Things to be wary of about BCT

Ok, all through Basic, people were trying to sell me crap. And it is crap. First, there's the graduation ring. I bought it. I figured it'd be a nice keep sake. I don't wear it, but I'm still glad I purchased it. That was around $150.

They tried to sell me plaques. I (thankfully!) didn't buy any. They're tacky, and cheaply made. You could get something much better for the same price somewhere else. Those that did buy them seemed to like them though...their thoughts on it may have changed now since it's been awhile since we graduated however!

T-Shirts. This is a big one. They offered these shirts for sale, which I know 90% of the people at BCT would not have bought in the civilian world. However, since we weren't allowed to ever shop or spend money on anything, people ate these things up. A few went so far as to buy the $500 dollars worth! I only bought the company T-shirt for $18 or $20...I can't remember.

PHOTOS AND YEARBOOK ----- This my friends, is the single, biggest ripoff in all of BCT. They actually photoshop hats onto the pictures. On top of that, the pictures are skewed and flattened to no end. There was no one...NO ONE who was happy with their photos. But, you're not allowed to see them before purchase, and there are no refunds.

My brother, who's a former Marine, had great photos taken when he was at Boot camp. They have a little velcro vest-type thing of the blue dress coat, then they put the hat on them and take the photo. It makes a great picture worthy of hanging in your home. The Army...ugh.

The yearbook is all stock photo's. All the things you do (save for the gas chamber pictures) are stock photo's that they reuse year after year. Then, they simply insert pages of everyone in your company and you're done. They do it so cheaply that you can clearly see where they inserted the pages when you look at the book when it's closed.

My blood is boiling just thinking about the crap they have you buy.

They also have someone come and try to get you to purchase shot glasses, decorative pens, etc. All a bunch of crap, really. But they do it because they know the money is burning a hole in peoples pockets.

It's ridiculous that they do this to people...and that the government allows it.