How does writing home in army basic training work?

Question

I am going to army basic training (FT. Benning, 11B) in a few weeks and I wanted to know how writing home or to other people works. Do they set aside time for you to write and pick up mail? Do they make you do pushups for mail? Do they open your mail to search for stuff? Are people allowed to send pictures? Any other details and tips you could provide would be a huge help. Thanks!

Answer 1

You will be allowed "personnel" time every day, this will usually start around 7:30 or 8 pm each night until lights out at 9 pm. During this time you will take care of your laundry, your boots, showers and letter writing. Now on the subject of doing pushups for mail call, I have heard of several different ways of that one being done. When i was in boot camp it was only for those that got more than one piece of mail, But officially IT CANNOT BE DONE,, your mail falls under the federal laws and you cannot pay with pushups. I honestly would not tell a drill sergeant this. But as a former mail clerk I was told this several times. Now as in the pictures. You are allowed to tape your favorite pictures on the door of your wall locker as long as they are not pornagraphic. You will also have one drawer in your foot locker that is for personnel use only, no one else can look in this as long as you keep your padlock on it. So i would suggest that you find a set of padlocks that take the same key. The first padlock for the wall locker doors and the second for the drawer.As in the boxes you will be made to open it in front of them to make sure contraband, as in porno, cookies, junk food , any of that does not make it in the barracks. Good luck to you

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

They give you a very limited amount of free time during the first few weeks. My mom actually has letters that say only "hi, things are going ok, love you.." As far as I know they do not search your mail. But here's some advice on recieving pictures in the mail: You can't hide anything once it arrives. So just know that if grandma and grandpa send you a picture, the drill instructor will find it in your locker and most likely make fun of you for it. They love to humiliate you.

The thing about basic training is that you won't realize that you're actually having fun until the day you finally leave. Then you can laugh about it. Good luck

Answer 5

Phone Calls: One guaranteed call to let your parents or loved ones know you've arrived safely, and give them your address. It will be very short, and the TI's usually make sure of that. Other than that one guaranteed call, it's all up to your TI. Some let their trainees call home once a week, others don't give any phone call other than that first. If you're given Base Liberty, you can make phone calls. (Base Liberty is about two hours of free time where you can do a lot of things on base like go eat at the minimall, buy things, make phones call, etc.) Letters: This all depends on your TI. My flight was never authorized to write letters. The only chance we had was when we were on Base Lib, but we all just called home instead. Some TI's give you permission to write letters during any free time that you have. Computers: The only way you can have computer access during BMT is while you're on Base Lib. The minimalls have computers for which you can purchase access time. Don't waste too much time there, though, when you can be spending that time hearing a loved one's voice on the phone while chowing down on that junk food you've been missing for so long.

Answer 6

You will be allowed time to write and send the mail. Trick is to buy envelopes and put the stamps on them ahead of time.

I was in Benning for 5 years. The downtown area is just a rundown trap for recruits so avoid it. Hit the malls and stuff.
Before you go there see about opening a bank account in your hometown. I do not know how they do it now as far as getting your checks now. They may open an account there in the bank there but you could call them there to find out ahead of time. That way all you need is your ATM card since the money is going to your bank account.


Also, you may find the usual moochers there who may want to borrow money and pay you payday. You see when you finish, you may ship out at different times, and your buddy will ship and skip out without paying you. I learned this but it only cost me $5. I never lent money after that. AIT is a lot more lax now. I was 11C, mortars. I pity you grunts now. lol While in a unit doing cold weather the 11C would go hide from the 11B and we would be around a nice, cozy, hot fire with a radio doing fire missions. Of course, we did not set up the mortars, we just had the APCs there with one of us on the radio, acting like we were doing fire missions. The grunts had to do the grunt stuff. Like no fire or nothing. But this is the way of life. You will most likely go 11M which is a 11B with transportation. hahaha Why does the infantry do so bad? Cuz when I was in we paid more time and work on maintenance rather than tactics. Hopefully, the army has changed some. Good LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

One thing though. If you go to Iraq and you are in the Bradleys. Tell your squad leader that the Night scope on the Bradley can be used during the day. Dumb A ss Army could never figure that out. You see everything is hot granted, but human bodies REALLY stand out, once you get the hang of it. It really works. I used it during desert training in California, especially when it is a cold day. But the training does not ever cover this.

Answer 7

Congratulations, Yes you will have time to write letters, however that time will be kinda limited unless things have changed in the last 5 years. There be a mail call everyday, and its up to you Drill SGT if you have to do push-ups or not. My only other advise would be to pay attention and take pride in what your about to do, your job as an 11B will be a hard one with this war going on.

Answer 8

Writing home is actually pretty easy. It was easy when i went 4 years ago, so i bet it has gotten easier since. You should have time at night to write, but if not, try not to get caught writing after lights out. Some Drill Sergeants (D.S.) will make you knock out some push ups for your mail, but trust me its no biggie. Its actually fun after a while. You will have to open up your boxes, so tell family and friends not to sent candy and food. You can get as many photos as you like, but no porno. Last word of advice, If a D.S. yells at you, dont take it personal. They are not yelling at you, but making an example for the rest. Good luck on everything!

Answer 9

it blows for your loved one's back home. You can't receive any mail for the first few weeks. No phone calls or text messages or nothing-You can't even have a cellphone on your person. In the meantime I wrote several letters everyday to my husband sometimes 2 a day. When he finally got his first mail delivery it ended up being craploads -the drill instructor makes fun of the soldier in front of all the other soldiers. After that day, any day he receives more than 2 pieces of personal mail a day he has to do 50 push-ups for each letter over the 2 he is allowed. My husband chewed me out, because he got 2 from me, one from his dad, and one from my mother all the same day. I cried and told him my letters should be worth all the push-ups in the world to him. And if you get sent a big enoug package yup it gets opened in front of everybody. He had to wait inline for hrs. waiting to use the 4 payphones available near his building.And if you miss that call it's another week befor he can call again. Boy did I feel like crap when I got home and heard his message on the machine. He sounded so down. They really do strip you of al you hold dear while you are there. Be mentally tough and Graduation will be there in no time for you. But then it starts all over again when you have to go to AIT, Advanced training. for whatever field you are getting into.Pics are allowed, but not nude photos. and wait t'ill your battle buddy tells you your wife or girlfriend is hot. That happened to my husband, and my husband beat the crap out of him. Sorry if I rambled, but this is a topic I relate to. My husband went to Fort Benning too, the Ft. Gordon for AIT. But I'm glad to hear you are protecting my freedom. Thanks!

Answer 10

Yes they will make you knock out few for mail. Trust me you will enjoy knocking them out because its good for your shape and you got mail. Other then writing....back when i went to basic 3 yrs ago i had to use my bed time for letters. If you go to church on sundays they will reliese you and you can write while at service. Good luck and oh have fun jumping out of airplanes.......ohh yea and ummm make sure noone try to send you porn or food....its a no no. You will get dropped and you will stay like that probably all day. lol Kind of fun to watch....not from the floor though.....Yes they open boxes up and search stuff. Most likely you dont need anything anyways....px have all the necessary stuff for you 9-11 weeks or basic training. Good luck!