rsctt83
05-21-2008, 07:24 AM
This is a prime example of why it is great idea to read through forums. This resurfaced thanks to dive doc and is worth putting out there for newer users
Follow the old frog maxim: One is none two is one.
Have two K-bars, two UDT life vests, extra cammies. This will allow you to have one for inspection and one for use. This way you can save time that you can use for SLEEPING AND EATING. Probably the two most important things you can do at BUD/S that will ensure your chances of graduation. The last thing you want to do is stay up on a school night doing gear prep until 1-2 in the morning. After a few weeks of that you'll begin that long downward spiral known as overtraining then once that peaks out you have Hell Week. FUN!
Sharpening a knife properly is an art, one that has to be learned over time. The K bars they issue are absolute pieces of crap. Don't waste time and money on the lansky kit or that other stuff. Take your knives on the weekends or during the week to Horton Plaza to the knife store there and have them sharpen it. It will be razor sharp, better than anything you can do in your room. Drop your knife off, go grab a cup of coffee, sit down and relax or go see a movie. In short RELAX, MANAGE YOUR STRESS, BLOW OFF STEAM. Your body and mind will thank you for it during 1st phase and during Hell Week.
Try to come to BUD/S with a car. You need to be able to get away from that place on the weekends and evenings. Once again to relax and blow of steam.
Don't party on the weekends. If you want to go out and get a couple of beers, make sure it's just a couple and no more. Getting wasted will catch up to you and hurt you in the long run. I shouldn't even have to mention what would happen to you at BUD/S if you get a DUI or a Alcohol Related Incident reported to the center. To the Fleet with you dumba$$. Weekends are for sleeping, eating, hydrating, and RELAXING. Away from the base.
There is a massage school down in PB that charges $50 for an hour. Use it or something like it. It's worth every penny. It's a proven fact that massages help with healing and recovery.
Go to Home Depot and invest in a shop vac. No way you'll get all the sand out of your room with a broom and dust pan from the cleaning gear locker. Once again this is a time and labor saving measure that is well worth the investment. You can split the cost with your roomates and the people you share your bathroom with. With the understanding that in the event people start dropping that it always stays with the people still in training.
For those of that may be thinking that this sounds like a lot of out of pocket expense, well it is. Get used to it. You'll be spending money on things like hat blocks, starch, bungie cords, dry cleaning, putting name tapes on your cammies. The list goes on. It adds up, but that is just the nature of being at BUD/S.
All of these things have one purpose. To give you more time to sleep, eat, and relax.
Hell Week is THE core obstacle to getting through BUD/S. You need to be laying in that tent on Sunday night as rested, recovered and ready as possible for the week ahead. That foundation isn't laid the Friday and Saturday night before Hell Week. It's laid the day you check in to the center.
Evolutions: This may be a touchy subject and somewhat controversial but I'll say it anyway. On individual evolutions like timed runs and conditioning runs hold back a little. DON'T always be the cutoff man, but stay in the middle of the pack. BUD/S is a marathon not a 5k. Marathoners don't go out at a sprint pace over the first few miles so they can crash and burn at mile 20 and not complete the race. Once again the crux of the problem at BUD/S is Hell Week. Always keep that in mind. When it's time for boat crew evolutions give a 100% ALL THE TIME. If you don't then that means one of your classmate is picking up your slack, that is unacceptable.
BUD/S is a game, a serious game, but still a game. It has to be played smartly, and with a bit of strategy. Start using your heads. How you train, what you learn, and how you manage your stress from THIS DAY FORWARD WILL have an impact on your performance at BUD/S.
When it comes to getting quick musters and such, LISTEN to the officers. I'm sure they have there own network on the best way to do things like that. Time and again the things that got us hammered was someone wanting to do their own thing and not taking direction from the O's. Everyone trying to step up and lead. That is good and commendable but causes mass pandemonium when the class is still large. The O's are under the microscope more so than the enlisted. They have more to prove AND more to lose than we do as enlisted. Make their job easier and be a good follower. When the instructors see that, they pass the word to the class leaders. If the O's give orders and they are followed accurately, quickly, AND silently, your life at BUD/S will get considerably easier.
It's the O's job to command and lead the class. It's our job as enlisted to see that those orders are carried out as fast and accurrately as possible.
Time and again, and I'm sure this is something others that have been there can verify, the instructors will say "You guys need to start coming together as a class." Typically you hear this in the middle and after the hammer has fallen on the class, after a lot of pushups and a lot of pain. What they mean by that is what I talked about above. Orders are carried out with SPEED.
There may come a time when an E-1 has to step up and lead a boat crew. When that time comes the spotlight will be on him to perform and I'm sure that he'll want the same thing from others in his boat as he gave to his leaders before. Be a good follower first.
There is no time during Hell Week to set up a commission, give everyone a chance to speak their mind, and come up with the best way to handle a problem. We defend a democracy but we don't practice it at work.
Carry out orders with speed and accuracy.
The biggest cause of attrition is quitting. Performance drops, then injuries come next. The biggest (probably the only) cause of quitting, mentally giving up and no longer being able to justify why you are doing this to yourself. When you quit, you make a CHOICE to not continue. Just as those who make it make a CHOICE to continue.
Follow the old frog maxim: One is none two is one.
Have two K-bars, two UDT life vests, extra cammies. This will allow you to have one for inspection and one for use. This way you can save time that you can use for SLEEPING AND EATING. Probably the two most important things you can do at BUD/S that will ensure your chances of graduation. The last thing you want to do is stay up on a school night doing gear prep until 1-2 in the morning. After a few weeks of that you'll begin that long downward spiral known as overtraining then once that peaks out you have Hell Week. FUN!
Sharpening a knife properly is an art, one that has to be learned over time. The K bars they issue are absolute pieces of crap. Don't waste time and money on the lansky kit or that other stuff. Take your knives on the weekends or during the week to Horton Plaza to the knife store there and have them sharpen it. It will be razor sharp, better than anything you can do in your room. Drop your knife off, go grab a cup of coffee, sit down and relax or go see a movie. In short RELAX, MANAGE YOUR STRESS, BLOW OFF STEAM. Your body and mind will thank you for it during 1st phase and during Hell Week.
Try to come to BUD/S with a car. You need to be able to get away from that place on the weekends and evenings. Once again to relax and blow of steam.
Don't party on the weekends. If you want to go out and get a couple of beers, make sure it's just a couple and no more. Getting wasted will catch up to you and hurt you in the long run. I shouldn't even have to mention what would happen to you at BUD/S if you get a DUI or a Alcohol Related Incident reported to the center. To the Fleet with you dumba$$. Weekends are for sleeping, eating, hydrating, and RELAXING. Away from the base.
There is a massage school down in PB that charges $50 for an hour. Use it or something like it. It's worth every penny. It's a proven fact that massages help with healing and recovery.
Go to Home Depot and invest in a shop vac. No way you'll get all the sand out of your room with a broom and dust pan from the cleaning gear locker. Once again this is a time and labor saving measure that is well worth the investment. You can split the cost with your roomates and the people you share your bathroom with. With the understanding that in the event people start dropping that it always stays with the people still in training.
For those of that may be thinking that this sounds like a lot of out of pocket expense, well it is. Get used to it. You'll be spending money on things like hat blocks, starch, bungie cords, dry cleaning, putting name tapes on your cammies. The list goes on. It adds up, but that is just the nature of being at BUD/S.
All of these things have one purpose. To give you more time to sleep, eat, and relax.
Hell Week is THE core obstacle to getting through BUD/S. You need to be laying in that tent on Sunday night as rested, recovered and ready as possible for the week ahead. That foundation isn't laid the Friday and Saturday night before Hell Week. It's laid the day you check in to the center.
Evolutions: This may be a touchy subject and somewhat controversial but I'll say it anyway. On individual evolutions like timed runs and conditioning runs hold back a little. DON'T always be the cutoff man, but stay in the middle of the pack. BUD/S is a marathon not a 5k. Marathoners don't go out at a sprint pace over the first few miles so they can crash and burn at mile 20 and not complete the race. Once again the crux of the problem at BUD/S is Hell Week. Always keep that in mind. When it's time for boat crew evolutions give a 100% ALL THE TIME. If you don't then that means one of your classmate is picking up your slack, that is unacceptable.
BUD/S is a game, a serious game, but still a game. It has to be played smartly, and with a bit of strategy. Start using your heads. How you train, what you learn, and how you manage your stress from THIS DAY FORWARD WILL have an impact on your performance at BUD/S.
When it comes to getting quick musters and such, LISTEN to the officers. I'm sure they have there own network on the best way to do things like that. Time and again the things that got us hammered was someone wanting to do their own thing and not taking direction from the O's. Everyone trying to step up and lead. That is good and commendable but causes mass pandemonium when the class is still large. The O's are under the microscope more so than the enlisted. They have more to prove AND more to lose than we do as enlisted. Make their job easier and be a good follower. When the instructors see that, they pass the word to the class leaders. If the O's give orders and they are followed accurately, quickly, AND silently, your life at BUD/S will get considerably easier.
It's the O's job to command and lead the class. It's our job as enlisted to see that those orders are carried out as fast and accurrately as possible.
Time and again, and I'm sure this is something others that have been there can verify, the instructors will say "You guys need to start coming together as a class." Typically you hear this in the middle and after the hammer has fallen on the class, after a lot of pushups and a lot of pain. What they mean by that is what I talked about above. Orders are carried out with SPEED.
There may come a time when an E-1 has to step up and lead a boat crew. When that time comes the spotlight will be on him to perform and I'm sure that he'll want the same thing from others in his boat as he gave to his leaders before. Be a good follower first.
There is no time during Hell Week to set up a commission, give everyone a chance to speak their mind, and come up with the best way to handle a problem. We defend a democracy but we don't practice it at work.
Carry out orders with speed and accuracy.
The biggest cause of attrition is quitting. Performance drops, then injuries come next. The biggest (probably the only) cause of quitting, mentally giving up and no longer being able to justify why you are doing this to yourself. When you quit, you make a CHOICE to not continue. Just as those who make it make a CHOICE to continue.