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Step 9: Get ready for bootcamp
Schedules & Timelines - Coast Guard
You are about to get underway on an eight week journey that will take you to
a place where you can serve your country with skill and effectiveness. You will
learn skills, you will act as a member of a team, you will learn what it means
to live in accordance with core values.
The training is rough. What we do is too important and challenging to be left
to people who are unprepared. We save lives and enforce laws, and for these
tasks you need to be mentally and physically tough. The training can be broken
down into a few identifiable stages:
Forming
Company Formation
Knowledge and Skill Acquisition
Practice
Receipt of Orders
Preparing for the Move to the Field
Forming
When you arrive at Cape May on the bus, the forming process begins. The goal
of forming is to get you ready to train. Here your hair is cut if needed, initial
medical screening is performed, uniform issue begins, and there are a host of
other administrative events. This is the first huge step towards your transition
from civilian to Coast Guardsman. At the end of forming you may not feel like
a military member, but you will begin to look and act like one.
Company Formation
About three days after arriving at Cape May, you and the people you arrived
with, will become a Recruit Training Company. At that time you will be assigned
to a company and you will meet your Company Commanders. If you are like most
people, your Company Commander ("CC" for short) will be one of the most significant
influences in your life. He or she will help you grow into a Coast Guardsman.
You will learn Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty. Your CC will also help
you make the transition from civilian to a military professional. Your CC will
be tough and demanding. You will grow in ways you had never imagined. Your CC
will also be there when you have needs. Probably the best way to think about
the CC is as a tough, fair, coach.
Your first weekend with your company will be a challenging time for you. You
will learn how to act as a member of a team, and how to obey orders. Many recruits
find this the most difficult period in Boot Camp. Prepare yourself for this:
remember that the beginning is hard and that it gets easier as you learn how
to meet the many requirements placed upon you. Your objective here is to get
"squared away"--your CC will tell you how to do that.
The Fundamentals
Your first order of business after the company forms is physical fitness training
and introduction to your required knowledge. The more required knowledge you
can memorize before you arrive for training, the better off you will be. Some
of your required knowledge is listed in these Internet pages (in the section
titled "Required Knowledge). You will also start learning military drill, military
customs and courtesies, and your basic classes.
Mid-Training
At the end of the fourth training week you will take the mid-term exam and when
you pass that, your training will take a significant turn. You will complete
your Assignment Data Card (ADC), which tells the Coast Guard where you would
like to serve. The Coast Guard will assign you to a ship or unit depending on
the needs of the service. So, your ADC provides the Coast Guard with an idea
of where you want to serve, but you could really be assigned anywhere that the
Coast Guard needs you.
Your training during this period will be much more practical and hands-on. You
will learn firefighting and marksmanship. You will learn about line handling
and seamanship, and you will also continue with classroom instruction.At the
end of the fifth training week you receive your orders.
The Final Phase
After you receive your orders, things start happening quickly. By this phase
of training you are conducting yourself as a member of the Armed Forces. Your
training is progressing through practical areas and you are arranging for travel
and graduation.
The final week of training starts with CPR and First Aid traing. You will also
receive detailed information about benefits.
