During America's long involvement in the Vietnam conflict, from 1965 to 1973, tens of thousands of young men and women were recruited and drafted into the ranks of the US armed forces. They were sent overseas to fight on the battlefield or help in various support capacities. However, whether you were conscripted involuntarily or joined up to dictate your own career path, you had to undergo training, and that was one painfully unforgettable experience.
Officially, the basic training program during the Vietnam era called for 352 total hours of instruction - 44 hours a week for eight weeks. However, trainees who underwent the program recall that the instruction, the physical and emotional challenges, and the lessons accounted for far more time than what was officially mandated.
This was followed by another eight weeks of advanced training before recruits were shipped out to the front lines or on to whatever position for which they were eventually selected. From hand-to-hand combat and bayonet training, to running miles every day in full gear, to hitting the firing range, here's a look at what it was like to undergo basic training for Vietnam from the recollections and accounts of veterans who actually made it through the experience.
When would-be soldiers were recruited or drafted into the armed services, they would first undergo eight weeks of basic training. They would go through boot camp and learn the essential, non-specialized skills required of all recruits. Before any of that, they were processed for training - getting the standard buzz cut, taking tests, and lining up to get outfitted. Journalist and Vietnam vet Marc Leepson explained that the first stop, after getting on the bus with his packed bag, was at the induction center.
"I found myself in a small room with a couple of dozen other guys where we solemnly swore we’d support and defend the Constitution against all foreign and domestic enemies, obey the orders of the president and our officers, and abide by the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Leepson recalled, adding that he was shipped to New Jersey's Fort Dix for basic training. "First came a few days of processing: the haircut (you had to pay the civilian barber), the shots (lots of them), the uniforms ('your waist is kinda big,' a snarky corporal who handed me my fatigue pants said), [and] the aptitude tests."