December 10, 2025 • 34 mins
Think the Mojave is just heat and hardship? It’s a teacher with a mean streak. We walk through the National Training Center from the first checklist to the final bus ride, translating real-world friction into practical steps you can use to build combat power, protect your people, and keep the mission moving. From the official packing list to the “real” one that keeps you functioning, we share field-proven gear, foot care, and small comforts that prevent big problems. Then we head into RSOI to cover Prepo yard truths, PMCS that actually sticks at turn-in, and the paperwork details that save you from owning someone else’s faults.
Crossing the berm flips the switch. We dig into how heat, cold, and dust degrade performance, why battery discipline and weapons maintenance matter more than you think, and how OPFOR punishes lazy tactics. Urban operations at Razizh, call-for-fire, casualty play, and convoy stress test everything from logistics to leadership. You’ll hear why there’s no magic trick to “beat the box,” just disciplined fundamentals, aggressive execution, and a team that knows its roles when chaos hits.
On the back end, regeneration brings accountability and relief. We map the cleaning, inspections, turn-ins, and AARs that bring a battered formation back to fighting shape—and the patience required when details pile up. By the time you’re counting gear for the last time, you’re carrying more than dust. You’re carrying tighter cohesion, sharper skills, and a shared story that builds better soldiers and better teams. If NTC is on your horizon, this guide will spare you avoidable pain and set your unit up to perform. Subscribe, share with your team, and drop your best NTC hack or hard-learned lesson in a review.
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Remember, you don't have to embrace the suck, if you have the right tools in your ruck!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You have now survived NTC.
Whether it's your first or 35thtime, you've survived it, right?
So you're gonna be bringing homesome hard-learned lessons.
Uh, you're gonna have tightercohesion, and you're gonna have
stories that you're gonna tellfor years.
And you're gonna every time yougo to NTC, you're gonna be like,
Well, my last time at NTC, orI've been to NTC so many times,
(00:22):
you're gonna get the NTC gurus,right?
Even if I've I've caught myselfsaying the same thing.
Well, last time, or you're gonnacatch someone saying, Oh, when
you're in the box and we'renavigating, they're gonna be
like, Oh, that's where we are.
Oh, yeah, I remember last timewe went around this and other
stuff.
And you're gonna have thosestories.
So I say all that to say this.
NTC isn't just like anothertraining event, to be honest
(00:45):
with you.
It's kind of like a rite ofpassage, especially if you're in
the BCT world.
It's uh physically uh brutal,it's mentally draining, it's
professionally demanding.
SPEAKER_01 (00:58):
Roger Sarn!
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Welcome back to the Roger Sarn Podcast where we talk
all things army, and I'm yourhost, Sarn Cruz, and today we're
talking NTC.
Now, this is one of the mostintense, unforgettable, but
absolute necessary experiencesthat I think a soldier needs in
their career, and that's theNational Training Center, and
(01:30):
this is in Fort Erwin,California.
Now, if you've ever wonderedwhat actually happens before you
step into the Mojave Desert,because that's where it is, or
how units build their combatpower, or what the box actually
feels like, or how you come backfrom NTC in one piece, this is
the episode for you.
(01:50):
So I'm gonna break down NTC fromstart to finish, from the prep
phase and the packing, um, thecombat power, the building
combat power phase, the fullrotation inside the box, and
then the regen phase beforeheading home.
So let's get into it.
So, number one, you're gonnastart by preparing before you
(02:14):
even leave.
So NTC in reality, in reality,it starts long before you hit
your boots on ground or in thesand, if you will.
So before you even get on thebuses, before you even load
these aircrafts, there's likereal work that goes into the
prep phase.
So every soldier knows that uhthe packing list is pretty much
(02:39):
their lifeline.
But experienced ones, ones thereal ones who've been to NTC
know that there's a real packinglist.
And this is gonna be the stuffthat makes the actual rotation
survivable.
Now, don't get me wrong, there'salways a general packing list,
right?
There's always going to be thepacking list that you get either
(03:02):
sent via email or on your textin the group chat, and for some
reason, I don't know why, forsome reason you guys just refuse
to download it or save it,whatever it is.
But there's an actual packinglist, and then there's the
packing list.
Alright, so let's start off withyour army issued essentials,
(03:25):
right?
There are no shortcuts to this.
You're mainly gonna have a lotof your OCIE stuff, right?
You're gonna have it cleaned andpre-checked.
So when you get over there,because it's gonna get dirty,
but you don't want to leave withstuff being dirty and then it
gets sandy and dirtier, and nowit's just wrecked, okay?
Another thing that I would saythat you need to do is you need
(03:45):
to pack extra socks, extra bootlaces, extra boots, and foot
care.
Okay, so how I pack is I packfor every day that I'm there, I
have my shirt, I have a set ofsocks, a pair of socks, and then
I have the underwear, and I'llroll all that in one.
(04:08):
So every time I pull out myshirt, I'm pulling out a day's
worth of stuff, or maybe two orthree.
I don't know, it all depends.
But generally, I shower everycouple days.
Batteries.
You're gonna need more batteriesthan what you think.
Like when it comes to yourheadlamp, you're gonna use that
(04:29):
the entire time.
Someone's gonna forgetbatteries, someone's gonna go
there without PMCS in theirheadlamp, and they're gonna have
a trash headlamp, and you'regonna have to give them
batteries, your battle, bro.
They'll probably take aflashlight with the red lens,
because red lens is huge, andthat flashlight will probably be
jacked up, so you'll probablyhave to use that.
It's many things, right?
You have one, two headlamps,however you do it.
(04:50):
Make sure you take morebatteries than what you need.
Then you're gonna have yourweapons cleaning kit, because a
lot of units will wait till theyget back, but once there's
downtime and they start seeingyou not doing too much, weapons
cleaning is gonna be on thelist.
So just go ahead and get aheadof the eight ball and just go
ahead and take your weaponscleaning kit with you.
(05:11):
Another thing that's part of theOCIE that people overlook or
they say, you know what, Ireally don't need it because
we're in the desert, and that'syour wet weather gear.
Right?
You're in the desert, but NTCitself will surprise you.
And not only that, right?
In our last rotation that wejust got back in October,
(05:32):
November, it rained for likefour days straight.
Rain stopped.
I was like, I've never been onan NTC rotation that it rained,
but it decided to rain.
So a lot of people, includingmyself, I didn't have my wet
weather gear.
So I just had to thug it out.
Another thing is you're gonnaneed your wet weather gear for
when you're in the wash rack.
Okay.
(05:53):
And the next thing I would saytowards OCIE stuff is have at
least bare minimum fouruniforms.
And here's how this gets brokendown, or how I break it down.
I have a travel uniform, andthen that travel uniform, I'm
using it all throughout the thecombat, building combat power
(06:16):
phase until we get in the box.
Once we're on our way to the boxthat day before, I'm already
changing into my uniform that Ihave for the box.
So it's gonna be a traveluniform, two box uniforms.
So you're in there for twoweeks.
I use one for one week and oneanother week, and then I'll do a
regen uniform.
(06:37):
And while I'm doing my regentime, I'll wash my my first
travel uniform and I'll use itto travel again, i.e., travel
uniform.
So four uniforms (06:47):
one for travel and uh build comp combat power
phase, two for the box, and thenone for regen, and then recycle
the first one.
Okay.
And then the last thing I'mgonna say is, and I didn't do
this in any of the NTCrotations, so I was I've been in
the uh CAV for five years, andin the five years, I've done
(07:11):
four NTC rotations, and thisrotation is the only rotation
that I actually took a um lightfighter tent with me.
Take a light fighter tent.
It's one, you can use it ifyou're in the in the box, but
two, you can use it while you'rein the Ruba because you sleep on
the cot and people make thewhole joke of tent inside a
(07:33):
tent.
Yeah, I get it, cool, whatever.
But it's more for privacy.
If you want to just lay down,you want to talk to your
significant other without anyonelooking and all that stuff, you
want to watch something, noone's watching you, you want to
scroll, no one's sitting therejust in your stuff, or you just
want to disconnect and you don'twant to see nobody.
And that's when you just get inyour tent and you relax and you
(07:57):
just be like, that's it.
Okay.
So another thing, some otherthings that you can take is like
they're like small convenientitems that's gonna pretty much
save your sanity.
And these are gonna be your babywipes.
You need baby wipes, I don'tcare.
Don't be a nasty and not takebaby wipes and say, I'm gonna
thug it out, or I'm gonna justuse bird bath and use my uh
(08:20):
water source and just hit thehot spots.
You can't hit the hot spotseffectively.
You you your butt cheeks will belike Velcro if you don't take no
um baby wipes.
I'm gonna tell you that rightnow.
You're gonna need foot powder.
You'll be surprised how manypeople, how their feet get so
nasty, and then they can't doanything about it because they
(08:40):
decided not to have any footpowder, so they're all moist and
stuff.
Because a lot of you guys arenot gonna change your socks for
some reason every day, and thenall that moisture builds up, and
now your feet are just allmessed up.
But if you have some foot powderto help you out, plus it keeps
your feet from stinking badly.
Your feet are gonna stinkbecause you're wearing boots all
day.
But yeah, you're gonna needmoleskin.
(09:02):
Trust me on the moleskin.
Before you leave, either ordersome on your own or go to your
medics before you leave.
Your medics is are gonna havesome, but you're only gonna get
it when you go to see them.
And if you're not hurt insidethe box, you're probably not
gonna see your medics a lot.
And a lot of times, medics, wejust have excess moleskin,
(09:24):
moleskin from 1989, and we'rejust trying to get rid of it.
So do that.
So have your headlamp, like Itold you before, your headlamp
is what you're gonna need.
Not just not just a flashlight.
Have a flashlight, but have yourheadlamp on top of that and take
extra gloves.
There's no way around it.
(09:44):
I would say the majority of thetime, you're gonna get fuel on
your gloves.
Unless you never freaking fuelyour vehicle, you tell someone
else to do it, or someone elseis doing it for you, you're
gonna need it.
You're gonna run through gloveseven without the fuel.
This is just fuel.
You're gonna run through gloves,your your fingertips are gonna
(10:05):
get all uh messed up, so yourfingertips will get exposed
because you're just pickingstuff up, dropping it, picking
up like you're constantlymoving, and you have to have
your gloves on pretty much atall times.
Take an extra set of gloves.
The next thing I want to touchon are like food items that you
need to pack because you're notalways gonna have MREs all the
(10:25):
time.
And then on top of that, I'm notsure if you guys have seen it,
but you've you've come to thewebsite Army WTF and you've seen
how people complain about nothaving MREs or whatever it is.
It's gonna happen because theleg it's the whole operation is
to stress systems, and sometimesthe logistical side kind of
takes the bigger burden, right?
(10:47):
So make sure you pack a jetboil.
Buy you a jet boil.
If you're not gonna buy onepersonally, just split up the
money in between your team, yoursquad, your platoon, however you
want to do it, just get a jetboil.
It's good for making food, it'sgood for the uh morning coffee,
it's good for shaving if youwant to shave in uh with with
(11:07):
hot water.
Get you a jet boil, and it'llit'll save your life.
Get you beef jerky, I'll get yousome protein bars, lots of
protein bars, have yourelectrolyte packets, that's a
must.
Have a couple, not a couple, youcan have up to a couple a day
without like really not causingany significant issues with your
(11:30):
body, but a lot of times youguys depend on the medics to
have it, and you're not gonnasee your medics all the time,
you're not gonna go to your rollone all the time, so you're not
always going to get anyelectrolytes from your medical
personnel, so therefore takeyour own.
And another thing that kind ofsaved my life when I was there
were tortillas.
(11:52):
I'm telling you, they areclutch, and on top of that, they
survive in the heat better thanbread.
So you take your tortillas andyou just either put uh peanut
butter, peanut butter, andjelly.
It doesn't matter, whatever itis that you want to eat, you can
put ramen in them.
I don't care.
You put anything in a tortilla.
So get you some a few packs oftortillas, and then uh you
(12:14):
you're good.
You sometimes, as you alreadyknow, these uh Maris come with
it, some of them do, and some ofthem don't.
And the ones that don't, you canjust take the meal and just wrap
it in there.
Instant coffee pouches areclutch or instant coffee.
Like when I went there, mydietitian, she had the whole
time.
Yeah, I think we we had to kindof like do three days without
(12:36):
the instant coffee that shebought because it was they they
were Starbucks, but we kind ofreplenished that with the
instant coffee from the from theMREs, right?
So have those instant coffee,whichever one you you use, just
have it.
Peanut butter, like I mentioned,is a s is a life saver.
Those cliff bars, ramen noodles,staple.
(12:56):
It is this a staple when you'rein the box.
Nothing hits better than a apack of ramen noodles or two,
however you do it.
A pack of ramen noodles whenyou're in there.
So take advantage of the connexpack out to get all your pogy
bait in there.
That's that's the bottom line ofthat.
You have to, whatever you wantto take with you.
(13:18):
Some people, I've seen peopletake um, what are those called
rice cookers because they haveuh plugins, they got rice
cookers, so they cook rice, cooktheir spam, cook their
vegetables, like inside thatrice cooker.
So whatever it is that you wantto take that you can't
traditionally take in your uhwhat are you called, inside your
inside your rucksack or oranything like that, you just put
(13:40):
it in a tough box, put it in theconnex, and then forget about it
until you get there.
So this kind of like is thephase in where leaders do like
intense PCCs and PCIs, likethey're nonstop.
You kind of get to you youyou're fighting to get all your
itemized stuff on your 1750sthat go into the connects, so
(14:05):
you load them, you ship them,and you pray to the whatever it
is that you pray to that theconnects actually arrives at the
same time that you do.
So at this point, I'd say you'veyou've kind of already started
NTC, you just haven't realizedthat you started it.
So now we're gonna go to thesecond part, which is building
(14:29):
combat power.
So this is where your unitarrives and then they start
putting the pieces backtogether.
So you're gonna hit the Ruba andyou're gonna go do the RSOI pro
which is process, which is inprocess reception, something,
and integration.
Um, you're gonna draw all yourequipment, your miles gear,
(14:51):
whatever.
I don't know why we still usethat, but whatever, or that
type, but I digress.
Your miles gear, you're gonnaget your vehicles.
They're either gonna come fromYermo or they're gonna come from
Prepo, whatever it is.
You're gonna get your vehicles,you're gonna get all your comms,
you're gonna get your weapons,and then for the next few days,
all you're gonna hear is a wholebunch of generators just
(15:13):
sounding off.
You're gonna hear wrenches, andyou're gonna hear people yelling
for missing BII.
For some reason, VII justhappens to get lost.
It's weird, but it happens,okay?
So, as for you, what you'regonna be doing, you're gonna be
doing a few things, right?
If you're going to to the pre-poyard, then here are kind of like
a few tips, right?
First thing you want to do, youwant to get your paperwork from
(15:35):
your executive officer, your XO.
And then if you're kind of ajunior soldier, then you're
gonna get it from your platoonsergeant, they're gonna give it
to you.
Then you're gonna take thatpaperwork, you're gonna go to
the prepo yard.
There's going to be a um kind oflike a a box or a sign that's
gonna have the the layout of theentire pre-po yard from the
(15:58):
beginning all the way to theback, and it's gonna have
vehicles by a nomenclature.
So you have your JL TVs, yourbrads, your brads, your tracks.
You're gonna have your wheel, sopretty much wheeled, tracks, and
trailers, and then it'll haveall the sustainer stuff too.
So you look there and you seewhat your vehicle is by the
number, and then you go find it.
(16:18):
It's probably in Bravo 2, 15vehicles down.
So you go there, you find it.
First thing you want to do isyou want to do your PMCS.
You're gonna do your PMCS.
What I do is I do the PMCS andthen I record the vehicle on my
phone all the way through, allthe way around.
If there's any deficiencies,I'll notate them and I'll record
(16:41):
them.
So therefore, when I get backand it's time to go through the
regen phase, and then I havekind of proof that it was like
that.
But another thing is if you signfor something and they don't
they don't put their initialsthat that was like that, then
it's on you to fix it.
We will talk about that in asecond.
So we do that, then you go tothe to the little kiosk, she's
(17:02):
gonna give you the paperwork,and then you're gonna go to the
back, you're gonna go get signedoff on your radio stuff, then
you're gonna go on the testride.
While you're doing your testride, your road test, you're
gonna be looking for anydeficiencies within the vehicle
because that's your during phaseof the PMCS.
And then when you're done, makesure you look at your flu fluid
(17:24):
levels because your fluidlevels, like with me, I I went,
I got turned back, I had apre-post, or I got turned back
on the regen phase to the Rufmaand the inspection twice for
having too much oil.
And that was because after thetest, after the road test,
you're gonna levels, your oillevels rise a little bit.
(17:44):
So, therefore, make sure thatyou do the after as well.
That's my point.
Then after you do that, you'regonna go get it dispatched
through your unit or battalionand make sure you have the
proper nomenclature.
If you have a winch on it, makesure you have winch on your
license.
If you have an A1, A2, whateverit is, make sure that's on your
license.
It's this specific vehicle.
(18:06):
So make sure that happens.
And then you just take thevehicle, and you're still at
this point, you're gonna have totest your radios, zero weapons,
or zero that little dang it, oryou're gonna zero the I don't
know why I'm drawing a blank.
But on your M4s, you have yourweapon, and then you have that
(18:27):
little miles gear in the front,which I can't, the laser.
Oh my god.
You're gonna zero the laser.
A lot of units don't even dothat anymore.
Um, but a lot of times you'regonna zero that.
But the real zeroing goes forthe track vehicles, the uh M1s,
the tanks, and the Brads.
They're gonna do their theirtheir zeroing and stuff for when
(18:48):
live fire comes.
And then you're gonna fixvehicles that are all of a
sudden broken during transport.
You're gonna notice something'sgoing on, and you're gonna um
have to fix that before you getthere.
You're gonna make sure that youryour your logistics uh tracking
is set, and make sure you'regonna rehearse for the mission
and you'll get all this stuff,you'll see it.
(19:09):
This is also where leadershipstress level hit on a thousand.
I want to say level 10, butlevel 1000.
Because like there's a smallwindow, the clock is already
ticking.
So, because once you cross thatberm, once you get into the box,
you're expected to perform likea fully operational unit, like
no excuses.
(19:30):
So the combat the buildingcombat power is about getting
ready for the fight before thefight even starts.
Number three, training in the inin the box, which is the Mojave
Desert.
If you've never been to theMojave Desert, that's your
welcome.
Fort Early, California.
(19:51):
This is where the real NTCbegins, right?
Once you cross the berm, onceyou see the sign that says The
box, you're in a completelydifferent world.
Like the box is the army'stoughest, largest training
environment, I think, in myopinion, that a soldier can go
(20:12):
to.
And I think it's a fact, to behonest with you.
And yeah, lastly, about this.
You cannot have your phone.
You're gonna get so upsetbecause they're gonna have
exceptions to people like thetop five, your first sergeants.
You're gonna see people, yourPAs maybe have them.
Some people are gonna have theirphones and they're gonna give
(20:34):
you all these excuses.
Oh, because then you'll have adigital footprint and they can
hone in on you and figure outwhere you are.
All that excuses is because theydon't want you sidetracked.
That's my opinion, right?
You can't have your phone inthere.
So get over it as soon as youget there.
Tell your family, tell yourloved ones, your friends,
(20:54):
whatever it is, let them knowfrom this date, because the box
has 10 days or a certain amountof days, right?
14 days.
From this date, let's say the13th, the 3rd to the 17th, I
will not have access to myphone.
That's it.
Just do it.
Get over it quick.
(21:14):
So I digress.
So what actually makes the boxbruder things like the desert
heat in the daytime?
It's gonna be super hot,uncomfortable.
You're gonna be having to breakdown stuff, set up stuff, move
stuff.
You're gonna be moving.
Some of you guys are gonna bechugging along because you guys
are light.
(21:35):
And then in the evening, allthat's gonna change like that.
It's gonna be cold, it's gonnabe windy, it's gonna be
annoying.
You're gonna have to sleep inyour sleeping bag, completely in
your sleeping bag, if that's howyou do it.
Tankers, you guys and yourtanks, blah, blah, blah.
Um, and yeah, the things that'sthe number one thing that makes
kind of like the desert reallychallenging.
(21:58):
And then there's gonna be dustthat gets into like every pore
of your being, even in yourweapon.
So it's gonna get into everypore of you, you're gonna get
your M4, you're gonna or yourM17, whatever it is that you
carry.
As soon as you pull, like youtry and rack it or whatever it
is, you're gonna hear the dustin it.
(22:20):
It's just there, it's just dust.
You're not gonna escape that.
And then your uniform is gonnafeel all heavy because you're
sweaty, and then it it keeps thedust on it, blah, blah, blah.
So the dust.
And then on top of that, you gotthe op four, which the op four
is kind of like the bestopposing force because in the
army because they knoweverything that you know.
(22:42):
They do this time and time andtime again.
Every single month they do this,they've seen every strategy.
There's no way to really, reallybeat the box.
There's just the best strategyfor beating the box, something
that they've never seen orsomething that they've seen, but
you are just aggressive with it.
There, I you can't convince methat you're that you can beat
(23:04):
it.
That there's no there's it'sjust really to check and see if
you guys have actually done youryour research and you guys have
done your collective training.
Then on top of that, you got theconstant movement I'm talking
about.
Day, night, you're gonna feellike you're you're sleep
(23:24):
deprived.
And then, especially if you worknight shift, like I've always
done night shift because I am atthe uh I'm at a brigade level,
I'm on staff, so it's my it'sonly three people in my section,
which is myself, my meadow, andthen my brigade surgeon.
So who's gonna take the nightshift other than the NCO?
That's me, right?
(23:45):
So I take the night shift, andthen in the daytime, I still
gotta drive, I still gotta movestuff, I still gotta do it,
operate on a regular basis, butit's just whenever it's a la
carte.
So maybe they may not saynothing at 7 o'clock that we're
moving in the set at 07 thatwe're moving.
Or we are, who knows?
But in reality, the chaos ofreal mission sets and it
(24:09):
stresses you out, right?
So that's the bottom line ofthat.
And then the next thing, it'slike the types of stress that
you'll more likely encounter inNTC are mainly these.
There are gonna beforce-on-force battles, they're
gonna be call-for-fires, they'regonna be casualty simulations,
(24:31):
logistical disruptions, convoyoperations, you're gonna have to
worry about the defense and theoffense.
And then on top of that, thelast thing, the last thing,
which is the center.
This is kind of like the star ofeverything, which is your urban
operations at Razizh.
That is kind of like you'regonna go through Rezizh
regardless.
So that's kind of like a townthat has it's all built up, and
(24:53):
these people who are there, theactors, they literally do that
for a living, so they get intotheir role.
But the box itself is kind ofdesigned to break your bad
habits and break them fast.
You learn what you're good atand what you're not good at.
Easy, like immediately.
(25:14):
Another thing is that whenyou're at NTC, this is where you
and your soldiers, you're gonnabond.
And this is all created throughsuffering.
In other words, as we call it,trauma bond.
You're gonna remember momentskind of like eating an MRI in
the dark.
(25:34):
You're gonna remember momentskind of like trying to sleep on
rocks.
You're gonna remember momentskind of like losing track of
what day it is, like no one evenknows what day it is.
We don't even go by dates, we goby day one, two, three, and
four.
You're gonna remember waking upto like movement orders, and
you're gonna swear that you justwent to sleep like 20 minutes
ago.
And it was probably like three,four hours ago.
(25:57):
But in my opinion, this is alsowhere the unit grows the most in
reality in the box.
So now let's move into numberfour, which is the regen phase
or regeneration phase.
Hadly.
So once you finish your finalmission and exit the box, you're
(26:19):
now entering the regen phase.
And this is the phase where theunit brings itself back up to
fighting shape.
So another thing when it comesto that getting out the box
thing that I it is a bitch and ahalf.
I remember this this this uhthis this rotation, we didn't do
(26:41):
it, but I remember once we done,once we're told we're leaving
the box, we went to FOB Miami,they've done their live fire,
whatever it is.
We go stop at Wales Gaps andColumns and Chalks, and then
they let you go by 15, 20minutes, whatever it is.
And then when it's time to geton the Ruba or into Fort Irwin,
(27:05):
it is just a bottleneck becausenow you gotta throw away all
your trash and stuff like that.
So that takes up to like fivehours.
But they didn't do that thistime, they just threw us in
chalks and it was superseamless.
Shout out to uh blackjack forthat.
But what does this phaseinclude?
Well, it includes your weaponcleaning, it includes your
(27:26):
PMCS's on every vehicle, whetherit's prepo or home station,
you're gonna PMCS thosevehicles.
Now, prepo is the worst of theworst.
I can I can make a wholeseparate video alone on just
prepo.
Just know if you accepted avehicle in a certain way and
(27:47):
it's not up to par when you takeit back.
You can argue to your blue inthe face with that that person
that's checking you off, butyou're gonna have to fix it.
That's it.
You they're gonna tell you youshouldn't have accepted it that
way.
You're gonna do that.
At this point, you're gonna berecovering any damage equipment
that you left in the box or anydamage equipment that you have.
You're gonna be resettingtactical gear, you're gonna be
(28:11):
final AARs are gonna happen.
You're gonna be reorganizing,reorganizing your supplies,
you're gonna be turning in yourequipment.
And a notable mention to thispart of the phase is that once
you, how do I say it?
Once you get everything done,because you know how the army
is, we have to leave everythingbetter than when we got it.
(28:32):
So you're gonna be cleaning themotor pool, cleaning the roof
muff, cleaning the Aruba itself.
But here's where all the sillydetails start.
Because why not, right?
Why not do it?
I'm gonna tell you, you will besurprised things that come up
when soldiers are laying around.
(28:55):
And this is a great, I typicallylike to keep my videos minus my
personal opinion, but this issomething that really grinds my
gears.
So if you for two weeks, let'ssay for instance, your regen, um
your build combat phase and yourregen phase, you've been
allowing soldiers to crossstreets and all that stuff, then
all of a sudden, because there'snothing to do, you've you've
(29:18):
shipped all your vehicles,you've driven them down to your
mo, you've done whatever, nowall of a sudden you got crossing
guards.
You got a whole detail forcrossing guards.
Okay you have a whole detail forstanding at the motor pool
making sure no one throwsanything.
Well, you have a whole detail.
(29:38):
Well, this is I can get this,but you have a whole detail at
the latrines because you'regonna have your phantom shitter.
I don't know why this happens,but it's happened multiple
rotations that I've been on atleast.
I can't.
But my point is you're gonnahave detail for the detail for
the detail, because in themilitary we cannot see Joe just
(30:01):
sitting down.
And then it is what it is.
So I'll say that one to gripeabout it, but two, so you can be
mentally prepared if you are ajunior enlisted, that you will
be you will be doing sillydetails when there is nothing to
do.
That's what I want you tounderstand, like fully grasp
(30:21):
that because at this point, thechaos, it kind of starts to slow
down.
You can finally exhale, you'reexhausted, you're filthy.
I don't know why I said filthy.
You're filthy, but I cancertainly say you're more than
likely sharper than when youcame, than when you first
(30:44):
arrived, right?
So regeneration is where youlook back and say, damn, we
really did that.
That's how y'all say it, wereally did that.
So, number five, you're gonna bepreparing to go back home.
And this right here is the finalphase, is basically the reverse
prep prep.
Yeah, the reverse prep, but withthe mental relief of knowing
(31:08):
that your next stop is home.
So at this point, you're gonnapack the connexes and you're
gonna have connex si guard,which is you, you you know what
SI guard is.
Sensitive equipment.
Did I just say SE guard?
You're gonna have SI guard.
It says sensitive equipment.
(31:28):
But this is where you're gonnawatch your radios, your weapons
that are inside of connex, andyou're gonna have again back to
the well, that's not a dumbthing, but it's can be avoided.
But uh, I digress.
You're gonna have you're gonnapack the connexes, you're gonna
guard the connects, you're gonnaturn in all your equipment,
you're gonna clean all theweapons until they're like
(31:50):
shiny, shiny, whether it takesone hour or eight, you're gonna
clean all the miles gear, you'regonna clean anything that they
gave you, you're gonna clean itback.
Some, like I said, some unitswill wait for the weapons until
you get back, but at some pointyou're gonna clean them, but
here you can't.
And then once it's time for youto go, you're gonna reverse out
reverse, you're gonna outprocess the installation through
(32:11):
your um ADAG.
Then you're gonna load thebuses, you're gonna count gear,
you're gonna count personnel,you're gonna count again, you're
gonna count again, you're gonnacount again, and then you wait.
And then you're gonna waitagain.
And then you're gonna go toMarch and you're gonna wait
again.
Then you're gonna get on theairplanes and then you're gonna
wait again.
In my rotation this time, weflew into Austin, took a bus
(32:34):
back, and then we were backhome.
A lot of times, this is the onlyone that I've ever flown into
Austin, but a lot of timesyou'll fly right into clean.
But once you're on the road oronce you're in the air and
you're heading back home, ithits you.
You have now survived NTC.
Whether it's your first or 35thtime, you've survived it, right?
(32:58):
So you're gonna be bringing homesome hard-learned lessons.
Uh, you're gonna have tightercohesion, and you're gonna have
stories that you're gonna tellfor years.
And you're gonna, every time yougo to NTC, you're gonna be like,
Well, my last time at NTC, orI've been to NTC so many times,
you're gonna get the NTC gurus,right?
Even if I've I've caught myselfsaying the same thing.
Well, last time, or you're gonnacatch someone saying, Oh, when
(33:21):
you're in the box and we'renavigating, they're gonna be
like, Oh, that's where we are.
Oh, yeah, I remember last timewe went around this and all that
stuff, and you and you're gonnahave those stories.
So I say all that to say this.
TC isn't just like anothertraining event, to be honest
with you.
It's kind of like a rite ofpassage, especially if you're in
the BCT world.
It's uh physically uh brutal,it's mentally draining, it's
(33:46):
professionally demanding, but itmakes you a better soldier, a
better leader, and it createsbetter teams.
I hope my breakdown gave you aninsight to what it looks like,
to what it really is to go toNTC, to really go through a full
rotation from the prep phase tothe building combat power phase
(34:08):
to the grind that's inside thebox to the regen phase and then
the final push home.
If you're heading to NTC soon,good luck and go prepared.
And if you've been there before,then you already know the deal.
And always remember you don'thave to embrace the sub if you
got the right tools in yourruck.
Thanks for listening.
(34:29):
Thanks for watching.
I'm Sarn Cruz, and I'll catchyou in the next one.
Peace.
You have now survived NTC.
Whether it's your first or 35thtime, you've survived it, right?
So you're gonna be bringing homesome hard-learned lessons.
Uh, you're gonna have tightercohesion, and you're gonna have
stories that you're gonna tellfor years.
And you're gonna every time yougo to NTC, you're gonna be like,
Well, my last time at NTC, orI've been to NTC so many times,
(00:22):
you're gonna get the NTC gurus,right?
Even if I've I've caught myselfsaying the same thing.
Well, last time, or you're gonnacatch someone saying, Oh, when
you're in the box and we'renavigating, they're gonna be
like, Oh, that's where we are.
Oh, yeah, I remember last timewe went around this and other
stuff.
And you're gonna have thosestories.
So I say all that to say this.
NTC isn't just like anothertraining event, to be honest
(00:45):
with you.
It's kind of like a rite ofpassage, especially if you're in
the BCT world.
It's uh physically uh brutal,it's mentally draining, it's
professionally demanding.
SPEAKER_01 (00:58):
Roger Sarn!
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Welcome back to the Roger Sarn Podcast where we talk
all things army, and I'm yourhost, Sarn Cruz, and today we're
talking NTC.
Now, this is one of the mostintense, unforgettable, but
absolute necessary experiencesthat I think a soldier needs in
their career, and that's theNational Training Center, and
(01:30):
this is in Fort Erwin,California.
Now, if you've ever wonderedwhat actually happens before you
step into the Mojave Desert,because that's where it is, or
how units build their combatpower, or what the box actually
feels like, or how you come backfrom NTC in one piece, this is
the episode for you.
(01:50):
So I'm gonna break down NTC fromstart to finish, from the prep
phase and the packing, um, thecombat power, the building
combat power phase, the fullrotation inside the box, and
then the regen phase beforeheading home.
So let's get into it.
So, number one, you're gonnastart by preparing before you
(02:14):
even leave.
So NTC in reality, in reality,it starts long before you hit
your boots on ground or in thesand, if you will.
So before you even get on thebuses, before you even load
these aircrafts, there's likereal work that goes into the
prep phase.
So every soldier knows that uhthe packing list is pretty much
(02:39):
their lifeline.
But experienced ones, ones thereal ones who've been to NTC
know that there's a real packinglist.
And this is gonna be the stuffthat makes the actual rotation
survivable.
Now, don't get me wrong, there'salways a general packing list,
right?
There's always going to be thepacking list that you get either
(03:02):
sent via email or on your textin the group chat, and for some
reason, I don't know why, forsome reason you guys just refuse
to download it or save it,whatever it is.
But there's an actual packinglist, and then there's the
packing list.
Alright, so let's start off withyour army issued essentials,
(03:25):
right?
There are no shortcuts to this.
You're mainly gonna have a lotof your OCIE stuff, right?
You're gonna have it cleaned andpre-checked.
So when you get over there,because it's gonna get dirty,
but you don't want to leave withstuff being dirty and then it
gets sandy and dirtier, and nowit's just wrecked, okay?
Another thing that I would saythat you need to do is you need
(03:45):
to pack extra socks, extra bootlaces, extra boots, and foot
care.
Okay, so how I pack is I packfor every day that I'm there, I
have my shirt, I have a set ofsocks, a pair of socks, and then
I have the underwear, and I'llroll all that in one.
(04:08):
So every time I pull out myshirt, I'm pulling out a day's
worth of stuff, or maybe two orthree.
I don't know, it all depends.
But generally, I shower everycouple days.
Batteries.
You're gonna need more batteriesthan what you think.
Like when it comes to yourheadlamp, you're gonna use that
(04:29):
the entire time.
Someone's gonna forgetbatteries, someone's gonna go
there without PMCS in theirheadlamp, and they're gonna have
a trash headlamp, and you'regonna have to give them
batteries, your battle, bro.
They'll probably take aflashlight with the red lens,
because red lens is huge, andthat flashlight will probably be
jacked up, so you'll probablyhave to use that.
It's many things, right?
You have one, two headlamps,however you do it.
(04:50):
Make sure you take morebatteries than what you need.
Then you're gonna have yourweapons cleaning kit, because a
lot of units will wait till theyget back, but once there's
downtime and they start seeingyou not doing too much, weapons
cleaning is gonna be on thelist.
So just go ahead and get aheadof the eight ball and just go
ahead and take your weaponscleaning kit with you.
(05:11):
Another thing that's part of theOCIE that people overlook or
they say, you know what, Ireally don't need it because
we're in the desert, and that'syour wet weather gear.
Right?
You're in the desert, but NTCitself will surprise you.
And not only that, right?
In our last rotation that wejust got back in October,
(05:32):
November, it rained for likefour days straight.
Rain stopped.
I was like, I've never been onan NTC rotation that it rained,
but it decided to rain.
So a lot of people, includingmyself, I didn't have my wet
weather gear.
So I just had to thug it out.
Another thing is you're gonnaneed your wet weather gear for
when you're in the wash rack.
Okay.
(05:53):
And the next thing I would saytowards OCIE stuff is have at
least bare minimum fouruniforms.
And here's how this gets brokendown, or how I break it down.
I have a travel uniform, andthen that travel uniform, I'm
using it all throughout the thecombat, building combat power
(06:16):
phase until we get in the box.
Once we're on our way to the boxthat day before, I'm already
changing into my uniform that Ihave for the box.
So it's gonna be a traveluniform, two box uniforms.
So you're in there for twoweeks.
I use one for one week and oneanother week, and then I'll do a
regen uniform.
(06:37):
And while I'm doing my regentime, I'll wash my my first
travel uniform and I'll use itto travel again, i.e., travel
uniform.
So four uniforms (06:47):
one for travel and uh build comp combat power
phase, two for the box, and thenone for regen, and then recycle
the first one.
Okay.
And then the last thing I'mgonna say is, and I didn't do
this in any of the NTCrotations, so I was I've been in
the uh CAV for five years, andin the five years, I've done
(07:11):
four NTC rotations, and thisrotation is the only rotation
that I actually took a um lightfighter tent with me.
Take a light fighter tent.
It's one, you can use it ifyou're in the in the box, but
two, you can use it while you'rein the Ruba because you sleep on
the cot and people make thewhole joke of tent inside a
(07:33):
tent.
Yeah, I get it, cool, whatever.
But it's more for privacy.
If you want to just lay down,you want to talk to your
significant other without anyonelooking and all that stuff, you
want to watch something, noone's watching you, you want to
scroll, no one's sitting therejust in your stuff, or you just
want to disconnect and you don'twant to see nobody.
And that's when you just get inyour tent and you relax and you
(07:57):
just be like, that's it.
Okay.
So another thing, some otherthings that you can take is like
they're like small convenientitems that's gonna pretty much
save your sanity.
And these are gonna be your babywipes.
You need baby wipes, I don'tcare.
Don't be a nasty and not takebaby wipes and say, I'm gonna
thug it out, or I'm gonna justuse bird bath and use my uh
(08:20):
water source and just hit thehot spots.
You can't hit the hot spotseffectively.
You you your butt cheeks will belike Velcro if you don't take no
um baby wipes.
I'm gonna tell you that rightnow.
You're gonna need foot powder.
You'll be surprised how manypeople, how their feet get so
nasty, and then they can't doanything about it because they
(08:40):
decided not to have any footpowder, so they're all moist and
stuff.
Because a lot of you guys arenot gonna change your socks for
some reason every day, and thenall that moisture builds up, and
now your feet are just allmessed up.
But if you have some foot powderto help you out, plus it keeps
your feet from stinking badly.
Your feet are gonna stinkbecause you're wearing boots all
day.
But yeah, you're gonna needmoleskin.
(09:02):
Trust me on the moleskin.
Before you leave, either ordersome on your own or go to your
medics before you leave.
Your medics is are gonna havesome, but you're only gonna get
it when you go to see them.
And if you're not hurt insidethe box, you're probably not
gonna see your medics a lot.
And a lot of times, medics, wejust have excess moleskin,
(09:24):
moleskin from 1989, and we'rejust trying to get rid of it.
So do that.
So have your headlamp, like Itold you before, your headlamp
is what you're gonna need.
Not just not just a flashlight.
Have a flashlight, but have yourheadlamp on top of that and take
extra gloves.
There's no way around it.
(09:44):
I would say the majority of thetime, you're gonna get fuel on
your gloves.
Unless you never freaking fuelyour vehicle, you tell someone
else to do it, or someone elseis doing it for you, you're
gonna need it.
You're gonna run through gloveseven without the fuel.
This is just fuel.
You're gonna run through gloves,your your fingertips are gonna
(10:05):
get all uh messed up, so yourfingertips will get exposed
because you're just pickingstuff up, dropping it, picking
up like you're constantlymoving, and you have to have
your gloves on pretty much atall times.
Take an extra set of gloves.
The next thing I want to touchon are like food items that you
need to pack because you're notalways gonna have MREs all the
(10:25):
time.
And then on top of that, I'm notsure if you guys have seen it,
but you've you've come to thewebsite Army WTF and you've seen
how people complain about nothaving MREs or whatever it is.
It's gonna happen because theleg it's the whole operation is
to stress systems, and sometimesthe logistical side kind of
takes the bigger burden, right?
(10:47):
So make sure you pack a jetboil.
Buy you a jet boil.
If you're not gonna buy onepersonally, just split up the
money in between your team, yoursquad, your platoon, however you
want to do it, just get a jetboil.
It's good for making food, it'sgood for the uh morning coffee,
it's good for shaving if youwant to shave in uh with with
(11:07):
hot water.
Get you a jet boil, and it'llit'll save your life.
Get you beef jerky, I'll get yousome protein bars, lots of
protein bars, have yourelectrolyte packets, that's a
must.
Have a couple, not a couple, youcan have up to a couple a day
without like really not causingany significant issues with your
(11:30):
body, but a lot of times youguys depend on the medics to
have it, and you're not gonnasee your medics all the time,
you're not gonna go to your rollone all the time, so you're not
always going to get anyelectrolytes from your medical
personnel, so therefore takeyour own.
And another thing that kind ofsaved my life when I was there
were tortillas.
(11:52):
I'm telling you, they areclutch, and on top of that, they
survive in the heat better thanbread.
So you take your tortillas andyou just either put uh peanut
butter, peanut butter, andjelly.
It doesn't matter, whatever itis that you want to eat, you can
put ramen in them.
I don't care.
You put anything in a tortilla.
So get you some a few packs oftortillas, and then uh you
(12:14):
you're good.
You sometimes, as you alreadyknow, these uh Maris come with
it, some of them do, and some ofthem don't.
And the ones that don't, you canjust take the meal and just wrap
it in there.
Instant coffee pouches areclutch or instant coffee.
Like when I went there, mydietitian, she had the whole
time.
Yeah, I think we we had to kindof like do three days without
(12:36):
the instant coffee that shebought because it was they they
were Starbucks, but we kind ofreplenished that with the
instant coffee from the from theMREs, right?
So have those instant coffee,whichever one you you use, just
have it.
Peanut butter, like I mentioned,is a s is a life saver.
Those cliff bars, ramen noodles,staple.
(12:56):
It is this a staple when you'rein the box.
Nothing hits better than a apack of ramen noodles or two,
however you do it.
A pack of ramen noodles whenyou're in there.
So take advantage of the connexpack out to get all your pogy
bait in there.
That's that's the bottom line ofthat.
You have to, whatever you wantto take with you.
(13:18):
Some people, I've seen peopletake um, what are those called
rice cookers because they haveuh plugins, they got rice
cookers, so they cook rice, cooktheir spam, cook their
vegetables, like inside thatrice cooker.
So whatever it is that you wantto take that you can't
traditionally take in your uhwhat are you called, inside your
inside your rucksack or oranything like that, you just put
(13:40):
it in a tough box, put it in theconnex, and then forget about it
until you get there.
So this kind of like is thephase in where leaders do like
intense PCCs and PCIs, likethey're nonstop.
You kind of get to you youyou're fighting to get all your
itemized stuff on your 1750sthat go into the connects, so
(14:05):
you load them, you ship them,and you pray to the whatever it
is that you pray to that theconnects actually arrives at the
same time that you do.
So at this point, I'd say you'veyou've kind of already started
NTC, you just haven't realizedthat you started it.
So now we're gonna go to thesecond part, which is building
(14:29):
combat power.
So this is where your unitarrives and then they start
putting the pieces backtogether.
So you're gonna hit the Ruba andyou're gonna go do the RSOI pro
which is process, which is inprocess reception, something,
and integration.
Um, you're gonna draw all yourequipment, your miles gear,
(14:51):
whatever.
I don't know why we still usethat, but whatever, or that
type, but I digress.
Your miles gear, you're gonnaget your vehicles.
They're either gonna come fromYermo or they're gonna come from
Prepo, whatever it is.
You're gonna get your vehicles,you're gonna get all your comms,
you're gonna get your weapons,and then for the next few days,
all you're gonna hear is a wholebunch of generators just
(15:13):
sounding off.
You're gonna hear wrenches, andyou're gonna hear people yelling
for missing BII.
For some reason, VII justhappens to get lost.
It's weird, but it happens,okay?
So, as for you, what you'regonna be doing, you're gonna be
doing a few things, right?
If you're going to to the pre-poyard, then here are kind of like
a few tips, right?
First thing you want to do, youwant to get your paperwork from
(15:35):
your executive officer, your XO.
And then if you're kind of ajunior soldier, then you're
gonna get it from your platoonsergeant, they're gonna give it
to you.
Then you're gonna take thatpaperwork, you're gonna go to
the prepo yard.
There's going to be a um kind oflike a a box or a sign that's
gonna have the the layout of theentire pre-po yard from the
(15:58):
beginning all the way to theback, and it's gonna have
vehicles by a nomenclature.
So you have your JL TVs, yourbrads, your brads, your tracks.
You're gonna have your wheel, sopretty much wheeled, tracks, and
trailers, and then it'll haveall the sustainer stuff too.
So you look there and you seewhat your vehicle is by the
number, and then you go find it.
(16:18):
It's probably in Bravo 2, 15vehicles down.
So you go there, you find it.
First thing you want to do isyou want to do your PMCS.
You're gonna do your PMCS.
What I do is I do the PMCS andthen I record the vehicle on my
phone all the way through, allthe way around.
If there's any deficiencies,I'll notate them and I'll record
(16:41):
them.
So therefore, when I get backand it's time to go through the
regen phase, and then I havekind of proof that it was like
that.
But another thing is if you signfor something and they don't
they don't put their initialsthat that was like that, then
it's on you to fix it.
We will talk about that in asecond.
So we do that, then you go tothe to the little kiosk, she's
(17:02):
gonna give you the paperwork,and then you're gonna go to the
back, you're gonna go get signedoff on your radio stuff, then
you're gonna go on the testride.
While you're doing your testride, your road test, you're
gonna be looking for anydeficiencies within the vehicle
because that's your during phaseof the PMCS.
And then when you're done, makesure you look at your flu fluid
(17:24):
levels because your fluidlevels, like with me, I I went,
I got turned back, I had apre-post, or I got turned back
on the regen phase to the Rufmaand the inspection twice for
having too much oil.
And that was because after thetest, after the road test,
you're gonna levels, your oillevels rise a little bit.
(17:44):
So, therefore, make sure thatyou do the after as well.
That's my point.
Then after you do that, you'regonna go get it dispatched
through your unit or battalionand make sure you have the
proper nomenclature.
If you have a winch on it, makesure you have winch on your
license.
If you have an A1, A2, whateverit is, make sure that's on your
license.
It's this specific vehicle.
(18:06):
So make sure that happens.
And then you just take thevehicle, and you're still at
this point, you're gonna have totest your radios, zero weapons,
or zero that little dang it, oryou're gonna zero the I don't
know why I'm drawing a blank.
But on your M4s, you have yourweapon, and then you have that
(18:27):
little miles gear in the front,which I can't, the laser.
Oh my god.
You're gonna zero the laser.
A lot of units don't even dothat anymore.
Um, but a lot of times you'regonna zero that.
But the real zeroing goes forthe track vehicles, the uh M1s,
the tanks, and the Brads.
They're gonna do their theirtheir zeroing and stuff for when
(18:48):
live fire comes.
And then you're gonna fixvehicles that are all of a
sudden broken during transport.
You're gonna notice something'sgoing on, and you're gonna um
have to fix that before you getthere.
You're gonna make sure that youryour your logistics uh tracking
is set, and make sure you'regonna rehearse for the mission
and you'll get all this stuff,you'll see it.
(19:09):
This is also where leadershipstress level hit on a thousand.
I want to say level 10, butlevel 1000.
Because like there's a smallwindow, the clock is already
ticking.
So, because once you cross thatberm, once you get into the box,
you're expected to perform likea fully operational unit, like
no excuses.
(19:30):
So the combat the buildingcombat power is about getting
ready for the fight before thefight even starts.
Number three, training in the inin the box, which is the Mojave
Desert.
If you've never been to theMojave Desert, that's your
welcome.
Fort Early, California.
(19:51):
This is where the real NTCbegins, right?
Once you cross the berm, onceyou see the sign that says The
box, you're in a completelydifferent world.
Like the box is the army'stoughest, largest training
environment, I think, in myopinion, that a soldier can go
(20:12):
to.
And I think it's a fact, to behonest with you.
And yeah, lastly, about this.
You cannot have your phone.
You're gonna get so upsetbecause they're gonna have
exceptions to people like thetop five, your first sergeants.
You're gonna see people, yourPAs maybe have them.
Some people are gonna have theirphones and they're gonna give
(20:34):
you all these excuses.
Oh, because then you'll have adigital footprint and they can
hone in on you and figure outwhere you are.
All that excuses is because theydon't want you sidetracked.
That's my opinion, right?
You can't have your phone inthere.
So get over it as soon as youget there.
Tell your family, tell yourloved ones, your friends,
(20:54):
whatever it is, let them knowfrom this date, because the box
has 10 days or a certain amountof days, right?
14 days.
From this date, let's say the13th, the 3rd to the 17th, I
will not have access to myphone.
That's it.
Just do it.
Get over it quick.
(21:14):
So I digress.
So what actually makes the boxbruder things like the desert
heat in the daytime?
It's gonna be super hot,uncomfortable.
You're gonna be having to breakdown stuff, set up stuff, move
stuff.
You're gonna be moving.
Some of you guys are gonna bechugging along because you guys
are light.
(21:35):
And then in the evening, allthat's gonna change like that.
It's gonna be cold, it's gonnabe windy, it's gonna be
annoying.
You're gonna have to sleep inyour sleeping bag, completely in
your sleeping bag, if that's howyou do it.
Tankers, you guys and yourtanks, blah, blah, blah.
Um, and yeah, the things that'sthe number one thing that makes
kind of like the desert reallychallenging.
(21:58):
And then there's gonna be dustthat gets into like every pore
of your being, even in yourweapon.
So it's gonna get into everypore of you, you're gonna get
your M4, you're gonna or yourM17, whatever it is that you
carry.
As soon as you pull, like youtry and rack it or whatever it
is, you're gonna hear the dustin it.
(22:20):
It's just there, it's just dust.
You're not gonna escape that.
And then your uniform is gonnafeel all heavy because you're
sweaty, and then it it keeps thedust on it, blah, blah, blah.
So the dust.
And then on top of that, you gotthe op four, which the op four
is kind of like the bestopposing force because in the
army because they knoweverything that you know.
(22:42):
They do this time and time andtime again.
Every single month they do this,they've seen every strategy.
There's no way to really, reallybeat the box.
There's just the best strategyfor beating the box, something
that they've never seen orsomething that they've seen, but
you are just aggressive with it.
There, I you can't convince methat you're that you can beat
(23:04):
it.
That there's no there's it'sjust really to check and see if
you guys have actually done youryour research and you guys have
done your collective training.
Then on top of that, you got theconstant movement I'm talking
about.
Day, night, you're gonna feellike you're you're sleep
(23:24):
deprived.
And then, especially if you worknight shift, like I've always
done night shift because I am atthe uh I'm at a brigade level,
I'm on staff, so it's my it'sonly three people in my section,
which is myself, my meadow, andthen my brigade surgeon.
So who's gonna take the nightshift other than the NCO?
That's me, right?
(23:45):
So I take the night shift, andthen in the daytime, I still
gotta drive, I still gotta movestuff, I still gotta do it,
operate on a regular basis, butit's just whenever it's a la
carte.
So maybe they may not saynothing at 7 o'clock that we're
moving in the set at 07 thatwe're moving.
Or we are, who knows?
But in reality, the chaos ofreal mission sets and it
(24:09):
stresses you out, right?
So that's the bottom line ofthat.
And then the next thing, it'slike the types of stress that
you'll more likely encounter inNTC are mainly these.
There are gonna beforce-on-force battles, they're
gonna be call-for-fires, they'regonna be casualty simulations,
(24:31):
logistical disruptions, convoyoperations, you're gonna have to
worry about the defense and theoffense.
And then on top of that, thelast thing, the last thing,
which is the center.
This is kind of like the star ofeverything, which is your urban
operations at Razizh.
That is kind of like you'regonna go through Rezizh
regardless.
So that's kind of like a townthat has it's all built up, and
(24:53):
these people who are there, theactors, they literally do that
for a living, so they get intotheir role.
But the box itself is kind ofdesigned to break your bad
habits and break them fast.
You learn what you're good atand what you're not good at.
Easy, like immediately.
(25:14):
Another thing is that whenyou're at NTC, this is where you
and your soldiers, you're gonnabond.
And this is all created throughsuffering.
In other words, as we call it,trauma bond.
You're gonna remember momentskind of like eating an MRI in
the dark.
(25:34):
You're gonna remember momentskind of like trying to sleep on
rocks.
You're gonna remember momentskind of like losing track of
what day it is, like no one evenknows what day it is.
We don't even go by dates, we goby day one, two, three, and
four.
You're gonna remember waking upto like movement orders, and
you're gonna swear that you justwent to sleep like 20 minutes
ago.
And it was probably like three,four hours ago.
(25:57):
But in my opinion, this is alsowhere the unit grows the most in
reality in the box.
So now let's move into numberfour, which is the regen phase
or regeneration phase.
Hadly.
So once you finish your finalmission and exit the box, you're
(26:19):
now entering the regen phase.
And this is the phase where theunit brings itself back up to
fighting shape.
So another thing when it comesto that getting out the box
thing that I it is a bitch and ahalf.
I remember this this this uhthis this rotation, we didn't do
(26:41):
it, but I remember once we done,once we're told we're leaving
the box, we went to FOB Miami,they've done their live fire,
whatever it is.
We go stop at Wales Gaps andColumns and Chalks, and then
they let you go by 15, 20minutes, whatever it is.
And then when it's time to geton the Ruba or into Fort Irwin,
(27:05):
it is just a bottleneck becausenow you gotta throw away all
your trash and stuff like that.
So that takes up to like fivehours.
But they didn't do that thistime, they just threw us in
chalks and it was superseamless.
Shout out to uh blackjack forthat.
But what does this phaseinclude?
Well, it includes your weaponcleaning, it includes your
(27:26):
PMCS's on every vehicle, whetherit's prepo or home station,
you're gonna PMCS thosevehicles.
Now, prepo is the worst of theworst.
I can I can make a wholeseparate video alone on just
prepo.
Just know if you accepted avehicle in a certain way and
(27:47):
it's not up to par when you takeit back.
You can argue to your blue inthe face with that that person
that's checking you off, butyou're gonna have to fix it.
That's it.
You they're gonna tell you youshouldn't have accepted it that
way.
You're gonna do that.
At this point, you're gonna berecovering any damage equipment
that you left in the box or anydamage equipment that you have.
You're gonna be resettingtactical gear, you're gonna be
(28:11):
final AARs are gonna happen.
You're gonna be reorganizing,reorganizing your supplies,
you're gonna be turning in yourequipment.
And a notable mention to thispart of the phase is that once
you, how do I say it?
Once you get everything done,because you know how the army
is, we have to leave everythingbetter than when we got it.
(28:32):
So you're gonna be cleaning themotor pool, cleaning the roof
muff, cleaning the Aruba itself.
But here's where all the sillydetails start.
Because why not, right?
Why not do it?
I'm gonna tell you, you will besurprised things that come up
when soldiers are laying around.
(28:55):
And this is a great, I typicallylike to keep my videos minus my
personal opinion, but this issomething that really grinds my
gears.
So if you for two weeks, let'ssay for instance, your regen, um
your build combat phase and yourregen phase, you've been
allowing soldiers to crossstreets and all that stuff, then
all of a sudden, because there'snothing to do, you've you've
(29:18):
shipped all your vehicles,you've driven them down to your
mo, you've done whatever, nowall of a sudden you got crossing
guards.
You got a whole detail forcrossing guards.
Okay you have a whole detail forstanding at the motor pool
making sure no one throwsanything.
Well, you have a whole detail.
(29:38):
Well, this is I can get this,but you have a whole detail at
the latrines because you'regonna have your phantom shitter.
I don't know why this happens,but it's happened multiple
rotations that I've been on atleast.
I can't.
But my point is you're gonnahave detail for the detail for
the detail, because in themilitary we cannot see Joe just
(30:01):
sitting down.
And then it is what it is.
So I'll say that one to gripeabout it, but two, so you can be
mentally prepared if you are ajunior enlisted, that you will
be you will be doing sillydetails when there is nothing to
do.
That's what I want you tounderstand, like fully grasp
(30:21):
that because at this point, thechaos, it kind of starts to slow
down.
You can finally exhale, you'reexhausted, you're filthy.
I don't know why I said filthy.
You're filthy, but I cancertainly say you're more than
likely sharper than when youcame, than when you first
(30:44):
arrived, right?
So regeneration is where youlook back and say, damn, we
really did that.
That's how y'all say it, wereally did that.
So, number five, you're gonna bepreparing to go back home.
And this right here is the finalphase, is basically the reverse
prep prep.
Yeah, the reverse prep, but withthe mental relief of knowing
(31:08):
that your next stop is home.
So at this point, you're gonnapack the connexes and you're
gonna have connex si guard,which is you, you you know what
SI guard is.
Sensitive equipment.
Did I just say SE guard?
You're gonna have SI guard.
It says sensitive equipment.
(31:28):
But this is where you're gonnawatch your radios, your weapons
that are inside of connex, andyou're gonna have again back to
the well, that's not a dumbthing, but it's can be avoided.
But uh, I digress.
You're gonna have you're gonnapack the connexes, you're gonna
guard the connects, you're gonnaturn in all your equipment,
you're gonna clean all theweapons until they're like
(31:50):
shiny, shiny, whether it takesone hour or eight, you're gonna
clean all the miles gear, you'regonna clean anything that they
gave you, you're gonna clean itback.
Some, like I said, some unitswill wait for the weapons until
you get back, but at some pointyou're gonna clean them, but
here you can't.
And then once it's time for youto go, you're gonna reverse out
reverse, you're gonna outprocess the installation through
(32:11):
your um ADAG.
Then you're gonna load thebuses, you're gonna count gear,
you're gonna count personnel,you're gonna count again, you're
gonna count again, you're gonnacount again, and then you wait.
And then you're gonna waitagain.
And then you're gonna go toMarch and you're gonna wait
again.
Then you're gonna get on theairplanes and then you're gonna
wait again.
In my rotation this time, weflew into Austin, took a bus
(32:34):
back, and then we were backhome.
A lot of times, this is the onlyone that I've ever flown into
Austin, but a lot of timesyou'll fly right into clean.
But once you're on the road oronce you're in the air and
you're heading back home, ithits you.
You have now survived NTC.
Whether it's your first or 35thtime, you've survived it, right?
(32:58):
So you're gonna be bringing homesome hard-learned lessons.
Uh, you're gonna have tightercohesion, and you're gonna have
stories that you're gonna tellfor years.
And you're gonna, every time yougo to NTC, you're gonna be like,
Well, my last time at NTC, orI've been to NTC so many times,
you're gonna get the NTC gurus,right?
Even if I've I've caught myselfsaying the same thing.
Well, last time, or you're gonnacatch someone saying, Oh, when
(33:21):
you're in the box and we'renavigating, they're gonna be
like, Oh, that's where we are.
Oh, yeah, I remember last timewe went around this and all that
stuff, and you and you're gonnahave those stories.
So I say all that to say this.
TC isn't just like anothertraining event, to be honest
with you.
It's kind of like a rite ofpassage, especially if you're in
the BCT world.
It's uh physically uh brutal,it's mentally draining, it's
(33:46):
professionally demanding, but itmakes you a better soldier, a
better leader, and it createsbetter teams.
I hope my breakdown gave you aninsight to what it looks like,
to what it really is to go toNTC, to really go through a full
rotation from the prep phase tothe building combat power phase
(34:08):
to the grind that's inside thebox to the regen phase and then
the final push home.
If you're heading to NTC soon,good luck and go prepared.
And if you've been there before,then you already know the deal.
And always remember you don'thave to embrace the sub if you
got the right tools in yourruck.
Thanks for listening.
(34:29):
Thanks for watching.
I'm Sarn Cruz, and I'll catchyou in the next one.
Peace.
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