vietnam where we discovered marijuana, venereal disease, hard drugs, booze, and we came home fucked up and ignored. Well, they left out that part.
And his criminal competitor's rapist husband went to the Soviet Union. I'll stick with the adult who grew up to actually get shit moving again in this nation, and did not commit 33 THOUSAND violations of INFOSEC which would have put ANY GI in Leavenworth until their bones were powder.
You obviously don't know what your talking about. My Dad was in the U.S. Army during WW2. The men swore. Your not the first generation to use those words. Many soldiers believe that being in the Army gives them a right to swear. It's similar to flying on an airplane today. Every passenger thinks that they are the greatest thing ever and treat their fellow flyers and stewardesses like shit.
Robert - I know its 3 years on but.....did the DIs punch any of you guys? I know OFFICIALLY it was not allowed...but what happened when an Officer was not around.....
@@maninthewilderness5795 i was punched in the face for muttering cunt under my breath and it wasn't even Vietnam it was 2012 in the Australian Army its never been "allowed" it doesn't stop it from happening when i became an instructor myself i belted up a trainee because he kept barrel punching (thrusting your rifle forward as if you had a bayonet) and closed fist punching in riot training and shattered some ones collar bone
Seriously, I got a chuckle from hearing "Last Train To Clarksville" by The Monkees in the background when the train arrived, not to mention the other Monkees songs during the entire video. In the 1980s, we didn't get issued dress greens/Class As until our 2nd to last week of Basic, after passing qualification and PT tests.
B22 for basic. Assigned to Company A Special Troops as a personnel specialist Worked at Building 317. 1965 to 67. Adjutant General and got out as an E5.
I was sent to Ft Polk in January '68 for AIT.. The barracks were ramshackle dumps. The plumbing was so corroded the urinals drained onto the floor. Much of the our company cadre were non-functioning alcoholics. They'd get cattle trucks to take us to distant ranges without arranging trucks to bring us back. It seemed more like a bigger version of the film set for Cool Hand Luke than the Army bases I'd seen in the rest of the Army.
I did my basic at Fort Lewis,Wash.I wish it would have been Fort Ord becuz i lived in San Jose but for some reason most of the guys who went in with me were from the Bay Area. This was Nov 1968 and was at the peak of the Viet Nam war.I did get my wish after coming home from 'Nam.I was assigned to aBasic Training Company made up of wounded vets like myself. My job was rifle range instructor.It was great because I could come and go on weekends.When I drive past where Fort Ord once stood I think about my time there many years ago.
I chuckled when the narrator said, "Then we were herded into this innocent looking building...which just happened to be filled with tear gas."
NAVy/SanDiego/NCTC/ yea.....Teargasssssss???!
Oh, Old hetero/bigmale/ booooom i got your girlfriend 1987....Rekognize!
^ft-&inch/ Beautifull/ur Mom Loves Me/LoL!!!
ooops...six feeet, seven incheas-- boooom i got yo momma!!!!
been there done that ours 16 weeks and definatly no plastic liners steel all the away
My dad was drafted in 1967. He took his Basic Training at Ft. Benning, GA. In those days he said the Drill Sergeants were ruthless, most of them were Korean War vets. He said they'd beat a recruit senseless if needed and if you complained , well you didn't out loud. After Basic he went to Ft. Gordon then Ft. Bragg . Then the Army wanted him to use the skills he acquired so they sent him to Vietnam......Then he stated he knew why the Drill Sergeants were so ruthless, war is no joke.
Thanks for his service.
@@Neal_Schier I just watched an old 1970 USMC basic training video much like this. Obviously they aren't going to show the beatings and the extreme yelling and "motivation", but they did show a bit of the yelling, funny thing is they have that marine yelling talking that you see today. That said they also show how there's a good amount of classroom study and field study as well.
@@NYG5👍 I figured they had to do some instruction at some point. It couldn't all be yelling.
@@Neal_Schier Note how marksmanship is trained in The Corps.
That ruthlessness paid off. Those Koreans vet wanted the upcoming generation to be some of the best warriors to live and they were. God bless your father and all those who served
My grandfather volunteered for the Army during Vietnam as soon as he turned 18, in order to escape the fate of working in a coal mine for the rest of his life. He was flight engineer for a CH-47 crew.
I'm glad he survived being shot down twice so that I could be born and, more importantly, have someone like him to look up to.
Mines did navy, blew his hearing from the flight deck
I just caught myself wondering how many of these recruits depicted in this film were killed or wounded in Vietnam. My absolute respect to all of them (and their families) for serving under those conditions.
Yep
Probably none of them. casualties in Vietnam compared to how many men actually served is really small. The NVA lost close to a million combat personnel by the end of the war we lost about 58,000
@@mattbanco4406 we lost 58000 and the enemy lost over a million. Some out there say we lost the war....but where i come from thats thats a victory! Dont get me wrong i wish we could have lost zero but war is war.
@@americanpatriot3638 Vietnam is still a Communist country. We lost the conflict.
@@briandavenport8971 Ironically in the long run, communist Vietnam became a popular tourist destination for Americans. Imagine telling that to an American back in the 60-70's.
In 1967 I was 9 years old and my uncle was 18 and he went to the marines, he went to boot at camp legune I believe. When he finished he came home a totally different person, then on to Vietnam until 1972, he was a mess, drinking, drugs, nightmares, he's now 72 years old, retired from post office, 4 grown daughters, thanks for everything uncle clarence.
Tough time. Thanks for his service.
4 daughters?! I want one daughter.
You should tell him to his face. Might mean something to him instead of on here where he'll never see it.
I remember when I was 6 my brother was a marine and went to Vietnam when he came back he had really bad PTSD my brother felt really guilty because during a firefight one of his friends who was a corpsman got killed by a sniper my brother didn't grab him and put him back in the bushes when he was standing next to him the other thing that really messed my brother up was when his squad got overwhelmed and the killed everyone but my brother survived by throwing one of his dead friends over the top of him after the nva left after they stripped everything off the dead marines it took 4 days for a marine unit to find him after he came home from Vietnam I rarely saw him for a long time my parents said he joined a commune but I think it was more than that When he finally did come home to the family you learned not to wake him up because he had real bad flashbacks and thought the nva was trying to get him he passed in 2015 he had agent orange and his liver was shot but before he passed a nurse that was taking care of him told me that he thought someone was trying get him and I told her that he was a Vietnam vet though after he passed I learned more why he did that it was because his whole squad got wiped out and he was the only survivor his at peace now no more flashbacks like he had for the last 50 years after he came back from Vietnam I appologize for ranting about this.
@@borisyelp5195 man thats not a rant, thats a memory of your uncles haunting memories of war, as a kid myself I recall my uncle, I joined the navy in '77 and was amongst vietnam vets and only missed Nam by a year or 2.
After finishing a session of unarmed combat training the drill sergeant said, God help you if you ever get in a fight and have to depend on this. He was speaking the truth.
I wonder now if any of those unarmed combat instructors had any real martial arts training. I was smart enough at the time to not ask.
I served in afganistan and desert shield, and storm. I guess the only difference is that I was not drafted. I made a choice, and these guys didn't. All my respect to them.
mark gariepy You are a God sir. Thank you.
As an investor in big oil, I thank you for your service. Your sacrifice helped make me wealthy. Who cares about the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children who died?
You're correct, who gives a damn and that is directed especially for you.
mark gariepy Thank you for your service sir
+Joe Rock
He says as he eats food brought to him with...
Oil.
You might hate it, but oil prices affect the price of everything else.
Our economy runs on oil.
Obama's approach to destroy it was treason.
If you want to replace it, you need to make clean energy cheaper and superior in every way.
The free market will then automatically phase out oil.
If you have any better ideas, feel free to present them.
Whining like a little bitch isn't constructive.
1967, I was only 17yrs old then, quit school, roaming the streets, till 1 day I Volunteered for the Draft. I had my dear mother sign for me to go. I was the youngest of 5, and I was sent to Ft. Polk, La., where I did my best, my memories are fading now, but as I have reach the sun set of my life, I know I will see my buddies again, we were all so young back then. Thank You.
I love these basic training videos, my Dad went into the Army in 1967 at Ft. Benning, GA. I did Air Force boot camp in 1992 and my son did AF Bootcamp in 2021.
In 1967 I graduated from High school and attempted to enlist in the USMC. I was 17 and need my parent's signature to enlist. My Father, the WWII infantryman was not going to send his son to Viet Nam. In 1969 I was drafted, then enlisted at the reception station. My DIs were more like "Full Metal Jacket" than those depicted here. They could and did lay hands upon you as they saw fit to motivate you. It worked!
We’re you in Vietnam?
@@Dulex123 Yes, and other points west.
@@ralphgreenjr.2466 thank you for you’re service.🫡🇺🇸 my grandfather was almost sent to Vietnam he was full Chinese and he used to be called a viet. His sergeant told him “this is what we kill” I hope you the best.
@@Dulex123 Thank you. I have a great love for Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thais, and Vietnamese. Vietnam has built a better country today.
Semper Fi. (I will admit Marine boot was even NASTIER than Army
Went through basic twice 1956 and 1963. Attended jump school and photography school during 1st tour. Reenlisted in 1963 went through basic again, but wore tailored fatigues with shadow of SP4 insignia and jump wings. That caused a lot of questions, but my company commander looked at my form 20 and verified I earned them. Went to grunt AIT then Infantry OCS First assignment went to The Domican Republic during combat, two tours in Vietnam. Retired 1980 as a major.
@Multi tiered thank you for your service did you do basic at Fort Jackson?
So you’re in your 80s…?
@@michaelj6392 yes he’s probably old he’s a legend tho
Impressive. I wouldn't want to go through basic a second time. Would feel like shit to be sorted back with boots when I've been in longer than they've had hair on their balls.
The drill sergeants in my area of time figured out how to beat somebody up without touching them. They would make it seem as if it was my fault that all the other men were doing extra push-ups then they had a grill going where if you screwed up you had to do 20 push-ups. Well then men in the barracks would give you a blanket party if they figured they were doing push-ups because of your mistakes. Then of course the drill sergeant would say that the pen is mightier than the sword. He said will send you the Leavenworth that's a prison in Kansas. Or they were just plain run you around the barracks till you dropped. Most of my drill sergeants were Vietnam veterans and one was a Marine when he was in Vietnam and then afterwards he became a drill instructor with the Marine corps. He went over to the army side and there we have him making us push-up fort Gordon. And we couldn't go to the dayroom we didn't have time till after basic training.
My Dad was drafted in 1966 into the Army. Being the only son on a farm he talked to the county agent on getting a deferral but was told even after going through hoops to get one it would only be good for 6 months and then he'd be back on the draft list. The agent said "just go and get it over with". (He ended up in West Germany thankfully. I think my grandparents did a lot of praying.)
He said at the end of boot camp his drill sergeants marched them out to the woods and had them fall out to tubs of iced down beer and soda that they'd bought on their own as a little treat for finishing basic.
Praying can change everything 🙏❤️🙏
@@Coral333 Tell that to the millions of lives lost throughout the 20th century from wars.
In '66, all he needed was a marriage license to not be drafted. It was later changed to also having a child. As an "enlisted volunteer", it was a different matter.
@@Coral333no it cant
My cousin was drafted around 1968 and was dreading going to Nam. He thought for sure he was going die but he was sent to W Germany and had a great time. You never know.
This is so suger coated that I'm getting cavities by just watching it.
Don't waste time money and pain getting them drilled and filled. They are only going to lead to root canals and eventually broken-off crowns down the road. Just have the cavity teeth extracted and install implants. By the time you are my age you will have a pristine mouth ear-to-ear in fake, indestructible. beautiful crowned implants and you'll not only never have to see a dentist again but you won't even have to brush or floss!
@@pinkpriss lol you nasty
Lmfao
@@pinkpriss lmao
BWAHAHA
Makes you realise we are only on this planet for a very brief moment in time. If any of these guys are still alive, none will be under the age of 75
Yes, we are all just a blip infantile in more ways than one
Many of them are still alive. My father was also drafted during the Vietnam war and did basic training at Fort Benning. He ended up being in the ninth infantry, division, He is still alive and well. His older brother served in the Korean War who just turned 94 last year and is also doing very good..
1967 seems like yesterday. Life is so short!!
Fort Ord 1967.
Cooper! Where've you been hidin' yourself good buddy!?!
@@pinkpriss I manage a brothel in Nevada but because of the China virus business sucks and not literally!!!!
@@dbcooper692 That bites! Sorry to hear that. Your 'name' actually IS DB Cooper?
Ain’t it the truth,basic at 22..now 62 ugh
I found myself in Army BCT 4 years after this film was made. Hadn't seen it until now and this is as close to reality as it was in my time. Found myself nodding, laughing, and shaking my head while watching because I shared most of this. Good times.
Was there really weekend passes and sports pt back then?
@@miguelsaldana2964 When VOLAR came in I believe 1971, the ARMY went full blown customer friendly. It's been downhill from there IMO
God bless you all.
Great advices: 1.) avoid creating unwanted attention. 2.) observe everything around. 3.) be a team player. 4.) Don't quit / Never give up.
Not bad advice, but as far as attracting unwanted attention,THAT pretty much is, or WAS, (at least for me), a "crap shoot"...Didn't matter if you DIDN'T "volunteer"....You got picked for shit anyways. Though if you had a strange sense of humor like I did that made jokes about "union organizing" for better "working conditions", THAT could bring some SERIOUS unwanted attention from not only the ENLISTED Drill Sgt,, but the higher ups in the COMMISSIONED ranks as well. Don't recommend cracking jokes like THAT.😶🤣
My oldest brother was sent to Basic Training at Ft. Ord, California back in 1970. Then off to Viet Nam in 1971. He was with the 1st. Cav. Div. . Came back from Nam in 1972. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. To this day he still remembers all his drill Sergeants name's and Officers too. Wow. To all you Viet Nam Vets out there, Welcome Home.
Army guy here 1966 thru 1967. I love watching this, I was 19 when I Enlisted. Yes film is sugar coated, but, The Army took care of its own. I loved it. Thank you for posting.
1967 BCT at Fort Ord, brought back memories,. then off the I corp Chu Lai
You were in for only 1 year ?
@@TetherAlert that was the length of a tour that you had to serve, if you made it, you were free
@jamesmack3314 wow just one year ? Too easy.
@@TetherAlert i’m sure someone being sent to Vietnam for one year wasn’t thinking it was too easy. They were just praying they made it back.
I took BASIC, B-17-5, in Ft Knox, KY in 1974. On my 2nd day in a recent graduate told me, "The next 8 weeks will be the hardest in your life. But when you've graduated, you wouldn't trade it for anything." He was right! Although this film depicts 'different' training, I still remember mine, 44-years ago, just like it was yesterday.
@Dave Leland Thank you for your service did you stay in Kentucky after training?
@@saabab1474 Thank you. No, as per my'contract' I went to MP school in Ft. Gordon, GA then to Ft. Lewis, WA and was in the 9th Division MPs when Saigon fell in April, 1975. That makes me a Vietnam Era veteran. I was in Ft. Lewis for 12 months and then was ordered to go to Germany. I was in the 793rd MP Bn, Company A, first squad and was assigned to a little kasern near Illesheim, FRG. Spent the rest of my active tour there (16-months). Boy was I glad to come back to CONUS (the USA), so happy in face that after disembarking the flight at McGuire AFB, NJ, I got down on all fours and kissed the tarmac. (Got in a a lot of trouble for that), but what the hell, I was HOME!
I did Knox in '70. Remember Angry, Agony, Heartbreak, and Misery hills? "Loved" marching up them. Not!
Try Army OCS in 1969!
Try Army OCS in 1969!
I was drafted into the Army during Vietnam. NOBODY failed basic training during that period, the Drill Sergeants “fixed” it so everybody graduated basic training. I even saw a drill sergeant fire a weapon for a trainee so he could qualify on the firing range & graduate basic training. Uncle Sam needed body counts in the ‘Nam!
Sadly, you are quite correct. I enlisted in '68, and would have indeed, failed boot camp, had not a War dictated men at arms.
@@harriettanthony7352 Welcome home.
🎖💜♠️🪖🇺🇸
Not to mention MacNamara's morons
Anyone brave enough to enter that jungle has always had my deepest respect. American heroes. I missed the draft by ten years but saw this on the nightly news.
@@shawnpa Well, thank you for your comment, but I wasn’t brave, I had no choice, I was drafted into going into the jungle. During Vietnam, good soldiers were betrayed by gutless politicians, the Vietnam war was run by a bunch of four star clowns who wound up giving away the whole circus. Because of Vietnam I’m a pissed off, grumpy old Vietnam veteran, dark humor, biting insults and sarcasm are my coping mechanisms. Fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, ruined my outlook on life forever, hell, it ruined my life forever!
🪖🇺🇸
I enlisted in the army in 1975 and went to Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training. The first week I was there I would’ve done anything to get out. But after the third week, the drill sergeants began to treat us like soldiers. I began to love the army. I will never forget one of my drill sergeants name, Doyle Cawthon. He was firm, but fair, and he knew his job well. We all respected him. I would love to hear from anybody who went to Fort Dix for basic training and possibly had sergeant Cawthon as a drill sergeant.
Yeah, I liked drill sergeant Dubberly
Fix Dix, August, September 1970. SSG Land. Best Drill Sgt in the company.
Wow, reminded me of Ft Jackson , SC basic training in August ,1972 . Tore my ankle up in the 6th week . Was in the hospital for 2 weeks and had to start all over . Didn't get out of basic until November .
Well, your timing was perfect since the war was basically over by then
Lived in those same WW2 built barracks . Graduated as trainee of the cycle from my company . I was one of the soldiers up front during graduation ceremony. @@jamesmack3314
As a 30 year old guy whos never served but has great respect for our armed forces this is fascinating..
May of 65 I enlisted and left the day after high school graduation. Went to Jackson for basic and lived in “tent city” for almost 3 months. Best days of my life in the Army. It was nasty and hot. But the men who trained there were the best of the best.
Did you end up in Vietnam?
Lol. “It’s an honor to pull guard duty.”
It’s an honor to do anything in the uniform ever
Yeah, they never issued us ammo.
More like a punishment
I got guard duty. For the entire evening I was sent to guard the PX, that’s Post exchange. I was to walk in circles With my rifle that shoulder arms around the building all night long. As the hours dragged on it seemed very difficult and Unnecessary As it was dark and there were no people about. I sat down for a while.
When you get the "honor" of pulling guard duty.
12:39
Basic training,Fort Bliss,TX Jan to March 1957.Lot different.We still did the low crawl under live MG fire both day and night.Old time brown Boot army stuff.Got out in December 1959,Basic was with the M1 Garand firing range was like in the old WW2 movies.Went back into the army in 1961 had a refresher course,I don't remember which rifle we used either MI or M14. When I was sent to Vietnam in 1966 we were using the M14 I was not issued an M16 until 1968 in Korea.Fun times but too old to do it again,retired in 1979.
Well done to your good self
thank you sir for your service you great man
What unit were you with in Vietnam. Were you infantry MOS?
@@stevepowsinger733 No,I was not infantry.First tour 1966/1967,I was with 538th Trans.Co.out of Long Bihn.We hauled motor fuel in 3Dand 4th core area.Second tour 1971 started with 402d Trans,again at Long Bihn.We operated the Ammo dock at Cogido,close to Long Bihn.Spent the last part of that tour with 510th Engr Maint.
Charles Woods....given a choice...which Infantry Rifle would you prefer if you had the choice...
I did 16 weeks one station unit training Fort Knox Kentucky in 2005. When you graduate after going through all that it is the greatest feeling ever.
In 1985 I walked into the Times Square recruiting station and joined the Air Force. I just got out of college and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but was always curious about the military ,thought I could learn a new skill .I got shipped off to San Antonio Texas for basic, and since I went in open general, they decided to make me a policeman which was totally against my desires. I got shipped off to Beale Air Force Base outside of Sacramento and within two years I found my way out. thank God -basic was the best part of the experience.
Funny, I joined in 1985 from San Antonio.
Funny this popped up on my feed. I was in fact drafted and went through this training in 1967. My memory of these procedures has faded over the years but I enjoyed seeing them again to be reminded. I am far removed from the military mindset but believe me you take this stuff seriously. I would’ve liked to have seen advanced infantry training filmed as well. The Drill sergeants were actually Easier to deal with in AIT because we had proven that we were good basic soldiers.
It was hot as hell in the summer of 67 in Georgia at Fort Benning. You came to identify with that olive drab uniform so when they changed to camouflage it didn’t seem right. A high percentage of the trainees, as they called us, completed the course successfully.
I went in in July, finished both training courses how about October, then went to armored personnel driving school. I didn’t get to Vietnam until January 19 68.
That we found was somewhat different from what we have been trained for.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
I had a student deferment myself for 1965 and 1966. I began to feel guilty about it, I guess you’d say, and dropped out of school. I served one tour Nam - plenty long enough to get killed or wounded in.
Ouch! Just in time for Tet.
Could you imagine some recruiter shows this film to some kid and he thought, it won't be so bad the drill sergeants all seemed like pretty swell guys.
LOL
Very interesting that they used the Monkees for the background music.
I lot of people thought "The Last Train To Clarksville" was about a soldier at Ft. Campbell, KY because the largest city near there is Clarksville, TN.
@@hendo337 and the Beatles. Vietnam really was the war with the best soundtrack.
Especially since they were Anti-War.
Who was anti-war? The Monkees? I know the Beetles were but this was 1967 not 1970 . The anti-war songs only became prominent late in the sixties. I still remember the popularity of “The Green Beret”, a pro-military song, about 1964.
There was also some Buddy Holly with "Early in the Morning".
They actually played that Monkees song when we arrived at Ft. Campbell. We took the last train to Clarksville all right.
They played Van Halen's 'Jump' when I went to Jump School in 1984.
The army band are doing their best cover of 'Help' during the haircut scene in this video.
I took.basic training from January to March 1967. So it was too early in the year for me to be in this film. I was at Fort Bliss, Texas. Bliss, now there's a contradiction. There was nothing blissful about it.
What was unique about our training company, it was made up of RAs, ERs, and NGs. That's right. No draftees with us.
The question has been asked, "Who went over to Vietnam?" I did with the 101st Airborne Division that was still at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I served two tours as a combat medic.
Today I am killing it out on the dance floor with three dance demonstration teams: a Thriller dance team, hip hop, and a Scottish Country Dance Team.
Yeah 67 it was still a meat grinder over there....guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
@@US_ARMY_25_INF._DIV. Would you agree on a law that makes Elected office only available to men who have served in the Military at least 2 years?
@@saabab1474 No could not be possible...not enough bodies to do that....less then 1 percent of Americans in military now.....WW II guys and Korean Vets up until the 80 s made up around 70 percent of all members of the house and senate...they do not make men like that anymore like my Dad who was WWII Vet....now we have guys that pluck their eye brows, skinny jeans and selfies....
@@US_ARMY_25_INF._DIV. guys now are all wearing feminine shoes in my city its bizarre I never would put on girly purple sneakers I just wear waterproof brown boots. Would you recommend the Air Force or Air Guard ? thinking of joining in Nevada.
@@saabab1474 it all depends on how old you are and what you want to do.... if you are younger and want to see the world definitely do a enlistment for three years on active duty you may go to Hawaii Germany or Japan and then you can do the airguard that's what I did ....but I know guys that went straight into the guard or reserves and never did active-duty when they were young and they regretted it.... they wish they had done at least one active enlistment...depends on what you want to do in life...
I owe Vietnam a major thank you...all of my drill sgts did tours in country in 1979... They took an 18 year old high school dropout and taught me how to serve with honor..I did for 12 years
I was at Fort Knox in August 1967.
Before NAM: I was transported by Indian Trails Bus Lines from Owosso, Michigan to Detroit early on the 23rd of August 1967, for induction into the Army. We arrived in Detroit and were sworn into the Army. We were put on a train in Detroit and we were sent to Cleveland to pick up other Army recruits going to Fort Knox, Kentucky. We arrived at Cleveland and picked up the other recruits. Many of the recruits were drinking adult beverages. Most were horsing around and out of control.
I sat in a train car at the very front in the right hand side seats. To my front and right was a door to the rail car. After a period of time, the recruits from Cleveland began to go in and out of the rail car door and hold on to the side of the rail car while riding outside the train door.
I had gotten up and proceeded to the back of the train to use the restroom. I was coming down the train aisle when someone pulled the emergency chain. The alarm chain in a passenger coach is designed to create a break in the continuity of the brake pipes (whether vacuum or air brakes ), immediately resulting in a loss of brake pressure (or vacuum) and thereby causing the train brakes to be applied. Everybody was yelling that someone had got caught in the tunnel. I proceeded to my seat and sat down as the train came to a stop.
The train began to back up. I looked out the window and as the train backed around the curve. I could see the body lying in the middle of the tracks, on the outside of the tunnel, at the south end, where the train had come out of the tunnel.
I could look down below and see a road. I saw the ambulance arrive. We waited for the ambulance to arrive before taking off.
I didn't know Joseph Zagorski or his name and often thought about the incident for over 50 years. I never saw Joseph drinking any adult beverages. I recently did some computer research and found his obituary with research I did through Find-A-Grave.
What a stupid way to die.
We had a suicide at Fort Lewis June 1969 while we were all in the central receiving area waiting to be sent to our training units.
The senior sergeant called a mandatory assembly of all recruits. The man said that if any of us felt that there was no other choice but to kill ourself to avoid Vietnam
that we could go to his office where he would give us bus fare and a map to the Canadian Border. He said it would be easier for him to deal with the Army's discipline
for him doing that than to deal with another suicide.
@@lynnwood7205 Thanks for comment
My grandfather was drafted into Vietnam in 1967. He did his basic training at fort benning georgia. He survived the war and achieved the rank of sergeant during his service overseas. I'm hoping to spot him in this video but he was with a Very Small Unit.The 199TH INFANTRY BRIGADE.
Ft Sill OK, 1981. I had a love/hate relationship with the Army. In hindsight it was the best thing I ever did but at the time it sucked. Eventually went to OCS became a Battery Commander and resigned to start a successful business. I was a leader in every organization that I was involved in after that. Life worked out better that I ever dreamed of back then. No regrets.
I went to fort Sill for forward Observer
I like to offer a huge word of thanks to every veteran.
"You're welcome"??
I went threw basic at Ft.Jackson in 1964,this video makes it look easy,went to Ft.Sill for 8 weeks and then to Germany.
You went 'through' -- not "threw."
1/5/1968 Fort Knox KY Echo - 17 - 5 E for excellence SGT! 32 years later retired Master Army Aviator, Aviation Brigade Commander....hell of a ride folks. We all started out at 18 years of age..who knew.
I went through E Co 2-46 at Knox in 2002. It was a hell of a place.
My Basic Training was a bit different than Dad's. It is so cool to get a glimpse of what he did.
Genius!
How gentle and clean it looks
Not the way it was at Ft Bragg in 67
Greatest buddies ever
SGT within 2 years and out!
Airborne to that Sarge... @ Time line 20:61, How the hell did he earn those bloused jump boots? Talk about fast rank at Bragg... went straight from Pfc. to acting jack buck Sgt. in a year and a half. Didn't receive E-5 pay till i had 2 years in. Have a Damn good Memorial Day Weekend. Co. C 1/504 71-74 -gilpin 5-28-16
Fire up the grill, get together with friends and family!
Have a Good One Buddy!
"Acting buck sergeant"? That means you were an E--4 corporal (same pay as a Specialist E-4). Going from E-3 to E-4 corporal (or SP4) in one year is par for the course. After making corporal, or "acting buck sergeant", it's usually another year or so to make E-5, so going for E-3 to E-5 in two years is fairly typical.
Did basic at Bragg from late 66 into early 67. E-9-2 and every DI had a parachute on his fatigues. We were the first cycle to use the barracks in which we were housed since Korea. Fun times for this kid from Northern KY.
Mike - Where in Northern KY are you from? I am from Bellevue....
Just want to say Thanks to all the Vets here ! Much respect ! I was 6 yrs old in 67 Thank you for fighting to keep us safe !
"...fighting to keep us safe."
Thank you.
Wow man it's like the army is groovy man...You wish! What a shock to someone who saw this film and joined the army. God bless those men!
Seeing this now, my grandpa who graduated at Fort Jackson during the Vietnam days hadn't been through very many different training scenarios that I did in 2014, from the same base. That's very unique and.. there's a lot of tradition in this uniform. It really helped me. A bit emotional after watching this.
I went to Army BCT exactly 40 years after this was released. Sure some things were different about my experience, but it's amazing to see how little has actually changed! Great video.
I feel like I’m at Ft Jackson in basic all over again, it’s amazing to know I walked the same path millions of hero’s walked before me! HOOAH
This video brings back memories of my Army basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky I was sent to Vietnam and that’s where I received my Purple Heart, and my disability.
Thank you for your sacrifice…..what was the circumstance?
I went thru basic in '63...in '76 I was 'involuntarily' selected for Drill Sergeant duty...I couldn't believe how soft Basic training had become
Was it, or did it only feel that way because you were no longer on the receiving end?
@@NYG5 draftee army versus volunteer. It was much easier.
@@pauldarling330 Draftees were treated worse or better?
Everybody was treated equally. Enlisted or draftee.
“Those new shot guns made it almost painless…” Funny, I don’t remember them that way! Then there was the blood on our sleeves…. Fun times!
Thank you for your sacrifices sir
Imagine seeing this and picturing a cool G.I. Joe summer camp, then arriving and hearing the first few screams of your drill sergeants.
The immediate feeling of betrayal and regret would be incredible.
"WTF have I gotten myselv into?!!!"
The navy was no different in the 60s. I was at Great Lakes in 1966 and the drill instructor was a screaming and swearing guy. He was a chief engineer from a submarine.
Wow, this brings back a lot of memories. I was in Ft. Jackson, SC from July - Sept. 1980 and was billeted in WWII barracks just like those in the video. A few differences from the time of this film to 1980, but not much change. "Join the people, who've joined the Army!"
"Be all that you can be".
I didn't....Even though I can't complain about my time in the Active Duty military, hindsight NOW tells me I should NOT have entered, or at least entered as YOUNG as I was....Immediately right after highschool at the "peachfuzzed" age of 18....Probably should have waited until I was at least 22??
Join the ppl who've joined the Army 🎼🎵🎶 that's the jingle I remember; Army commercial on T.V. back in 1976. 🪖🪂💥💣⚔️🗡🇺🇲
My brother did his basic training at Fort Bliss Texas in 1966. He was then sent to Fort Polk Louisana for combat training. After being stationed at Fort Polk he was sent to Berlin Germany and was with the Seventh Army. He was a graduate of UCLA and had a bachelor's in German. He spent his entire four years in the army as an interpature. Leo was a spec five in very little time. His title was secretary of the chief of staff in Berlin. After four years his time was up and the army did everything they could to keep him over there but he wanted out of the army so he could go back to the states and resume his education and go into teaching. The FBI and the CIA both offered him jobs but he declined. After getting a master's degree he and his German wife went back to Germany to pursue a carrier in teaching. He went to college And learned how to speak Spanish and Turkish at the college level. He taught for forty years
traitor
@@AR15andGOD You must be a very low IQ!! I guess you have to take drugs to be happy!!
pvi hm garcia A-4-1.1967 Ft. Jackson, SC Almost 50 years ago. amazing.
Hector Garcia private Leonard e82 Fort Jackson South Carolina August 12th 1968 50 years ago this month
This video about basic is such a hoot. If you were to believe it was this easy, and the sargents were were so pleasant, everybody would join up. I'm surprised they didnt tell us that you got weekends off, and a free pass to the strip club. 😂 Nobody yelling in your face, but lots of smiles. This is about as truthful as the newer videos, showing recruits riding seadoos, and playing golf. 🙄
Is it just me or anyone else sees how calm and peaceful they make this look. This wasn't the real basic!
Right because I went in 35 years later and they were super tough with me!
No it isn't just you...This video over romanticized things just a tad bit...Probably by LEAVING OUT the gruesome details of what happened to poor "Stan" to either get him to "straighten up and fly right", or if he may have even had an "accident" that literally cost him his life, or gave him a permanent disability with perhaps a dishonorable discharge as well??? Best case scenario?? "Stan's" FULL NAME can be found on that black memorial wall in Washington DC.
Had BCT starting in January 1980 at Ft. Jackson months after some trainees drowned during night training. The drill sergeants had backed off the hardcore hazing and shark attacks, but they would drop trainees for pushups and situps for the slightest reasons. The new BCT barracks weren't ready so we stayed in AIT styled ones with 8-man rooms. Our battalion was the furthest from the ranges, so we had many LONG road marches.
I was C-5-1 May-July 1980 over on Tank Hill. Drag Ass Hill still makes me break out in a cold sweat.
I was there in 82. They definitely did the shark attack!!
It was sure as hell different when i went through. First we were crammed into cattle trucks and had exactly 5 minute to get off the vehicles and into the barracks
Geeeezzzz!!😰
Gotta love those cattle trucks.
Memories. Wow. I completed basic and AIT at Ft. Knox,Kentucky. 1967. August. So hot they gave us salt pills. I was used to hard living on the farm. Was easy for me. Plus i was in the Devil Pup Marine program @ Camp Pendleton when i was 14. A boy to a man in 16 weeks...mas y menos. Gracias Dios
So you must’ve gone to Vietnam yes?
@jamesmack3314 Yes....
my dad went threw bootcamp at fort dix 1967 served with the 1st Calvary in Vietnam 67/68 his name is Okey Spencer
robert spencer forty five minutes away from my house it's like history
The wooden barracks kinda made me homesick! Reception station was kicked back compared to basic. We were met by our drill sergeants in their dress greens and they yelled at us for most of the morning.
I sucked at doing the overhead bars and the inverted crawl. By the end of Basic, I got a passing PT score. I was so glad when the Army changed the PT test to just push-ups, sit-ups and a two mile run a few years later. I never had a problem with PT tests after that.
I swear the same Initial Issue civilians are still working there.
*Basic Training 1967 - Hey fellas, we have a little shindig over in Southeast Asia, wanna come? It’ll be swell!*
ua-cam.com/video/eRl6-bHlz-4/v-deo.html
Same with my late husband, 1967-1971; two tours of Vietnam. 101st Airborne Army Ranger.
Fort Jackson 1968 here. I graduated in 69' Infantry. I was sent to Vietnam.
Me to. I left Jackson Dec. of 1968. Watched a Kkk parade ln Columbia. Then to Nam. I thought the KKK was the Salvation Army, being black from Denver.
We are damn glad that you made it back able to tell us that! We were done there by the time I was of age, and they had stopped the draft some time before that. In the late 70s I went to a concert that reunited Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and CJATF did an updated Feel Like I'm Fixin To Die Rag and during it I toasted a spliff of skunk and thought about you older dudes so I sort of figuratively had your back, in spirit. Then years later, in the early 2Ks, the cool ol' guy working on the house next door to mine turned out to have been of the S&D Trio that located and arrested Lt Calley. He said Calley surrendered without incident. He said Calley was simply all about "MY boys are coming home"
Basic training in 67 at Fort Ord California a33 the drill sergeants were as tough as nails but in the very end your appreciated it
scott nordlund. . me to, bout the same time.
Fort Knox Kentucky 72
Basic training fort knots Kentucky 72
An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe, and someday I hope to join the army and become one of those big toes.
everyone hopes to become the leader
@@P7777-u7r not me fuck that shit lol
Lighten up, Francis
@@bakedAK85 Well, Ok hotshot.
@@jasonl8326 Razzle Dazzle
Glad my grandfather, father, uncles, myself and brothers all served.
I did basic at Ft. Sill in 1993. This is cracking me up but bringing back a lot of good memories too. Best job I ever had.
Fort Jackson, SC reception, Fort Gordon, Ga. Basic and Infantry AIT, winter 1969. I lived in one of the wooden firetrap barracks during a cold winter We were the last cycle out of our area at Ft. Gordon as they were closing down the basic training; building maintenance was not a priority. Our platoon had little or no heat and several of us were sick. This, of course, was a constant source of amusement for the DIs when it was time for sick call in the morning. One morning there was actually a coating of ice in the toilets--this place really sucked. We had very little winter gear available, nothing but my ill fitting combat boots one day when it snowed; it was a wonderful day on the range. My feet have never really been right since...
Same scenario at Ft. Leonard Wood. Fall and Winter, 1969. Woke up one morning with 2 inches of snow on the blanket I used to cover my head. There was an 1 1/2 inch gap under the window behind my rack.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
Ft Gordon became an AIT school for the Signal Corps. As a senior NCO with an additional MOS, the existing DS were not enough to handle the cadre; so the seasoned NCOs stepped in. Lots of new soldiers got a shock when the NCOs did not tolerate what the newbies thought they could get away with. I happen to have more time in service than the school CSM as I was a reservist. He was also shocked I was not intimidated, having completed my MS and starting my PhD academics upon finishing the school. The Base CG tried his crap until learning he got his commission 2 weeks before I went through MEPS.
I've never been in the military but I think their was a bunch of people that watched this back in the day and then got a reality check when they actually showed up to training and heard the drill instructor start screaming
That reality was MUCH MORE harsher for the DRAFTEES. (It was pretty harsh for ME as a VOLUNTEER 20 years later....My first thought off that bus being:
"MY GOD WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!?!?"
Some NCO who greeted me and "welcomed" me just to IN PROCESSING and that could read my mind:
"YOUR'RE GONNA FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH BOY!!"👹
Nobody's basic training was easy, but I did later learn that there were things we didn't do at Fort Dix or did differently than at other forts like Polk or Knox.
In fact, I remember being shown this exact same movie during basic training-- only it must've been an earlier version of it because it was in black and white.
Hey Sir thank you for your service,I was the last basic training at fort Dix in February Cold as you could amagin! Sure brings back memories 😂
@@2randybaum yep, I did my basic summer of 1971. Weather the exact opposite -- very hot, but I was glad. Endured that better than in the cold.
"good afternoon, men" wtf? I was greeted with, "get off the god damn bus, shirtbirds, move move move!!!"
I went to Ft Benning in '83 and, there certainly was no Army Band there to great us....what we received was a 'Shark Attack' that seemingly lasted for hours on end lmao. The young man next to me in formation was so scared he literally pissed himself! Once 1 of the Drill Sgts saw that, it was a full scale 360 degree onslaught on him....he was given the nickname Beaker because he looked just like that muppet character lol. He was 1 of the 1st casualties, he didn't last long at all. First building we went into was a building where we sat down and were told...1 by 1 why we wouldn't make it through the 1st week of Basic Training! I GUARANTEE you there was NO way that Basic Training in '67 was that relaxed. It was a rough 13 weeks, as those of us in the Infantry did Basic/AIT in 1 Duty Station....that was 13 looong weeks with the exact same Drill Sgts lol. I must admit though, I was proud to have graduated and there was about half of us that started, that graduated that day. Some were Recycled and you certainly didn't want that to happen. Funny, I don't remember any touch Football games lol. The 1 day we had that was relaxing was the 4th of July.
Shark attacks were just stopped this year
@@gnarl12 I'm surprised they were allowed to last as many years as they did. It was 0 fun to go through it but, once I graduated from Infantry School, I honestly got a laugh out of the memories from that long, hellish night lol. I was never more grateful to get to bed in my life (up to that point), than that night and even in the barracks (at the infamous Harmony Church), 1 of the Drill SGTs paced up and down that center aisle (in what sounded like taps on the bottom of his boots) for quite awhile lol. I made a mistype when I said 1 Duty Station...it was actually One Station Unit Training, in which was what those of us in the Infantry went through, and AIT was like Basic Training on steroids (too me any way lol). I think on avg, we got like 4 hours of sleep a night....many nights not even that much. It was hilarious the number of positions we could grab a few winks in lol. The Cattle Trucks were great for catching a few! I remember actually falling asleep walking during 1 long ass road march lol. I also remember being sent into the barracks to find a soldier that wasn't in formation. I found him sleeping inside the supply closet in the barracks lol. I have so many funny stories from that part of my life in '83. Sorry I keep writing so much but, like any old man I get lost in memories sometimes lol.
@@mikebridges7294 Thank you for your service How many years were you in the active duty army
@@saabab1474 thank you....I was only a Reservist, and then I joined the Army National Guard. I was really upset with myself for not going Active Duty, or what many called the Regular Army lol. By the time I finished my original obligations, and could have asked to go Active...my now ex-wife had a different idea lol. I mean I could have, if I didn't want to stay married and see my daughters lol.
@@mikebridges7294 Did you stay in Georgia through those years?
Started basic at fort knox mar 15 1967. e-17-5 . learned alot in 8 weeks.
Ft. Benning Ga. Harmony Church was really mean back in 1986. We had WWII barracks with no AC and Vietnam Vets as Drill Sergeants. The place has not changed since WWII when I went through. Going through summer in August till November really sucked. This is when OUST (One Unit Station Training) for Infantry that meant Basic and Infantry School was one streamlined training. It was 14 weeks for being a basic 11 Bravo rifleman and 11BC2 M47 Dragon Anti-Armor Specialist. Us guys who had Airborne or Ranger Contracts had special attention from the Drill Sergeants also with extra PT for an hour or two after training when everybody in the company could relax. The training paid of for me when I went through Airborne School. The push ups and running I did well but I also practiced on the pull ups which helped a lot. I never will forget that experience in my life.
I was in B-4-2 from Aug to Nov 86.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
I went through Basic in this era and it was nothing like the Boy Scouts, as this propaganda depicts. I remember the M14 rifle; recruits were still being trained with it years after the M16 was regular issue. You'd train on the M14, then never touch one again.
BASIC THESE DAYS THE SOY BOYS CAN CALL FOR A TIME OUT IF THEY FEEL "ANXIOUS" LMFAOOOO N.KOREA SHOULD INVADE USA ASAP
I liked the M14 and even bought a rebuilt one in the late 1980’s. I had basic at ft Dix in early 1968
We knew that we would transition to the M16 at our units after using the M-16 in trainingl. The first time I as handed an M16 I didn't realize it was a real gun. I thought it was a training aid to practice teardown and reassembly. I didn't really believe it was a rifle until the live fire range.
guys like Trump, Biden and Cheney got student deferments......I hate those men in a way for getting those while poor country and city boys went over there and died....not right....
@@mnpd3 I think M1s/M14s lend towards making you a better shooter for everything else. Outside of the trigger pull, the Armalite design shoots way easier, so if you can shoot an M14 well the M16 shoulda been a breeze.
My dad was a Drill Sgt. at Ft Bragg in 1967 then he was off to Viet Nam. I still have Plt. pics and often wondered how many died in Nam. Dad died of cancer in 1993. Rip Pop.
Not a whole lot changed from then to 2003 when I went to Basic in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. The biggest difference I saw was we didn't take any of those tests at the front because we weren't drafted and we had the ASVAB to complete before MEPS. Everything else was still virtually the same.
>1967
>expecting a push button war
Wew lad you're in for a treat
I mean, that's what the computer said.
We typed: 'take Vietnam' and then it turned blue.
Odd, must be something faulty with our calculations.
What? It cost 68,000 American lives?
Well, shit. We'll have to take a closer look at the computer.
Something's not right, here.
After basic and AIT I was in the best shape of my life.
The results of Vietnam tore me down. Today I'm disabled, for life.
I'd do it again!
Jerry Giddens thank you for your service
Hey have you seen Michael Ryan asround???? Oregon/ASrmy.... yada,yada......
Jerry Giddens pp
I did basic at Ft Bragg home of the special forces and god they picked on us any time they saw you. The one time we did get a days pass into town there were lots of fights between trainee's and green beanies as we called them.
Thank you how many years did you do?
My dad was in the Navy, and he *loved* the pugile stick portion of training before he was shipped off to 'nam.
Sgt Hulka ...blown up Sir
am I to understand you completed your basic trading on your own?
That's the fact Jack.
the Army looks like cub scouts compared to Marine Recruits
When I was drafted in 1983, it was basically all the same, from the official drafting process, the medical examinations and of course the basic combat training. I went through a 6-month long NCO training to become a tank commander, the first two months being the basic (infantry) stuff. After graduation and the oath-taking I served another 2 and 1/2 year in a combat unit near the inner-German border at the seaport city of Rostock until my honourable discharge in autumn of 1986.
With other words, I served in the East-German army (NVA) at the other side of the fence than the most of you.
In the barracks of Rostock (a 3000 men infantry regiment, the MSR28) I also had to execute the basic training for the ordinary draftees (18 months compulsory service) as a drill sergeant - training them from folding the bed linen, keeping the uniform in order up to how to use, shoot and hit with the AK47s, orientation and survival in the open (summer and winter), close combat and hand-to-hand , bayonet fighting and of course the marching trainings. On top were lessons about national defence and international laws during war like the Geneva convention etc., legal and illegal orders etc. After 8 weeks of basic training the new draftees were then introduced to the tanks and their crews.
If you like to know about the Soviet Army and its recruits at the about the same time, watch this guys videos:
the USHANKA SHOW
where he is going into all the deep details how it was done in the USSR.
For you all, who were servicing at the other side of the iron curtain, you will be surprised how similar everything was.
Peace! from Dresden / Germany
This film gives the impression that your DI is your friend.
That is most certainly not the case.
Beau74 b******* that di is the best friend you have or ever will have you will hate his guts but that man will train training will keep you alive
DI becomes your best friend when he comes to your unit in your first deployment. What are the odds pf that.
Hes not your friend, hes the guy that's trying to keep you ALIVE though!!
The Army does not have DI's. That's reserved for the Marine Corp. The Army has Drill Sgts.
Beau74 - It’s Drill Sergeant in the army, I believe.
Enlisted in 1970 and went to Basic at Ft. Ord CA. Training was already very different than this. For example, we used M16’s instead of M14’s and there was no bayonet training (bayonets no longer issued). And, of course, no pool tables and darn little time (or energy) for football games. Afterwards, I went to Signal School (31M) at Ft. Gordon GA. Got orders for Vietnam after Signal School, but those were rescinded the next day and replaced. Instead, went to Ft. Benning GA (Airborne School) and Germany.
Basic training at Fort Benning, GA, Apr - Jun 1967.
@Herbert Herod Thank you how many years did you stay in?
I graduated from Basic Combat Training at Ft. Dix NJ on November 10, 1967 (56 years ago today). The best part of this video is the music.
Makes me wish I had joined the army. The DIs were so nice and caring. 😂
Heroes in training! Thank you for you service and sacrifice.
.......and then they shipped us off to Vietnam where we discovered marijuana, venereal disease, hard drugs, booze, and we came home fucked up and ignored. Well, they left out that part.
Yup, while cadet bone spurs was too gutless to serve.
And his criminal competitor's rapist husband went to the Soviet Union. I'll stick with the adult who grew up to actually get shit moving again in this nation, and did not commit 33 THOUSAND violations of INFOSEC which would have put ANY GI in Leavenworth until their bones were powder.
@@Scott-hb1xn Trump lost
@@kbanghart No, I suggest you do some research, and stop allowing a corrupt media to cream pie you while you lap it up.
@@Scott-hb1xn 😭🤣😭🤣😭🤣
This video is obviously sugar coated propaganda. My basic training experience in 1967 was considerably different.
The clean language is a give away.
Troops haven't talked like that since the 40s.
You obviously don't know what your talking about. My Dad was in the U.S. Army during WW2.
The men swore. Your not the first generation to use those words. Many soldiers believe that being in the
Army gives them a right to swear. It's similar to flying on an airplane today. Every passenger thinks that they are the greatest thing ever and treat their fellow flyers and stewardesses like shit.
Robert - I know its 3 years on but.....did the DIs punch any of you guys? I know OFFICIALLY it was not allowed...but what happened when an Officer was not around.....
@@maninthewilderness5795 i was punched in the face for muttering cunt under my breath and it wasn't even Vietnam it was 2012 in the Australian Army its never been "allowed" it doesn't stop it from happening when i became an instructor myself i belted up a trainee because he kept barrel punching (thrusting your rifle forward as if you had a bayonet) and closed fist punching in riot training and shattered some ones collar bone
Yea Mr.McAllum , My Dad said the same thing.............Go SeaBees!!!!
Seriously, I got a chuckle from hearing "Last Train To Clarksville" by The Monkees in the background when the train arrived, not to mention the other Monkees songs during the entire video. In the 1980s, we didn't get issued dress greens/Class As until our 2nd to last week of Basic, after passing qualification and PT tests.
Love the Monkees tracks!
Bring's back memories of my basic training at Fort Polk La.
B22 for basic. Assigned to Company A Special Troops as a personnel specialist Worked at Building 317. 1965 to 67. Adjutant General and got out as an E5.
I was sent to Ft Polk in January '68 for AIT.. The barracks were ramshackle dumps. The plumbing was so corroded the urinals drained onto the floor. Much of the our company cadre were non-functioning alcoholics. They'd get cattle trucks to take us to distant ranges without arranging trucks to bring us back. It seemed more like a bigger version of the film set for Cool Hand Luke than the Army bases I'd seen in the rest of the Army.
I did my basic at Fort Lewis,Wash.I wish it would have been Fort Ord becuz i lived in San Jose but for some reason most of the guys who went in with me were from the Bay Area. This was Nov 1968 and was at the peak of the Viet Nam war.I did get my wish after coming home from 'Nam.I was assigned to aBasic Training Company made up of wounded vets like myself. My job was rifle range instructor.It was great because I could come and go on weekends.When I drive past where Fort Ord once stood I think about my time there many years ago.
Grandfather said you'd sit down in the barber chair, and before the Cape fell all the way on you they had you bald as a cue ball in about 2.3sec.
Lol I never had a marching band greet me when I got to Ft Benning. This movie is making it out to be a walk in the park.
These are GODS among men. Great, Brave Warrior's!
Esp. the guy w/ the glasses...