What items do I have to bring for military service? How many clothings? Casual wear to sleep in? Daily wear for going out? Can you stay at the camp during off days as well if your home is far? When do you receive the military uniforms? What are physical tests I should get ready for? I know there will be running for sure. 3km? I heard there will be push up and sit up tests. Is pull up also part of it? What number should I aim for in preparation? Can I bring razors for shaving? Is sunscreen recommended? Any other important items? I am currently learning chinese on an app on my phone, is it okay to use it to learn during free time? Do I need to ask permission for it on the first day? Do I just find books to learn chinese instead of app? But then I will still need my dictionary though⌠hmm
Some mentioned Chinese company phones are not allowed. e.g. Huawei, Xiaomi
In the U.S. recruits are typically given a list of items to bring with them to boot camp. If color- specific then theyâll be identified as such. Plain white color and with ânon-visibleâ branding like âNikeâ or âNBA/NFLâ etc. Bring enough civilian clothes to last a week. Donât bring any personal belongings you care about that might go missing. If you get bored use your imagination or read a field manual and ask questions on how to better do âxyzâ.
Packing razors and shaving cream, shirts, socks, pants, towels, some gym towels, and a couple of learning/entertainment items should be fine. Donât bring any edged weapons and be prepared to surrender your phone during inprocessing. Moleskine for high-friction areas on your feet and blisters from marches. Vaseline, baby powder, wet wipes, bug repellent, duct tape, camo tape, athletic tape (if you know how to use it otherwise have the medics use it on you if you.happen to need it), and if you can get Rite-In-The-Rain pens and pads youâll be well prepared.
Chaw is basically impossible to find so whatever you use for caffeine or other stimulant to keep your ass awake when you really need it.
Uniforms ought to be issued within the first few days of your arrival. Your term is a short 4 months right? Youâll survive not going out anywhere for that period of time, but if the itch gets to you have one set of nice clothes to go out for your pass. It shouldnât be an issue to stay in the barracks if you have âdays offâ.
The answers are âyesâ and âmoreâ.
Lastly, is donât overthink it. Keep yourself busy with what you can actually do and not with something that hasnât happened yet.
There are many stores that cater for military service near the barracks.
you can go look around and have a chat, I have heard them advising people when I have been in to get gloves and stuff.
random one in Kaohsiung as an example.
Also I donât know if you use the below website:
https://www.armymart.com.tw
Donât need to bring much. No idea what cell phone rules are, but when I did it, it was NOT allowed. And keep in mind theft does happen in the military so best not to bring anything too valuable.
Anything you need will be issued to you. This will be 3 sets of uniform, inner shirt, and boxers. You will also be issued PT wear.
You wonât really have much free time⌠they will see to that.
Mine is for 1 year. Thank you for all the suggestions.
I see. I am going for 1 year and wanted to continue learning chinese when I am there. I guess books will be best for it then.
You will learn Chinese while there⌠no idea if they softened up but they often force me to write letters in Chinese knowing that I was incapable of it.
Is it like they give you a sample and ask you to copy it ?
No they do not. I wish they did. They tell you what you must write about, like an essay question. Must be written on paper, in Chinese, and no you canât use your phone.
Lol. In that case they will only get my name from me
Things have do doubt changed over the decades. When my partner did his time decades ago, one of the things was a Parachute Jump, which didnât go down well for lots of them, particularly when they were not informed until some hours before.
My son did his 4 months not long ago. I helped him prepare from my own experience in the U.S.
Each bootcamp will be somewhat different.
A good idea to bring your toiletries. He wasnât issued any of that stuff.
You should get a list of what you need.
Expect limited phone time in bootcamp. They will probably keep all phones in a box most of the time in bootcamp. Same for any personal meds.
Get some extra thick socks at a military store. The boots will be rough.
Actually I think my son said he used those elastic ankle support things to protect from the boots on the marches. Even some cheap volleyball knee pads for when you are doing some field exercise trainingâŚget cheap ones at a stationary store. That will be towards the end of bootcamp. Theyâll tell you and may suggest it.
Plastic case type bags with zips of various sizes are useful for keeping things sorted. You wonât have much storage spaceâŚmay even share a wall locker. Also little bottle containersâŚget them at one of those large drug and cosmetic stores or a shao bei type store.
The instructors have their ways to communicateâŚalways a few guys who donât know the language. Guess they use a translate app?
At the end of bootcamp there will be several days of heavy physical exercises and tests including some long marches.
Get plenty of electrolytes beforehand and fill your canteen with sports drink. I got powdered sports drink packs for my son. Youâll have a chance if you want it âŚduring weekend liberty. Otherwise can get from the vending machines. 711 or other stores often have the powder packs.
Youâll likely be drinking water mainly from your plastic canteen. They didnât have them clean thiers and probably why many were getting sick.
He carried a small bottle of dish soap to wash his every few days. Baking soda works also. At least rinse it well or even use salt.
Instructors were generally pretty cool to everyone and trouble makers werenât tolerated.
Duty station after bootcamp could be anywhere and all different circumstances.
He went to Matsu and liked it pretty well.
I gave my experience of a shorter conscription period. Inside are some helpful tips that you might find useful like make sure you have friends in your unit that can help with things in Chinese.
Actually those elastic things are really useful to keep your pant legs from dragging against the ground. You can use them in civilian life too.
He was talking about these things because the boot ankles are just really hard and rough.
I got him some boot blousing bands at a military store but he said everyone just used the laces built into the cuffs of their camouflage trousers.
Just some personal tips.
If by chance thereâs other English speakers thatâs not so strong in Chinese. Resist the urge to speak English with them in the beginning and befriend people who are Chinese speakers because they will be the ones who can help you the most.
Follow the rules and donât be late. Help people and try to fit in. Get the idea to work together with your class in their heads right away.
And learn to get your morning routines done FAST. You got very little time between wake up (0530 in the summer, and 0600 in the winter) and to be ready and dressed up. Youâre going to be sharing facilities with 150 other men. Same goes with shower. If you take 2 hour showers like a girl, nowâs the time to learn not to.
Donât worry about what to wear. You will be told what to wear.
You will have half an hour of nap time after lunch by the way (just so you know).
Yes, I plan to do so. I am also seeking out local friend and would like to improve my chinese so it only make sense to try my best to blend in and be helpful with what I could. Hopefully, they would help me too . Thank you for the advice.
Thank you. How much time do you get for making bed, showering and getting uniform on? Do you have queue for the shower stalls? Is it possible to wake up a little earlier to avoid all the congestion?