Preparing for Basic Training
Four services, four different screens, four different culminating events. What each one asks of you on arrival — and why arriving at the minimum is the wrong plan.
The four courses share almost nothing. General orders come in threes for soldiers and Airmen and elevens for sailors and Marines. Drill is written from three different manuals. Each course ends in a different kind of event. And each one screens you on a different test, at a different moment, against different numbers.
Below is what each service asks of you at the start. These are entry and arrival standards, not graduation standards, and they are minimums — the number that stops you being sent home, not the number that makes the course survivable.
What each service screens on
| Service | The screen | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Army Basic Combat Training |
Army Fitness Test | 60 points in every event, plus the 10-mile foot march and 70% of the obstacles |
| Marine Corps Recruit training |
Initial Strength Test | 3 pull-ups, a 40-second plank, 1.5 miles in 13:30 (male) — then the PFT in training |
| Navy RTC Great Lakes |
Run on arrival | 1.5 miles in 16:10 male, 18:07 female — then graduate on the PFA |
| Air Force / Space Force BMT, Lackland |
Fitness assessment | Under 25: 2 miles in 19:45 male, 30 push-ups male, 33 sit-ups male, 1:35 plank male |
Every one of those numbers is a floor. Arriving at the floor means you are the slowest person in the formation on day one, doing six days a week of PT with no margin, and every subsequent problem — a rolled ankle, a bad night, a chest infection — puts you below it. Aim to arrive clear of the minimum by a comfortable margin, not to clear it by a second.
Each course ends differently
- Marines — the Crucible. Fifty-four hours on foot with restricted food and sleep, finishing with the Reaper and the eagle, globe and anchor. It is the most physically demanding basic training culminating event of the four by some distance.
- Navy — Battle Stations. Twelve hours aboard a destroyer simulator, running damage control and casualty scenarios through the night.
- Air Force — PACER FORGE. Dispersed-team decision making under stress, weighted toward judgement rather than pure physical output.
- Army — the field training exercise and the 10-mile foot march in Blue Phase.
If you know which one you are walking into, you can train for it. A Marine recruit needs a genuine tolerance for being on their feet for a very long time. A future sailor needs to be comfortable in deep water long before they get there.
What is the same everywhere
- Running. All four test it. It is the slowest thing to build and the first thing to start.
- Push-ups and core. Accumulated volume across a week beats one maximum set.
- Being on your feet. Every course is more walking and standing than any civilian job. Walk more, in boots.
- Memorization. Creeds, general orders, rank structure, chain of command. Free to learn at home, and being ahead buys you quiet.
- Arriving uninjured. More people have a bad basic training because of an injury they gave themselves preparing than for any other single reason.
One plan per service, not one with footnotes
Lensatic carries four separate ten-week shipping plans — Army BCT, Marine recruit training, Navy boot camp, Air Force and Space Force BMT — each built on what that service actually gates on. All four assume no athletic base: weeks 1–3 are a walk/run on-ramp and every calisthenic carries a regression. The Learn tab has a basic training school per service, because the four courses genuinely do not share a curriculum.
See the plans The Army in detailQuestions
Which basic training is hardest?
Marine recruit training is the longest and the most physically demanding of the four, and the Crucible has no direct equivalent. That said, the one you are unprepared for is the hard one.
How fit do I need to be before I ship?
Clear of your service’s minimum with margin. Being able to run your service’s test distance comfortably, hold a plank past the standard, and walk several miles under a light pack covers most of it.
How long is each one?
Roughly: Army about ten weeks, Marines about thirteen, Navy around ten, Air Force around seven and a half. Lengths change — check with your recruiter.
Do I need to swim?
For the Navy and the Marine Corps, yes — both have water requirements, and being uncomfortable in deep water is a problem far better solved at a local pool beforehand.
Is this official?
No. This is preparation guidance published by Deadlift Digital LLC with no affiliation with or endorsement by any service. Standards change; your recruiter and your orders are the authority.