Stress Cards in Basic--what's the truth??

[Okie]

I was on another forum and an ex-Army guy asked about AF basic training, since his son is going soon. Somebody brought up the stress card thing, which was like fresh meat to the sharks. A couple of AF guys and I are saying it's BS, but one guy says his nephew went through in 2007 and they are for real.

What's the real story? Have we ever had them? What are they used for?

Thanks for clearing that up.

Okie

[BadBender]

They are not real and never have been. They are a joke used to poke fun at one branch of the military, usually told from a member of another branch. I've heard this joke told about Navy basic traning before.

[Smeghead]

http://www.snopes.com/military/stress.asp

[Okie]

Thanks, guys. That's what we were trying to tell this guy. We even showed him the Snopes article yesterday. However, one guy keeps coming back with "my nephew went through in '07 and he says they're real." He also points out that the Snopes entries are all 8-10 years old, so his nephew must be right.

I guess you just can't prove a negative.

[Shrike]

Thanks, guys. That's what we were trying to tell this guy. We even showed him the Snopes article yesterday. However, one guy keeps coming back with "my nephew went through in '07 and he says they're real." He also points out that the Snopes entries are all 8-10 years old, so his nephew must be right.

I guess you just can't prove a negative.

It's always "A guy I know's cousin said they had them" or "This girl I dated's roommate said his brother had stress cards" or "This Marine was raggin' on me because he heard a rumor that we had 'em in basic."

It's never "I went through basic training and we had stress cards." If I ever meet someone who says that, I'm going to reply "Seeing is believing, so bring one of them in."

[sigecaps]

I'm probably guilty of spreading this rumor. Whenever the other services accuses our service of a "cupcake" BMT, I always play it up. "I'm not going to lie, our basic was pretty easy. We had stress cards, restricted to 40 hours weeks, and usually given liberty every weekend. It was pretty nice. Glad I joined the Air Force. :)" That's when they proceed to blow a gasket.

[Shrike]

I'm probably guilty of spreading this rumor. Whenever the other services accuses our service of a "cupcake" BMT, I always play it up. "I'm not going to lie, our basic was pretty easy. We had stress cards, restricted to 40 hours weeks, and usually given liberty every weekend. It was pretty nice. Glad I joined the Air Force. :)" That's when they proceed to blow a gasket.

I once convinced a soldier that during my BMT the coffee maker in our barracks broke, so the TI would stop at Dunkin Donuts in the morning on the way in and pick up coffees for whoever wanted them.

Sometimes, it's just tooooooo easy...

[WILDJOKER5]

I thought one of the other threads about stress cards cleared this up. It was a Navy thing that was worded poorly and now has been made into the "stress cards" we hear about today.

[Okie]

I'm just trying to get the most up-to-date info. I thought maybe somebody in the AF hierarchy might have thought this was a GREAT idea and implemented it in the last couple of years.

[germb747]

Note when the article was written: Jun. 24, 2001.

I think we can agree that alot has changed in the country and military since then.

[Variable Wind]

I find it odd that nobody I know has ever seen stress cards before, only heard of them.

IE...its not real.

[Deebelle369]

I find it odd that nobody I know has ever seen stress cards before, only heard of them.

IE...its not real.

Like BigFoot. :D

[Deebelle369]

Big Feet, Big Hands, Big......?:eek:

Shoes and gloves? ;)

[Variable Wind]

You calling my Brother a Liar? LOL! He saw the thing. I have no Idea what they did with it. If I did, I would mail it to you. As for Stress Words in other areas of military training (not basic), they are used but not to get someone out of your face. They are used to indicate physical distress of a life threatening nature.

Im calling your brother a funny guy. Stress Cards = Jabberwocky.

[DAG48]

Im calling your brother a funny guy. Stress Cards = Jabberwocky.

I've called him worse.

[Variable Wind]

I've called him worse.
A good brother probably has :D

[Measure Man]

Stress Cards = Jabberwocky.

How did you know our "safety word"? Have you been behind the Green Door?

[Variable Wind]

How did you know our "safety word"? Have you been behind the Green Door?

WTF That is the AF safeword too? Stupid DOD policy makers.

[Measure Man]

WTF That is the AF safeword too? Stupid DOD policy makers.

Not sure about the AF word...I was referring to the safety word my wife and I use...lol

[Variable Wind]

Jill Metzger is the one who suggested the idea of stress cards.

[ringjamesa]

I should have known someone would use a "porn" reference sooner or later. That's why I used the phrase "military training". I should have excluded the gal, I'm sorry, USAF TI who was BUSTED for a SPREAD in, was it Play Boy?

Measure Man you should remember which magazine it was!:D

It was playboy and she was not USAF she was ANG.

[ringjamesa]

ANG=Air National Guard ARNG=Army National Guard... She would have been on title 32 orders and thus not USAF still ANG. If she had been a Reservist (USAFR) on AGR orders, then as title 10...she would have been USAF... clear as mud?

[Yggdrasil]

It's always "A guy I know's cousin said they had them" or "This girl I dated's roommate said his brother had stress cards" or "This Marine was raggin' on me because he heard a rumor that we had 'em in basic."

It's never "I went through basic training and we had stress cards." If I ever meet someone who says that, I'm going to reply "Seeing is believing, so bring one of them in."

Oh, I've seen it before. On military.com, there was a guy who went through basic at Ft. Leonard Wood who claimed to have had them. Another guy who went through basic at Ft. Jackson called him out on it saying that he was full of it, and the guy who went through basic at Ft. Leonard Wood responded back by claiming that Ft. Jackson doesn't "need" stress cards. I'm in the Navy, stationed at Ft. Sam Houston (where medical AIT is), and see this bickering all the time about who had the tougher basic... and notice that those who went to Leonard Wood are the ones who pester those who went to Jackson the most - when they're BOTH fair game for bashing by those who went to Benning, Knox, or Sill (personally, I think this is stupid, as there seems to be way too many people with an inferiority complex). I've been to Ft. Jackson back in 2006 (I stopped there for a night on the way to Pensacola), and the training there doesn't look like a joke to me - and in that one night alone, what I've seen there actually breaks alot of the rumors I've seen about Ft. Jackson on this forum.

Anyhow, one thing that really gets me out in the fleet is that once someone puts on that Third Class crow and have been in two years, they go around the ship talking about "Did you know that they have stress cards in boot camp now?" Hell, I've even had many come up to me and say that. In which case, I remind them - "Shipmate, I came in the Navy in 1999 - the rumors about stress cards have been around long before I joined."

Some rumors will never go away - like salt peter being in your food at boot camp to keep you temporarily impotent (salt peter is used in fireworks and, if consumed, would actually kill you).

[Variable Wind]

Oh, I've seen it before. On military.com, there was a guy who went through basic at Ft. Leonard Wood who claimed to have had them. Another guy who went through basic at Ft. Jackson called him out on it saying that he was full of it, and the guy who went through basic at Ft. Leonard Wood responded back by claiming that Ft. Jackson doesn't "need" stress cards. I'm in the Navy, stationed at Ft. Sam Houston (where medical AIT is), and see this bickering all the time about who had the tougher basic... and notice that those who went to Leonard Wood are the ones who pester those who went to Jackson the most - when they're BOTH fair game for bashing by those who went to Benning, Knox, or Sill (personally, I think this is stupid, as there seems to be way too many people with an inferiority complex). I've been to Ft. Jackson back in 2006 (I stopped there for a night on the way to Pensacola), and the training there doesn't look like a joke to me - and in that one night alone, what I've seen there actually breaks alot of the rumors I've seen about Ft. Jackson on this forum.

Anyhow, one thing that really gets me out in the fleet is that once someone puts on that Third Class crow and have been in two years, they go around the ship talking about "Did you know that they have stress cards in boot camp now?" Hell, I've even had many come up to me and say that. In which case, I remind them - "Shipmate, I came in the Navy in 1999 - the rumors about stress cards have been around long before I joined."

Some rumors will never go away - like salt peter being in your food at boot camp to keep you temporarily impotent (salt peter is used in fireworks and, if consumed, would actually kill you).

Being a Knox-kiddie myself, I remember the drill sgts being tougher on the recruits going to AIT at Sam Houston because of all the women they were going to be surrounded by.

Yggs, you lucky bastard :D

[GroundRatPatriot]

there were stress card in AFBMT! They were 341s and the cuased us alot of stress :)

[Variable Wind]

Stress in AFBMT is not being able to get fried eggs in the chow line.

[Shrike]

Stress in AFBMT is not being able to get fried eggs in the chow line.

Fried Eggs in AFBMT? How gauche! I had the waiter fetch me some poached eggs - one with fresh parsley, the other infused with rosemary - served over whole grain English muffins and topped with hollandaise sauce. And if the hollandaise sauce was not made with freshly squeezed lemon juice I would give my TI an earful of grief!

[navysailor2004]

Stress in AFBMT is not being able to get fried eggs in the chow line.

or how their barracks arent good enough so they get extra money to make up for it

[Variable Wind]

Fried Eggs in AFBMT? How gauche! I had the waiter fetch me some poached eggs - one with fresh parsley, the other infused with rosemary - served over whole grain English muffins and topped with hollandaise sauce. And if the hollandaise sauce was not made with freshly squeezed lemon juice I would give my TI an earful of grief!

sans lemon juice? Scandalous I say. While I was freezing my tail off in the Kentuky Mountains when it was so cold and wet the ice had frozen the doors to the humvees shut...all I could do is remember my cousin telling me how nice the Air Force was....

But I just HAD to go rotary aircraft....

[Variable Wind]

or how their barracks arent good enough so they get extra money to make up for it

Its not their barracks, its Army barracks they get an extra stipend for. While I cant really complain, I was given the opportunity to go blue before deciding on the Army.

[navysailor2004]

Its not their barracks, its Army barracks they get an extra stipend for. While I cant really complain, I was given the opportunity to go blue before deciding on the Army.

oh i had a gf in the air force and she told me they got extra money for it. maybe she was lying to me, or maybe both do, either way i think it is stupid. i mean dont get me wrong ther eare some things they can do to improve the moral of military personnel, but some people push it too far.

[GroundRatPatriot]

oh i had a gf in the air force and she told me they got extra money for it. maybe she was lying to me, or maybe both do, either way i think it is stupid. i mean dont get me wrong ther eare some things they can do to improve the moral of military personnel, but some people push it too far.

prolly not true, we had "dorms" that weren't really too bad.

[navysailor2004]

prolly not true, we had "dorms" that weren't really too bad.

yeah when i went to her "dorm" room it was really nice, i wouldnt complain!

[OldAirDog]

No such thing as a stress card in BMT but if you asked the TI for a hug when you were stressed he or she was more than willing to offer. I like the numerous patio breaks and a trips downtown. San Antonio is a great place to live...speaking of which that program where you get to live with a family for six weeks off base is a really good idea. You just have to be in formation around 0900 to do that BMT thing/

[ringjamesa]

oh i had a gf in the air force and she told me they got extra money for it. maybe she was lying to me, or maybe both do, either way i think it is stupid. i mean dont get me wrong ther eare some things they can do to improve the moral of military personnel, but some people push it too far.

Not true. You do not get a substandard housing allowance in BMT. If you are required to live in Army housing, you may.