United States Army Basic Training

United States Army Basic Combat Training (BCT) is the recruit training program of the United States Army, for service in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Reserve, or the Army National Guard.

Initial entry training (IET) is divided into two parts: basic combat training (BCT) and advanced individual training (AIT).

Some trainees attend basic combat training along with their advanced individual training at one place, referred to as One Station Unit Training (OSUT). Infantry recruits go to Fort Benning, Georgia through One Station Unit Training program that is 22 weeks in duration.

Other occupations also learn basic warrior tasks and skills and small unit tactics, but tend to focus on more of a balanced approach. These trainees receive basic combat training at different installations including Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; or Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Basic training is designed to be highly intense and challenging. The challenge comes as much from the difficulty of physical training as it does from the psychological adjustment to an unfamiliar way of life.

AIT consists of the remainder of the total basic training period and is where recruits train in the specifics of their chosen fields. As such, AIT is different for each available Army career path, or Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). AIT courses can last anywhere from 4 weeks to 7 months, and possibly more for foreign language training. Soldiers are still continually tested for physical fitness and weapons proficiency and are subject to the same duties, strict daily schedule and disciplinary rules as in BCT.

Length: ~10 weeks of BCT, plus Reception (in-processing) beforehand, followed by AIT/OSUT depending on MOS.

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