I have a few questions about "fat camp". I am shipping to bct at fort benning on April 17. I'm trying like crazy to get in shape, but the mile run could hurt me during the initial 1-1-1 test. If I do have to go to "fat camp", when i get out, do I have to start bct from the beginning, or do i pick up with everybody else? and how, if at all, will it affect my ait reservation, as well as the bonuses listed in my enlistment contract? thanks in advance.

I hear various rumors about this...id be curious to know how its actually done..

quote:

when i get out, do I have to start bct from the beginning, or do i pick up with everybody else? and how, if at all, will it affect my ait reservation, as well as the bonuses listed in my enlistment contract?

Think about this for a moment

Your part of the commitment is to finish BCT and AIT in a timely manner

The Army's part is to send you to BCT and AIT in a timely manner

If you do not complete BCT on time, why should you expect the Army to hold a AIT slot open for you

Your running MUST be up to acceptable standards for you to graduate BCT

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Banander27,

I have thought about it and I'm not expecting anything. I was just wondering what happens, which I still do not have any information on.

I can tell you ft. sill no longer has a fat camp for 1-1-1 failures. There was a fat camp training for the final PT failure. Now that being said, there is no reason anyone should not be able to go in and run an 830 1 mile. You need to be preparing yourself for the event that you are weak in. do 60 second sprints with a 120 minutes of walking, 10 times mon wed fri. tue, thu do a 1.5-2 mile slow jog. Of course you want to listen to your body, if you dont run a lot doing it every day can be hard on you, dont hurt your self, but dont ship unprepared. You have 3 weeks to prepare and you should be able to make enough head way in that time that your 1-1-1 shouldn't be a problem.

When I went to Benning 20 years ago they had at the reception station an FTU (Fitness Training Unit, but the Drills called it the "Fat Tubby Unit"), which may be the "fat camp" you heard about. Before anyone shipped out to their training units they had to do 13 push-ups. Anyone that couldn't went to the FTU. Some guys failed because they were out of shape, others because their form was wrong (back not straight, didn't go down far enough, etc...). It was a little of both for me (hate to admit that here, but it's true - I was never a jock). You spent all day doing PT, then on Friday did the push-up test again. If you passed (most guys did after the first week) you got to leave.

As far as what happened with APFT failures at the end of BCT/AIT, I couldn't tell you.

At Ft. Benning BCT, the 1-1-1 is NOT done at Reception (30th AG). You will not be allowed to do PT while in 30th AG, and you will be given the option to eat lots of fatty foods. Don't do it.

Now once you get to your BCT platoon, you will do normal PT and any other physical exercise your Drill Sergeant(s) see fit. When you do your Diagnostic APFTs, you only need a 50% in each event to pass. It's "too easy" to pass.

If you do fail, you will be "encouraged" (take that how you will) to improve. You will take a record PT test just prior to your final FTX. If you fail that, you will do PT tests at least every other morning while the rest of your platoon does morning PT until you pass. In my platoon, we had two guys who were taking PT tests right up through Family Day.

There is a FTU unit at 30th AG. NOT THE ONE YOU WANT! If you are overweight, you will end up there until you meet Army standards. There is also MCU, which is for those who are injured while in training. Once a recruit either meets Army standards or is well enough to train again, he will join a company/platoon that is at the same point in training where he should be.

When my platoon went to CIIF for our Class A fitting and issue, the FTU unit was going to (and later on, from) lunch walked/limped by. We all laughed at the fatties and other non-hackers. If you plan on being overweight when you get to BCT, get used to being made fun of-- a lot.

If and when you complete BCT, you will ship to AIT. Once at AIT, you will either join the current class or wait in hold-under status for the next available class slot. That could be a day, or it could be months.

Bottom line is, if/when you break your end of the enlistment contract (not being in an acceptable condition to train) then the Army is no longer required to uphold IT'S end, which is guaranteeing you a specific class slot.

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

quote:

Originally posted by 17447874:
I have a few questions about "fat camp". I am shipping to bct at fort benning on April 17. I'm trying like crazy to get in shape, but the mile run could hurt me during the initial 1-1-1 test. If I do have to go to "fat camp", when i get out, do I have to start bct from the beginning, or do i pick up with everybody else? and how, if at all, will it affect my ait reservation, as well as the bonuses listed in my enlistment contract? thanks in advance.

I don't know about now, but in 1974 I went through remedial PT Program at the end of my cycle and upon passing the PT Test, I returned to my BCT Company to be graduated and shipped to AIT.

Hey Matt why can't you pt while your at the 30th? Everyone I have been talking to said to make sure I study all my general orders, rank, LDRSHIP etc so that way when everyone else is studying at the 30th I could be doing pt.

You can do pushups and stuff but you will be busy standing in formations for most of the time. Plus you'll be fairly tired.

quote:

Originally posted by PittsburghChiGuy:
Hey Matt why can't you pt while your at the 30th? Everyone I have been talking to said to make sure I study all my general orders, rank, LDRSHIP etc so that way when everyone else is studying at the 30th I could be doing pt.

The explanation we were given was that there is no real supervision in the 30th AG barracks, so individual PT is frowned upon. They don't want you to get hurt before you even start BCT. Trust me, you will have more PT than you can imagine once you get to your training platoon!

With that said, in my bay, we used the end of the bunks to do inverted sit-ups. Yes, there was lots of unauthorized activity going on.

But foxred03 is correct-- you will spend most of each day standing in useless formations for hours on end. If you're REALLY lucky, it'll be cold as heck and you won't be allowed to wear your field jacket! In that case, fill your canteen with hot water and put it in your shirt/jacket.

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

When I was still judging, I did desk warrior workouts.
Easy to do while standing in line.
Flex your muscles.
Start with your hands stretching out and slowing curling in your fingers keeping your muscle as tight as you can. Twist your wrist and go up your arms till you get your shoulders and neck.
Continue on down.
Hold each muscle tightening as long as you can.

You can learn to do several parts of your body at the same time with practice.
Especially gut suck ins.

I actually do this now when I wake up.
Foot curls, leg stretches and so on.

Jumping jacks/side straddle hops is good cardio in a small space.

quote:

Originally posted by vitaminc2o:
...with a 120 minutes of walking, 10 times mon wed fri.

Twenty hours of walking 3x/week isn't going to help. Besides that, it only allows for 4 hours to sleep, eat, bathe, etc on Mon, Wed, and Fri.

Here is an article that might help you out:
Maximize your APFT score

There is some good information as well as some useful tools on that website. Just take some time to browse it and READ the articles that interest you.

quote:

Originally posted by 17447874:
I have a few questions about "fat camp". I am shipping to bct at fort benning on April 17. I'm trying like crazy to get in shape, but the mile run could hurt me during the initial 1-1-1 test. If I do have to go to "fat camp", when i get out, do I have to start bct from the beginning, or do i pick up with everybody else? and how, if at all, will it affect my ait reservation, as well as the bonuses listed in my enlistment contract? thanks in advance.

Your MOS can be affected. Physical training isnt that hard even if you arent up to par when you enter. I did Paris Island while never having engaged in school sports or running more than 50 feet. By the time I graduated I could do 3 miles in 22:22. My only advise to you is NEVER get pork chopped. I know a few guys who did and the stories they told me made me glad I pushed myself to pass everything.

If the Army is anything like the USMC you will start out with a qualify stage composed of about half the distance needed for a PFT. If you start out slow and pace yourself while being careful to breath properly you should pass it. If you do get pork chopped expect lots of hard core abuse, and a set back in training. You will probably drop back in at about the stage you left when pork chopped. By this time you will be bitter and unmotivated if you are 99% of pork chops I have heard of.

I hope to join the Army National Guard and qualify as 88M. If I have to do boot again its no problem as I know what to expect.

I had a friend, big guy, who failed the 30 AG PT test. Couldn't do the 1 mile in 8 minutes. They kept him for a long time but he just never could do it. He got discharged because of it. That had to bite, signing up, going there and failing at day zero.

I was overweight and became the "pet project" for my NCO's. They dropped me from 240 to 180 by the time I graduated and my run time went from 30 minutes on the PT test (I did one lap out of 4 and went and sat down till someone told me I wasn't done) to 13:00 at the end. My Drill Sargent called me cakemix because my bdu's were so loose on me at the end.

Don't fail. Most Drills will see you push yourself to your limit. If they see you run till you throw up and keep going, you're going to be treated better than someone who just quits. They are there to help you.

quote:

Originally posted by 17447874:
I have a few questions about "fat camp". I am shipping to bct at fort benning on April 17. I'm trying like crazy to get in shape, but the mile run could hurt me during the initial 1-1-1 test. If I do have to go to "fat camp", when i get out, do I have to start bct from the beginning, or do i pick up with everybody else? and how, if at all, will it affect my ait reservation, as well as the bonuses listed in my enlistment contract? thanks in advance.

i,m going to open my mouth again on this subject , how the hell can you be fat at your age and why should the army adjust to you .i,ve said this before if you can,t take care of yourself aka being fat and out of shape how are you going to be trusted to take care of your brother soldiers i weight 22 pounds more then i weighed in high school and i,m 55 ...its time to muscle up hooah

To the original poster:

It depends on what your MOS is, but most likely if you can BCT done in under 4 months or so you should be fine. Theres a lot of cusioning built in for unforseeable delays (that always occur) and a lot of waiting time on AIT classes in general.

My AIT for instance is actually backed up for 4-5 months, with people just waiting to get classed up. So no, the Army doesnt always get you into AIT in a "timely manner" as an earlier poster implied.

That said, still try to get better with the time you have as others have said. The 30/60 thing works well, and you can see real improvement in a week. You are gonna puke, maybe a lot, but its better puking now instead of when you first get to basic in front of everyone else.

I puked both places