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My friend who is also prior Coast Guard recently graduated from PS BCT in February. He told me while at FTLW he had heard several rumblings of the PS BCT process going away. I have read a few posts on REDDIT saying the same. I don't really care either way, but obviously would rather spend less time in another BCT if possble.

 

Anyone know or hear anything about this?

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I also heard rumors the last class had already started. Not sure if that means PS all need to go to real boot camp or if PS army/USMC/SOF don't have to do anything.

 

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

@Hebertaviation what are you and your friend's backstory here? Are you sister service or prior Army? This transition process is surprisingly more confusing than it probably should be. If anyone else has anymore insight, all of us sister service people would be extremely grateful for more detail.

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@Hebertaviation what are you and your friend's backstory here? Are you sister service or prior Army? This transition process is surprisingly more confusing than it probably should be. If anyone else has anymore insight, all of us sister service people would be extremely grateful for more detail.

On the bus to PSBCT so will be short. MEPS and my friend that was in the April class said this is it. Im in the last class. He and I have had 5 to 10yrs breaks in Service. We are both combat arms, he Army and I came from the Air Force. We both had to do this regardless of break. The website saying less than 3 yrs is outdated. But with that said, as I have been told anyone who transitions now will go through the full bct with the first timers. (Due to lack of full psbct classes) Sorry for that news and good luck to everyone. I wasnt expecting to have to do this but, Im willing to do whatever it takes!

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Its not a big change and things happen all the time. Three years ago this wasnt a thing, all of us prior service except for Marines and Army within 3 years went through full basic. Year before that they had the blue to green program....which got scuttled due to low numbers going through. The army operates on giving you the smallest ammount of info when you can have no effect on the outcome. You cant choose when your going to a great extent so if they said full boot camp or not and you say 'no', ya probably didnt want to be in bad enough and that applies to a 42a as much as a 153a. One of the biggest changes was embracing the fact that if the information wasnt readily available Its probably not needed or I cant change it.

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It's just a strange way to do things... I know the Army is not the USMC, but the entire ethos with the USMC as it relates to Boot Camp is it is this transformational right of passage. If I had to do it again with the Army to fly, so be it, but I would think, even more-so on the prior service Army side, it would be almost an insult to be, say, a prior service Sergeant or even Drill Sergeant with years in going through basic again -- all based off what, your years since IRR drop?

 

I get wanting to refresh people, or send those from other services (heck, maybe even Marines, NSW, AFSOC, etc) through, but really it seems like not only a waste of time and resources, but somewhat contrary to the indoctrination aspect of basic training to be sending experienced soldiers back through. I'm sure a 2-3 week class and some DL could cover everything they feel they need to cover. Hell, I haven't done any drill and ceremony since I graduated boot in 2008, you bet your ass I'll be in my backyard with youtube on practicing that stupidity before WOCS. I don't need to be treated like a child for 10+ weeks to get that down, and neither should prior service members from the Army and certain other military communities.

 

 

Maybe only the USMC views it that way -- we would look at something like that as sacrilegious, even though from all I hear Benning is pretty much at a similar difficulty level.

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If it's "big enough" to have a turn on message, I just figured it would be "big enough" to have a turn off message. Like I said I don't care either way, just another road block, but I still think it is silly there is no clarification on it. If it's policy now, post it.

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Having been one of those people who outranked my drill sergeants it wasn't that bad. It is a kick in the teeth, but it did make sense. Its a catch all to make sure that wherever you did come from you were upto date on all the basic stuff the army wanted you to know. You get treated like an almost adult most of the time, lived in my own room, got my phone back at the end of the first week, got sundays off where I got to enjoy long romantic walks with by battle boo to the exchange and sit all day. It really wasn't the end of the world. It wasnt a waste of resources either when you realize the sheer amount of new recruits vs prior service going back in. In the end its a lot cheaper to send me and the 1 other guy in my company through with 150 recruits than it would have been to have a special place, training, and people set aside just for us. We were the first 2 prior service that that company had had in 5 rotations as well. In the entire class of nearly 1000 recruits that went through when I did their were less than 10 prior service, and only 1 other NCO besides the two of us. Much cheaper to pay us to hang out. I wish I could have gone through the blue to green program, but if there is not enough demand the army doesn't really care if its insulting you or not. Honestly it made WOCS a lot easier to get through because you were already in that frame of mind. The fact that the other program has been created and dropped in less than 2 years shows you the amount of demand for it in a good economy.

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But how about the guys already NCOs in the army... theoretically under this program Army DS's can wind up in boot camp if they got out for a few years.

 

I had a prior service Iraq vet Airman in my boot camp platoon. But that's how the USMC does things. It's just beyond comprehension to ask someone from the same service to go back through, at least from my frame of reference. As I said, I would even get the Army asking Marines to go through their boot camp as their right of passage... but asking prior service Army vets... just seems beyond weird.

 

 

Mike

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  • 1 month later...

It's just a strange way to do things... I know the Army is not the USMC, but the entire ethos with the USMC as it relates to Boot Camp is it is this transformational right of passage. If I had to do it again with the Army to fly, so be it, but I would think, even more-so on the prior service Army side, it would be almost an insult to be, say, a prior service Sergeant or even Drill Sergeant with years in going through basic again -- all based off what, your years since IRR drop?

 

I get wanting to refresh people, or send those from other services (heck, maybe even Marines, NSW, AFSOC, etc) through, but really it seems like not only a waste of time and resources, but somewhat contrary to the indoctrination aspect of basic training to be sending experienced soldiers back through. I'm sure a 2-3 week class and some DL could cover everything they feel they need to cover. Hell, I haven't done any drill and ceremony since I graduated boot in 2008, you bet your ass I'll be in my backyard with youtube on practicing that stupidity before WOCS. I don't need to be treated like a child for 10+ weeks to get that down, and neither should prior service members from the Army and certain other military communities.

 

 

Maybe only the USMC views it that way -- we would look at something like that as sacrilegious, even though from all I hear Benning is pretty much at a similar difficulty level.

Mike, I couldnt agree more!

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Welp, Just finished prior service boot camp. The last time I was on here was when I was taking the bus ride to the base. Glad to be done and back in Florida.

 

I've been out a lil bit, was combat arms in USAF, did some contracting (protection work) for a long while and then to be at MEPS after processing 8 months for the WOFT program(Feb selected) and being unexpectedly told that I'd have to do boot camp was a kick in the balls. But like anything in life, if you want something bad enough......and I do!

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Went to MEPS last month. They told me they had another PS-BCT in Feb. so I dont know where yall are hearing this about PS BCT being shut down. From what I heard they just do a few a year. I couldnt go to it since my WOCS starts jan. Unless they canceled my orders and put me in a later one but that would have messed up a lot since Im active duty Coast Guard and had orders to transfer already. So they have me going to Jackson in oct. Any other prior service people going to be there?

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I was being facetious. I have a friend who was a TAC-P, he did a helluva lot more cool-guy sh*t than I did. Pretty sure TAC-P, CCT, and PJs don't have to go to PSBCT.

 

Mike

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