Learn Your Three General Orders Before You Ship To Basic

There will be many things you'll have to memorize while at Basic Training, one of the first will be your three general orders. These general orders, once committed to memory and understood, will be the foundation of all guard duties that you'll be tasked to handle in you army career (trust me, you'll pull lots of guard duty). I've included these general orders for you to memorize. You'll save a lot of time and headaches if you learn them before you ship out. They are pretty short and sweet so it shouldn't take you much time to learn them.


1st General Order
"I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved."

2nd General Order

"I will obey my special orders and perform all of my duties in a military manner."

3rd General Order

"I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions, to the commander of the relief."

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He's has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Good Morning Drill Sergeant... I Mean Sir?

Memorize officer and enlisted ranks. There will be a test later and you will be sorry if you don't pass!


This is something that you can do here and now. There are many mistakes you can make in basic training but calling an LT. a sergeant because you cant identify rank is a good way to get noticed and not in a the way you'd like. There are many rank charts plastered all over the internet but a better one can be found on Military.com. Memorizing rank now will give you more time to concentrate on other things and trust me, there's a lot to learn in basic training and anything you can do here and now to get better prepared will help you in the long run.




Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Trust Me, You'll Need This!

Sleeps in PT uniform if possible, on top of the covers.


Basic Training is all about doing things fast. The drill sergeants are going to give you impossible tasks in impossible time frames, fully knowing there’s no possible way you can succesfully complete them. Every morning, you’ll be expected to wake up, make your rack, conduct personal hygine and be outside in formation ready for PT all within 5 minutes. Sleeping in PT’s and not under the covers will buy you extra time during those hectic mornings.




Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

When Being First Sucks

Get a rack as far away from the main entrance to your bay as possible.

Try to get a bunk or rack, as it’s called in the military, closer to the rear of the bay. This will help you in two ways. Having a bunk next to the front door means getting to be the first trainee who’ll experience the drill sergeants wrath when he comes in and wakes you up at 0430 in the morning. Being in the rear gives you a little extra time to get up, get oriented and get going.
Secondly, having a rack in the rear will allow you a little more privacy since they’ll be less foot traffic in your immediate area. Often you’ll only have one drill sergeant at a time, as they rotate duty days. So while the drill sergeant is busy focusing on those trainees closest to the door, you’ll be able to fly low under the radar. You’re still going to get smoked no matter what, but it’s better to get smoked for someone else’s mistake than your own.





Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about basic training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Don't Go In The Deep End, There's Sharks

Expect the dreaded Shark Attack.

You’ve probably seen a variation of the shark attack on a nature channel. You know, a baby fur seal enters the water for the first time and within seconds is face to face with a school of hungry great white sharks. Well guess what, at basic training you’re the baby seal. Don’t worry the drill sergeants can't touch you.

This will last for what seems to be an eternity and will probably culminate in the most intense smoking of the entire 9 weeks. Just remember a few key tips, 1. Don’t look the drill sergeants directly in the eyes, look straight through them as if they weren’t  there. 2. When told to move, do so at lightning speed and 3. Don’t ever get obnoxious or challenge the drill sergeants authority, doing so is the quickest way to unleash the hounds of hell.

Basic training is a unique and rewarding experience to say the least. It may not seem like it at the time but as you progress through you military career you’ll look back and realize some of the best and most amusing memories of your life happened during those life changing 9 weeks.

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of theen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. Staff Sergeant Brito has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Get Your Sleep While You Can

Expect to be woken up in the middle of the night.

At basic training the drill sergeants are in total control. Inevitably, someone is going to make a mistake and your entire platoon will pay the price.

Punishment can be a PT smoking, verbal shark attack or any number of creative ways to shock you into compliance. This includes being woken up in the middle of the night at o dark thirty by  screaming drill sergeants who seem to be on a rampage for no apparent reason. When this does happen, don’t expect to be allowed to sleep in to make up for the few lost zzz’s. Just dig down deep inside you and drive on. This will happen , so expect it.

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. Staff Sergeant Brito has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

This Isn't Summer Camp!

Expect The Worst

 Basic Training by design is meant to be confusing, demanding and stressful. You’ll have drill sergeants constantly in your  face and micromanaging every aspect of your daily life. Often it will feel like your being singled out, or worse, punished for someone else’s mistakes.

Don’t let this put you in a negative state of mind. The drill sergeants are tasked with the very difficult job of turning civilians into highly disciplined defenders of freedom in a very short period of time.

The first few weeks are the most difficult, after that it gets progressivley easier. The stress and confusion is normal and won’t last long. Expect the worst and you’ll be ready for anything they throw at you.

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. Staff Sergeant Brito has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Don't waste Time Before Shipping To Basic Training, Prepare NOW!

Know your 7 core values

You’ll have to memorize many things in Basic Training and you’ll eventually be asked to recite by memory something you were given ample to learn.

One of these things will be the 7 core values: Leadership, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. Not knowing the 7 core values is a good way to find out just how loud the drill sergeants can yell. Memorizing them before you ship out will give you one less thing to stress about and one less reason for the drill sergeant to focus on you. Remember, you’re going to be yelled at anyway but you’ll feel better knowing it’s not because you didn’t prepare beforehand.




Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. Email him at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Don't Be A Spotlight Trainee

These types of personalities exist in all facets of life and the military is no exception. Whenever there’s work to be done, if the drill sergeant is around then private Joe Snuffy seems to be a real team player and is always ready to lend a hand but once there’s no supervision, he’s only in it for himself. There’ll be many times in Basic Training that you’ll be tasked with responsibilities that seem uncomfortable or inconvenient. Things like guard duty, barracks maintainence or  fireguard. A favorite of the Joe Snuffy type is to schedule himself at the beginning or end of fireguard as to not interrupt his sleep. Don’t be this kind of trainee. If you’re tasked with cleaning the toilet, don’t complain about it, just do it. Being in the military is all about teamwork. If you can’t be counted on to accomplish the little things, how you be counted on to the complete the important mission. When Private Snuffy types are discovered, they soon find out what the term “PT Smoking” really means. Doing the right thing when no one is looking is the difference between being an excellent soldier and one who wants to just get by.


Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. He can be reached via email at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. Staff Sergeant Brito has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum

Your Drill Sergeant Doesn't Want To Be Your Friend!

I know this sounds like a no brainer but some trainees try to be friends with the drill sergeant and abruptly find out that this will not happen.

In the civilian world we’re taught from a very young age to be friendly and pleasant with most everyone we meet. This is not the case with the drill sergeants at basic training. The drill sergeant is not your friend. He’s not interested in things you’ve done as a civilian and certainly doesn’t care about your personal views or past experiences. He knows that basic training is deadly serious and your future in the military be it in a combat situation or not may have severe life or death consequences based on the training you receive. When the drill sergeants yell endlessly at you, don’t take it personally. They have nothing against you and have been trained to understand that for basic training to be effective at producing defenders of freedom, there can be no place for drill sergeant slash trainee relationships. There will be those rare times throughout basic training when you’re drill sergeant will show his human face and surprise everyone by saying something funny or unexpected. But you’ll be able to count those times on one hand. Come graduation day, you’ll notice a change in your drill sergeant as he no longer acts like the slavedriver you once perceived him to be and displays more of a proud parent attitude because of what you’ve become.

Staff Sergeant Brito is a recruiter with the California Army National Guard. He is a veteran of thirteen years of both the US Army and the Army National Guard. Email him at iguardcalifornia@yahoo.com. He has posted numerous videos on Youtube.com about preparing for Basic Training. Click here to view them http://www.youtube.com/user/iguardcalifornia?feature=mhum