Hi All: Forgive me if I mess up on the proper 'lingo' but I'm new to this... My son recently joined the Army and is currently in Ft Jackson (for BCT) and will head to AIT in Ft Gordon, on 8/6, as a 25U. He asked me to gather some info about what to expect, but I wasn't able to find much for this location / area. Can anyone provide insight to:

- Barracks accommodations (i.e.: open bay, 2 soldiers to a room, etc)

- Are you allowed to bring laptop/cell phone?

- Are you able to leave the base during AIT (18 wks of training)?

- If so, what do most do for fun on / off base when they have free time?(my son will turn 21 on 7/19)

- Are you allowed to bring your vehicle? (I thought I saw a post stating this)

- What is a typical day like (drill, time spent in class, overall structure, etc)

I apologize if these questions are common. I read a lot of posts but the majority just talked about how disorganized the base is and what to expect for "prior service." So, any information you can provide is greatly appreciated! THANK YOU!!

Okay I am a 25U and I went through Gordon recently so I can help a bit.

He will stay in barracks with 2,4,6,8 and 10 man rooms. Most of the 2 man and 4 man rooms are reserved for student leadership "platoon guides, student first sergeant, ect.".

He can bring a cell phone but no laptop. Sounds crazy but that's the law of the land.

He will be restricted to staying on post until he "phases-up". When he arrives he will be a Phase-4 (not allowed to do anything)
After he's there for 4 weeks and passes his PT test he can take a phase-up test to earn Phase-5. (allowed to smoke cigs and leave the company area and sometimes allowed off post on the weekends during the day)
Once hes there for 12 weeks he can earn phase-5+ "five-plus" ( allowed to smoke, drink if hes old enough on weekends, allowed to stay off post on the weekends, isnt hassled as much by cadre)

He will NOT be allowed a vehicle and will not be allowed to ride in a privately owned vehicle without authorization by his 1st.SGT/commander.

Basic day on Gordon....
First week is in-processing. Won't really do anything but follow drill sergeants around.

Details! Once your done with in-processing you will get up every day and do detail work around the post until you get assigned into a class.

There are three basic shifts for class. First shift goes from 06:30-12:30
Second shift is 12:30-18:30
Swing shift is 18:30-00:30

Each shift has it's own pt schedule and specific personal times. Mostly you will be cleaning something if your not in class until you reach phase 5-plus.

Hope that helps some.

My son gets out of basic in early August. On graduation and family day, it says on his orders, he has to be back on base at 2045.
It says the reason for being back at 2045, is so they can get ready to go to AIT at Fort Gordon on the day after graduation.
He says he can leave right after graduation and report on his own, to Gordon, the following Monday. Is this correct. Is this an option they give them now? When I was in you went by your orders ALWAYS. Thanks for the help

Your son will graduate BCT, and then be shipped to Fort Gordon. When he gets there, he will do some light inprocessing. He will be will a bunch of new Soldiers. Some of the Soldiers will have family in the area for the weekend, and they will be allowed to sign him out until Sunday. If the Soldier has no family in the area, then the Soldier will be given on post privileges for the weekend.

For a better idea of what your son will encounter at Fort Gordon, click HERE to go the the 15th Signal BDE homepage. Click "Brigade Command" then click "Policy Letters" Pay close attention to Policy Letter #17 "Privileges and Limitations."

Those times for family day are subject to change. It depends if the recruits have behaved themselves.

As far as your son reporting on his own, trust me sir, he won't be doing anything by himself or anything that he isn't told to do.

I attended AIT for 25U in Ft.Gordon about a year ago. A lot of what you experience there will depend on what company you end up in. When I attended, the chain of command in the different companies differed quite a bit. I personally was in B369, which at the time had a promotable 1SG and a brand new commander. Our company tested a new training program where we made a FOB on the post and were trained field-type signal courses, where other companies attended the usual classes in the school house. I had buddies in another company that got away with using laptops the entire time, whereas my company would constantly search our rooms for them and told us that if they found any we would receive an Article 15.

Vehicles were a no go when I was there. Many people decided to go off post when they were able to on the weekend and purchase a vehicle. They would park it away from the company and use it on the weekends. 90% of them were caught and lost rank, pay, and served extra duty.

25U training is long, and it is easy to think you can get away with a thing or two. Best advice I can give to a soldier going into AIT is to do what you're told and do the "right" thing. Yes, you may end up working harder than some people, you may not have as much fun, but when all is said and done you won't have anything hanging over your head. And, from my experience the regular Army is much much easier than AIT was. (I was at Ft.Bragg for 6 months and am now on my 10th month in Iraq)

Sigsouljah,
Are you a 25U with the Rangers/SF? What kind of things are you doing in the coiurse of a day there. Do they apply to what you learned? Thanks Crasher

I'm not with Rangers or SF. I'm under 18th Airborne in a combat support group. Our main roles out here are transportation and supporting combat arms.

As far as the training, I assume you're talking about what you learn during AIT. Honestly, a lot of what they taught in AIT while I was there I found pretty useless. I didn't use any of it during my time at Bragg except basic radio procedures and troubleshooting. Out here, I used a bit more of it as well as learning the other responsibilities that usually fall on a 25U. I do all of the basic radio troubleshooting and operation, as well as random things like running networks, phonelines, setting up and configuring computers, setting up MTS systems for vehicles, mounting radios in vehicles, etc. Setting it up isn't too bad. A lot of time is spent keeping it all running. There really is a broad spectrum of what you can do as a 25U though, and it really just varies by your unit's mission. I imagine someone in field artillery, infantry, etc would be doing something much different here. Either way, an educated 25U will be very useful and have an important role in any company and should soak up whatever knowledge they can get in the world of Army comms.

Thanks thehudkins - This helps A LOT! I bought him a new laptop as a birthday / graduation gift, but I guess I'll just hang on to it until after AIT training. He said that they weren't allowed to have cell phones in BCT, but after a few weeks the Sgts. let them have them (Ft Jackson), so I wonder if there is any chance this may occur with laptops at Ft Gordon?

Where are you stationed now? Is there any rhyme or reason as to where 25U's get permanently stationed following AIT? Thanks again for your help!

quote:

Originally posted by sigsouljah:

"25U training is long, and it is easy to think you can get away with a thing or two. Best advice I can give to a soldier going into AIT is to do what you're told and do the "right" thing. Yes, you may end up working harder than some people, you may not have as much fun, but when all is said and done you won't have anything hanging over your head. And, from my experience the regular Army is much much easier than AIT was. (I was at Ft.Bragg for 6 months and am now on my 10th month in Iraq)

"

Thanks, sigsouljah (creative screen name, by the way) I'll definitely pass on your advice about working hard, following the rules, and doing the right thing... I also appreciate your insight (regarding Iraq) that you provided in another post. My son just told me that Ft Jackson is getting ready to change BCT program from 9 wks to 12 wks in order to incorporate more training to prepare soldiers for situations in Iraq. I truly wish he would have received this level of training as he will most likely be deployed himself following AIT. When is your tour up? Regardless, we wish you the best an thank you for your service. You all are in our thoughts and prayers!

Hi Crasher89...

My son did BCT at Ft Jackson also & we were allowed to drive him to Ft Gordon immediately after graduation. You take him on base to Darby Hall.....he checks in & then you have him til Sunday at 1800 hrs I think it was. Email the base & they will send you all kinds of information on things to do in the area, etc. I was very happy with how I was treated.

quote:

Originally posted by Crasher89:
My son gets out of basic in early August. On graduation and family day, it says on his orders, he has to be back on base at 2045.
It says the reason for being back at 2045, is so they can get ready to go to AIT at Fort Gordon on the day after graduation.
He says he can leave right after graduation and report on his own, to Gordon, the following Monday. Is this correct. Is this an option they give them now? When I was in you went by your orders ALWAYS. Thanks for the help

And my son has had lots of items stolen so advise you son not to take anything of value. His debit card gone twice.....2nd time with Military ID. I've heard this is a major problem there.

Actually when you get there you want to go straight to 15th signal brigade headquarters. go around the back and up the stairs. Darling hall is a waste of time. After that he will get sent to either 369 or 447 headquarters, and then put into a company.

Sorry to say, but Fort Fordon is one of the worst places in the Army. You wont understand why until you've been here for a few months.

quote:

Originally posted by pfcrensmom:
And my son has had lots of items stolen so advise you son not to take anything of value. His debit card gone twice.....2nd time with Military ID. I've heard this is a major problem there.

Wow, I wish I had seen this before he left... He just got back from FOB training to find all of his things were stolen. I just can't comprehend how this happens over and over at a military base?!?! It just boggles my mind. Thanks for the post.

We are currently at Fort Gordon for AIT. My husband is MOS-T for 25U. He does PT at 0450 on Mondays and at 0745 Tuesday-Friday. He has formation at 1500 and then he goes back for class from 1650-2330. He enjoys it. Some MOS-I soldiers can have laptops. Some of the guys in hubby's class have them. The MOS-T soldiers can live off post and have lap tops as well.

To me, Fort Gordon is very disorganized. Hubby loves his classes though and is doing VERY well. Augusta is a place I do not like at all. It all seems very run down to me. Just my opinion though!

my son was at fort jackson for basic and then he went to gordon and from what i could tell gordon was the most unorginized and crazy place you could ever imagine. first off there is a problem getting asigned to a class schedule then at the end everyone becomes a hold over. my son had a date to report to fort benning for jump school and they didn't tell him his orders were cut so due to their neglect he missed his first class date and it took them 3 more weeks to get a second. the only reason it only took 3 weeks was that top finally went to where they cut orders and he must have gone up one side of someone and down the other. all i can say is that after it finally gets over it just becomes a memory and your duty station is alot different. my son is with the 2nd/503rd/173rd ABCT. he is currently in afghanistan. so good luck to all of you 25U's.HOOAH

Any fresh reports from Gordon??

I see they got a new Commander in July. Hopefully some improvement can be made.

My DH is at Ft. Jackson for BCT, his 3rd day. He got his one call today, but we missed him. (I thought he would have called the cell, but maybe they only allow calls to be made to home numbers only??) My question is he took his cell with him and does anyone know if he will be able to call home on sundays during personal time at all? His message tonight said he only had 3 mins and since I wasn't there, he wouldn't be able to call until next weekend. Our Daughter was so devistated...it figures, the ONE night that I was gone for 2 hours he calls. I have been carrying around both cell and house phones with me every day since he left. I'm just unsure of the phone thing...help!! thx!

I just dropped my sonn off at Gordon for the first time last weekend. He had free cell phone use after 6pm immediately, so I don't know what might be up with your loved one.

Gordon in general- I found the facilities there much nicer than I expected. There are plenty of stories out there hoe the inmates are running the asylum there and that it was ghetto like. It is all in front of him in regard to the discipline issues, theft, etc. there. BUT my initial impression was much better than I expected.

hi I am stationed in Hawaii. I am a 25U...i went through AIT back in Mar/2005 til Aug/2005. I will say: Honestly he needs to do what hes told...doing the right thing will get him to the right places. As far as when he gets out of there and gets to his duty station...He may work with several things he reviewed in the School house or like me...NOT...i was used as a "paper pusher" for a long while..the company i was in had no job for me our higher ups took care of all the commo issues...the next unit i went to..BOY O BOY! that was a nightmare...i basically started from scratch! i had to learn how to trouble shoot computers and how to get more in depth with radios....i was basically thrown in....i had no idea what i was doing...but i had to study TMs and get as many connections as i could from fellow signal soldiers...we always have one anothers back! hope this helps.