Communicating with family and friends while going through army basic training may be an escape for some cadets from the strain they feel. Regardless of the reason for communicating, the 1st few weeks of training make it challenging for a trainee to do anything besides work, train, and sleep. Nevertheless, communication can still be maintained if you just know how to do it.
Utilize your "personal time"
Take full advantage of your "personal time" in Boot Camp while undergoing basic training. Your time in the army is partitioned into "personal time" and "on-duty" time. Primarily, during basic training, recruits are only provided sufficient "personal time" for sleeping. However, after the first challenging month, this "personal time" is lengthened by 2-3 hours.
Write your mails before going to sleep at night
Before you go to sleep at night, write letters to your family and friends. However, make your mails as brief as you possibly can. Army training entails many hours every day, even up to 15 or 16. Hence, it is imperative that you have enough time for sleeping. Allow yourself thirty minutes at the most to write your letters before you retire.
Purchase envelopes and stamps
Whenever it's time for you to go to the Post Exchange (PX) store or the market, buy stamps and envelopes. All cadets are provided a number of two-hour stops all throughout the week to buy military needs and personal items at the Post Exchange shop. And considering that a basic trainee isn't allowed to wander to the shop whenever he wants, you need to make sure to get stamps and envelopes during the appropriate time that is provided to you.
Ready your letters with envelope and stamps
Place your letters securely in envelopes with the required number of stamps attached. When the trainer or the drill master announces a "mail call," you can quickly give your mails to him for sending. This is imperative since only military officials can go to the post office to mail letters, theirs and those of their trainees. Hence, you need your letters to be ready, and not only because it is your officer who will be taking them to the post office, but also because "mail call" is limited to 5 to 30 minutes. Over this brief period, all outgoing mail that is ready to be sent is gathered, and all letters for trainees are also handed out. Letter dissemination is done by having the name of the cadet on the envelope called out loud, and then that cadet goes up to the trainer to receive his letter.
Take advantage of time for telephone calls
Whenever time for a telephone call is given to you, take it and make use of it. Throughout basic training, every single trainee is given a small amount of time to make a telephone call, usually less than 30 minutes per person. The rationale for this is to provide a reasonable amount of time for all individuals to utilize the phone and call their family or friends. However, being able to utilize the telephone is a privilege in basic training. Hence, never exploit the telephone time given to you, or you may lose the favor for the period of your training.
Being in army training is filled with stress, so always find ways to communicate with your loved ones by writing down your emotions and relieving some of the stress you may feel.
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Written by Patricia Strasser. If you want to learn more about Boot Camp, check out http://boot-camp-boot-camps.com
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