What are the success rates for recruits in each branch of Basic Military Training?

Well, people have to get in first. Which means that they don’t have something that disqualifies them from entering. Then they go into basic training. And if they lie about disqualifications and get in under false pretenses, if they pass basic, the best that can hope for is that they are kicked out instead of jailed.

The Marines is rumored to be the hardest, as you know since you asked this question on several other sites. What you are attempting to enter is on the easier end of the spectrum, as you already know.

@avvooooooo Of course the Marines are the hardest. I’ve seen a documentary on the Crucible at Parris Isle.

Honestly, I believe all prisoners (except for hackers & financial criminals) need to go through the Marines’ type of boot camp. I am firm on my convictions that this style of boot camp will reduce recidivism rates nationwide.

I would not know much about rates within all the branches. But I know that about 4–8 people per flight end up getting sent back in time or just flat out leaving due to inability to adapt. I’m USAF right now still, and that is what happen when I went through.

@sanbuu “per flight?” How many to a “flight” then?

It depends on your qualifications and how badly they want you. I don’t know what the current standards are, but in 1978 if you had a Masters degree in engineering you could get a commission in the Army if you were warm and breathing (that’s the only way I got in).

That depends on how you define “hardest”. Last I checked, the Marines were harder on the body while the Navy was a little more into mind games.

However, “Boot Camp” is merely the beginning. If you want to have a specialty of any sort then you need a guaranteed school. Many joined the Navy for Apprenticeship Training and they typically got boned; no choice of rating or anything. So the smart people got a guaranteed A-school and the truly brilliant get Nuke School.

One thing that I wish I had listened to at the time (but I was 18, seven feet tall, and bulletproof) was that the recruiter was not exaggerating about the attrition rate at NNPTC; close to 70% at the time.

I am not sure what a BMT is.

Having been through Marine Corp boot camp I would say that the graduation rate from any boot camp is very high. Pretty much the only way you didn’t graduate was to have a permanent medical/psychological issue arise while you are there. Even if you did break a leg or something you generally got dropped to a med platoon while you heal then picked up in a new platoon where you left off.

It may be different now, but even when I was in in 1993, you didn’t just decide to quit boot camp. There were many many ways used to motivate recruits to at least finish boot camp. Not the least of which is you may be required to repay the military for your training received should you decide to drop out..

Yeah despite how the instructors act, they don’t want you to fail. It costs the government money to only send you through part of boot camp and then kick you out and not even get your service. They may hold people back a couple weeks to make sure they get the training they need, but they really don’t like kicking people out.

If you already have the skills/education that they want, you would have to be a certified nut case to fail the training, Doctors, scientists, engineers are passed through to commissioning no matter how much of a military screwup you are. The fact that I could shoot expert with rifle and pistol with no instruction was simply icing on the cake as far as the Army was concerned.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land True that! Maybe it’s just the time and place that I went in, but it was possible for nuclear-field candidates to get a waiver for damn near anything.

@jerv the Navy recruiter just about had a breakdown when he found that I had chosen Army

@stranger_in_a_strange_land Mine nearly had a breakdown after a discussion about how to resolve the conflict between “Support, uphold, and defend the Constitution…” and “Obey all orders…” portions of the Oath of Service in the event that I felt in clear conscience that my lawfully appointed superiors were enemies of the Constitution.

@EgaoNoGenki “Honestly, I believe all prisoners (except for hackers & financial criminals) need to go through the Marines’ type of boot camp. I am firm on my convictions that this style of boot camp will reduce recidivism rates nationwide.”

Are you kidding? No, seriously… are you kidding? Take criminals, make them faster, stronger, and better prepared to be better criminals and this will reduce the crime rate? Why not just tie girls up spreadeagled for rapists, take all security systems and locks of for thieves, and hand murderers guns and an ammo belt? Set it all up for them so they’re smarter about committing the crimes and not getting caught next time and this will reduce recidivism rates nationwide? That’s utterly absurd. There aren’t even words for how ridiculious that idea is.

@ EgaonoGenki the AF tries to put about 60 people per flight.

I would not be shocked if, during wartime, these sorts of stats are considered classified.

@laureth I would be severely shocked if someone would try to classify any of this information. Besides, things can’t be considered classified. They have to be actually classified by a competent authority. And if someone decides to classify this information, they’d lose their competency PDQ.

I would not be shocked if, during wartime, these sorts of stats are actually classified, then. Along with our battle plans, what sort of weaponry we’re taking on the field, and anything else that would tell the enemy exactly how stong we are and what we’re planning to do.

I’m married to an ex-Army courier, who, when I asked this question, said, “That’s the sort of information that I think would be considered classified during wartime.” Just sayin’.

The information is usually classified, if it, when available to enemy, can cause harm to our country. Knowing what percentage of kids make it through basic training has less value than the average height of the US Marines. Therefore, the competent authority decided not to classify these stats. Just sayin’

@gtreyger If you really, REALLY, think they’re not classified, find them and post them. Ever heard the expression “put up or shut up?”

I don’t think you’ll find it published anywhere, but it’s not going to be classified either. If anything it might be “for official use only” but that’s not really classified.

@avvooooooo I’ll do that if you can post the average height of the US Marines. Although, you might think that that is classified as well. Just because something is not classified, doesn’t mean that it readily available.

@gtreyger Since I’m not the one insisting its accessible, I don’t have to. Simple as that.

@avvooooooo 97% pass rate for the USAF (210) 671–3024 Basic Military Reception Center. You may call to verify. As I said before, just because you can’t find the information, doesn’t make it classified.
@laureth Regards to ex-Army courier.

Nice work. We sit corrected.

check this site out. it answers the question asked. http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/l/blbasicattrit.htm