What is AIT like as a reclassing NCO? Barracks, how you are treated, etc.

Goodness, I went back through AIT as a SSG in 81.... The students treated me like one of the cadre and the cadre treated me like a SSG... The instructors pretty much left me on my own, It was a self paced course that was supposed to take 16 weeks I did it in 9 weeks and they wanted me to stay as an instructor..... I turned it down....

I was a grunt and went aviation. AIT was at Fort Eustis and E-5^ stayed in the on post hotel. If you maxed out your PT test, you didn't even have to do PT with the AIT students. You were separated from the AIT students, went to different break areas, and had nothing to do with them. This intel is 20 years past the expiration date so tread lightly.

I briefly reclassed to 42A and attended AIT at Fort Jackson, SC.

I made points for SGT while there, but due to logistical concerns (they wanted to do a formal promotion ceremony) I wore SPC 3 weeks longer than I should have.

Anyway, reclass Soldiers were treated more or less like permanent party, in that we stayed in separate barracks, and our only requirements were to show up for PT in the morning and class by 0900. Once PT was over, we were basically on our own.

There was only one incident where the Heat Cat got to 5 and the schoolhouse CSM told all of us reclass Soldiers to unblouse our boots and sleeves like the IET Soldiers. Our class found the TRADOC reg that stated reclass Soldiers were to be treated like Permanent Party. When presented with this reg, the CSM said that he didn't care what reg we had nor where it came from, that we would do what he said, no questions asked. Word spread quickly and that got squashed by the end of the day. Otherwise, it was a pretty painless process.

Almost forgot-- since my entire class was reclass Soldiers, we completed the 8 week course in 6 weeks and graduated 2 weeks early.

In today's TRADOC, there are a lot more fraternization policies in place than there used to be (such as what was mentioned by SFC Everett Oliver in 1981. Having recently gone to the Defense Language Institute as a SSG (which is an IET environment, though not MOS-producing, it has a lot of the same rules), I can tell you that TRADOC 350-6 will set limiters on EVERYTHING. If you are an NCO, MOS-T, that means you cannot spend off-duty time with IET. You cannot spend off-duty time with MOS-T junior Enlisted. You cannot hang with cadre of any rank.

Your pool of friends will be very limited to the few MOS-T NCOs available, and your social life will be determined by your involvement with your surrounding community, for the most part.

Who would ever want to leave the infantry?

Maybe like a soldier that would be my two cents