Well you don't need to bring a whole pile of civvie stuff, you're not going to get a chance to wear them much until you're off of indoc once you get your kit issued, which I think is day 2 or 3. Just show up in a clean pair of jeans, no rips or crap in them, and a comfy shirt/sweater, you'll be getting right off a plane and going to the base.
Just don't show up looking like a bag of crap, you're making your first impressions on the people that'll be running your life for the next 12ish weeks. We had a guy show up with a greasey little faux hawk, and the MCpl's called him twilight for the entire course, and they picked on him extra during inspections and drill.
A couple tips for when you get there:
- Have doubles of everything you'll have in terms of shower kit. It makes inspections easy, I remember the MCpl checking the cap in my shampoo and seeing residue and getting crap for it. I didn't learn this lesson until SQ, so use it now. You'll be allowed a kit bag under your bunk, keep the kit you're going to use in there.
- Have a green shirt, a pt shirt and a pair of boxers that you never wear. Fold them perfectly, and never ever move them after. Keep them on the top of the pile. Our staff generally didn't check any shirts but the top ones. Mileage may vary though, I doubt my staff are still there.
- Your parade boots will look like crap for the first like 6 weeks, don't worry when the staff chew you up for it. They take a loooong time to look good.
- Find people that are good at the stuff you're not. For example, I'm pretty terrible at kit maintenance in general, so I had a shirt guy, a boots guy, and a guy to help me with my bunk. I don't imagine you'll have someone to do all your crap but it never hurts. On that same note, if someone asks for help with something you're good at, give them a hand. If one person on the course is a crap pump it ****s the whole course.
- Don't be a crap pump. Do your part when it comes to station jobs. Don't be the ******* asking one more question at 5 when everyone wants to get back to their bunks and get their crap ready for tomorrow.
- There's going to be moments where you'll say to yourself, 'frig this crap, I want to quit.' While the army isn't for everyone, if you quit because you think it's too hard, you're selling yourself short. The entire course is a head game, and most courses afterwards are too. You have to pretty much be the little engine that could. Just keep driving the body, never quit. You'll be exhausted, tired, pissed off. You'll probably end up hating people on your course and you can't stand them. DON'T QUIT. The only way to fail basic is to be maximum crap pump. If you fail tests, they give you like 3 redoes per. Don't sweat anything too much. It's all about getting through.
- I don't know what the current policy is in terms of electronics. When I was there we were allowed our cell phones only at night. You won't have a lot of time to be on your phone, and you won't have weekends off til after indoc. You can bring a laptop if you want to, there's terrible wifi in the mess but that's about it. We couldn't use laptops except for weekends. A guy got caught with his and everyone lost their electronics for the week. Don't be that guy.
- It'll take a little while to get the little things down, like making sure your combat boots look ok, and making sure your locker and everything else is inspection ready, but unless your staff are total dickweeds, they'll tell you what you need to work on.
- Bring swiffer pads, and a swiffer broom. It makes life soooo much easier. LOTS OF SWIFFER dusting pads. The Mega is a shitty old building. No matter how well you dust pre-inspection there'll be a coat of dust on everything by the time your MCpl gets to you. They know it too, so just do your best to stay on top of it.
At the end of the day, it's just a course. I showed up not even slightly prepared physically, pt was a major drag for me, especially at 5am. But I made it through. The most important thing is to keep a positive attitude and never give up. And that applies to any course you'll ever take. There'll be days where it's nothing but a total **** fest, filled with unending pushups or drill practice, don't get too down about it. When you finish, you'll be proud to have made it through. You'll do things that none of your friends will ever get to do or even could do, things you never thought you could do. You'll make friendships that will help you to get through the course, and you'll have them forever. And then all the bullshit will seem worth it.
Plus actual life once you're out of the training system is nothing like course life. I have a 9-5 monday to friday job in an office. That's life unless you're attached to a combat arms unit, but that's not very likely seeing as how you're going chair force, and you probably wouldn't get a posting like that in your first contract anyway.
