What things do you remember about adapting to military life?

I had to learn, as a teenager, to rely upon myself more. From the moment I was rushed off the bus at night, the change started. If I didn't rely on myself who else could help me? Being yelled, pushed, having my hands stood on, was 1969, that seemed to be allowed then. Waking up at all hours of the night.
Then off to AIT, not a whole lot better. When I got to my duty station, Ft Kobbe Panama Canal Zone, I still found if I didn't watch everything I did and made a mistake, there was a swift and hard correction.
When my wife was able to join me and I moved off base, at least I had someone in my corner.
Other than that, I wasn't cut off for military life.

Being away from home for the first time and sent to Vietnam right after AIT was really hard to adapt.

For me it was pretty hard to adapt to Military life specially in Basic Training. I didn't speak english, I was not used to the cold March days at Ft. Benning Ga., The hard treatment of the Drill Sargents and tough physical training. Also coming from Puerto Rico it was hard to be so far away from my family.

I remember looking at my father's Coast Guard photo album and saying to myself - It really looks like those guys are having a lot of fun. What I didn't know was that the guys in those pics where expressing a thing called camaraderie. When I joined the Coast Guard I was not use to trusting others. In fact, up until that point of my life, I really didn't trust anyone. However, working the arduous duty of a lookout on the flying bridge during a 3mos deployment and working the housing lines during the many mooring evolutions I learned to trust. There were others on the same mission, from various backgrounds and ethnicities. Regardless, we all had to work together and but our trust in those there to guide us. I eventually learned that shared hard work makes for shared hard play. This is what I didn't originally know when first viewing those photos. The lessons of trust and shared camaraderie is one of the cornerstones of the Coast Guard and a lesson I'd never forget. Thanks shipmates!

Building the bond with my brothers in the military.

The hardest thing about adapting to Navy life was overcoming the feeling of separation from my family. After 20 years of active duty, I found adapting to be even harder. Silly-vilans just don't understand how we think.

Getting up early!, Working late, eating at different times, trying different food, and travelling

The biggest adjustment is the rigid structured environment, once you accept the structured environment you can move forward to be the best version of yourself

Learned that everyone with higher rank than you an order you too do things

Going to Basic Training was a major adjustment for me because I was not prepared for it. The Drill Sergeants hollering at me and all in my face was an OMG moment for me. I was scared of weapons so when I found out I had to qualify with an M16 I was terrified but thank God I qualified. I was the last person in my unit to do so, but I did it!!