what to bring and what not to bring?

[Deveau95]

Hey all, I am curious on what we are allowed to bring and not bring to basic, for our civvy stuff such as clothing, nick nacks, photos of family and what have not. I know we cant have any drugs, alcohol or weapons of any kind, which makes sense. but are we restricted to certain types of clothing? can we bring stuff to remind us of home and why were joining?

 

[NavyHopeful]

Here's my certified, never-fail, packlist for whenever I am going on ANY course for the military:

- Item # 1: The packlist guide that is provided in your joining instructions that tells you what you can and can't bring



OK, Now I'll get serious:

- For your civilian clothing, bring stuff that can be flexible between business casual and going out to the bar with the b'ys on the weekend. Just make sure it doesn't have any profanity, nudity, or otherwise "risque" stuff on it, and you can pretty much wear it when you are allowed to (they will tell you when you are allowed to)

- Bring a decent (I mean a really good) pair of runners for PT classes. PT makes up a good portion of BMQ, and it is one of the most common causes of recourse, so do yourself a favour and set yourself up for success.

- Leave your knick-knacks at home. Once you are finished BMQ, and you are posted to your next unit, you will get the chance to return home and collect your things. Better not to have them for the 8 weeks you'll spend in garrison and risk some numpty taking a liking to your shiny stuff.

- you are allowed to have your electronic devices. When I went to BMQ (oh so long ago, it seems) we were only allowed our cell phones after we were secured (dismissed) for the day and got back to our floor. Not sure what the rules are now, but if you want reminders of why you joined, I'd take pictures of them and look at them on your phone when you are allowed.

- part of your inspection layout includes a photo of a loved one, so you could have more than one photo, and rotate through them for inspections. If you get a chatty staff member conducting inspections, they may be intrigued by the rotation of pictures and start asking you about your family. Sometimes, my staff would do that and would miss a lot of the errors in my inspection. Thankfully I found them afterwards, but still had to do the push-ups, because, well BMQ, right?

My last piece of advice is this: Remember when you get done there, you will have to fly (or drive) to your next posting. If you pack light to go to basic, you won't have nearly as much luggage to worry about when you continue on in the next chapter of your career.

Good luck, and kick ass!

Rev

 

[OldSolduer]

A sense of humor is absolutely a must

 

[Deveau95]

Here's my certified, never-fail, packlist for whenever I am going on ANY course for the military:

- Item # 1: The packlist guide that is provided in your joining instructions that tells you what you can and can't bring



OK, Now I'll get serious:

- For your civilian clothing, bring stuff that can be flexible between business casual and going out to the bar with the b'ys on the weekend. Just make sure it doesn't have any profanity, nudity, or otherwise "risque" stuff on it, and you can pretty much wear it when you are allowed to (they will tell you when you are allowed to)

- Bring a decent (I mean a really good) pair of runners for PT classes. PT makes up a good portion of BMQ, and it is one of the most common causes of recourse, so do yourself a favour and set yourself up for success.

- Leave your knick-knacks at home. Once you are finished BMQ, and you are posted to your next unit, you will get the chance to return home and collect your things. Better not to have them for the 8 weeks you'll spend in garrison and risk some numpty taking a liking to your shiny stuff.

- you are allowed to have your electronic devices. When I went to BMQ (oh so long ago, it seems) we were only allowed our cell phones after we were secured (dismissed) for the day and got back to our floor. Not sure what the rules are now, but if you want reminders of why you joined, I'd take pictures of them and look at them on your phone when you are allowed.

- part of your inspection layout includes a photo of a loved one, so you could have more than one photo, and rotate through them for inspections. If you get a chatty staff member conducting inspections, they may be intrigued by the rotation of pictures and start asking you about your family. Sometimes, my staff would do that and would miss a lot of the errors in my inspection. Thankfully I found them afterwards, but still had to do the push-ups, because, well BMQ, right?

My last piece of advice is this: Remember when you get done there, you will have to fly (or drive) to your next posting. If you pack light to go to basic, you won't have nearly as much luggage to worry about when you continue on in the next chapter of your career.

Good luck, and kick ass!

Rev

I'm mostly concerned about civvy dress, because I don't dress conventionally, nothing obscure or offensive, just not as a typical male from my upbringing

 

[sarahsmom]

I'm mostly concerned about civvy dress, because I don't dress conventionally, nothing obscure or offensive, just not as a typical male from my upbringing

It just has to be presentable. If you like to wear kilts, or you dress all in black/goth inspired, or you like sparkly bedazzled things (you might get some ribbing about this), that is fine. But just pretend, for business casual, that you are having a meeting with a business manager to pitch an idea, or a bank manager for a loan. If you are male presenting but are wearing a pushup top showing lots of chest hair, that may be distracting for the interviewer. To be fair, the same outfit from a female presenting person would also be distracting. For shows, clean sneakers - maybe dark coloured if possible, make great casual shoes to wear for your first week, and if they are non-marking you can use them as spare gym sneakers!


You will only be wearing civvies the first week and then on weekends when you are allowed out. At the Mega, there are restrictions as you are walking through the halls in your civilian clothing. Once off base, hide the dog tags and anything goes. Just don't do anything stupid. I've attached a copy of what Borden considered relaxed dress acceptable for the drinking mess. Generally the same rules apply everywhere for casual civvies.