im currently joining the army mos 25q any tips or pointers for basic or for my mos even?
This is an international forum and not a US specific one so if you wish to ask questions about (I presume) joining the US Army or generally an Army then you need to be more specific.
Probably 90% of those who frequent here would not have a clue what a mos 25q is.
For information a MOS 25q is
MOS 25Q: Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator - Maintainer
Sounds like a Tels Tech in the British Army (radio communications repairman).
My mistake us army sorry I forgot about the British special grammar forces
Things are different from my time, but keep an open mind, do not take anything your NCO’s do as personal, (even if they say it is) Take it all one day at a time, carry your part of the load. 25q multi channel signal stuff, will be challenging, fairly physical, will need good color discernment, and not have a problem with confined spaces. Stuff like that. If you can post here, you can handle the mos, depends mostly on where you end up, and who you’re working with.
Prepare for basic by doing a lot of walking on extended hikes, maybe even with a bit of weight on your back. Running a few times a week for a couple or more miles will also put you ahead of much of the pack. Being in good physical condition will help you on tests and road marches, but they will also help you put up with sleep deprivations and stress–both of which you will experience. I’m sure you have an idea of what the PT test is like, so be competent at the events beyond the minimum as the physical rigors of training will wear you down a bit. Also, take a wider view of what training is supposed to achieve.
You will experience a lot of unpleasantness, screaming, disrespect, and other forms of abuse. But realize that this has a purpose that will serve you later should you ever have to enter a war-zone. It’s designed to break you down, then build you back up. I’m sure how Basic is now, but for me the first six weeks (plus two weeks of hell in “holdover”) were the most challenging, after a only a few weeks you begin to morph from a trainee to a soldier and I think most tend to notice their Drill Sergeants begin to back off a bit and trust you a bit more. As for your MOS, I don’t know much about it.
What Nick said. I don’t have any experience with basic training, but two of my nephews were in the Navy in the early 2000’s. And in talking with them, both wished they had prepared for the physical training more than they had.
Edit: BTW, good to see you back, and good luck!
I have done basic training many years ago and my eldest son finished his basic training 2 years ago as a specialised navy diver which is very intense training both physically and mentally . Prepare yourself physically, mentally expect the worst, don’t try and be a hero, give a 100 percent and as TG said, never take it personally…hope this helps and all the best.
Congratulations, I spent 25 years where you are going - and wish I could do it again (most of it anyway).
A long time ago an Platoon Sgt of mine told me that if I wanted to succeed, in the Army or in life: “Be where you are suppose to be, when you are suppose to be there, doing what you are suppose to be doing” (in the Army one could add “in the proper uniform)”. Follow this sage advice and I don’t think you can go wrong.
“I am only one, yet I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. “Unknown to me
Sounds good so far. Only other comment is to remember that you fail or succeed as a squad in just about everything except PT tests - so don’t hare off on your own or look after yourself and leave your mates to struggle.
Only thing I’d add to what everyone else has said is that your mental attitude is critical.
Your thinking can tell you to give up long before your body is anywhere near its limit on physical tasks; staying awake on picquet; being permanently wet; having leeches sucking on you; and a whole lot of stuff you haven’t had to endure in civilian life.
The same can happen with copping shit from NCOs slagging you about every aspect of your lousy performance and pathetic being, regardless of how well you actually performed.
Or you can get angry to no purpose with the purposeless tasks set to break you down. As others have said, it’s not personal. For example, your orders last night were to parade this dawn in Kit A and you obeyed those orders to the letter but an NCO is now shrieking in your face that you should be in Kit B. Accept that this will probably be followed by giving you an impossibly short time to return to your barracks and get back on parade properly attired in Kit B. (Or as happened to me in basic, we all rushed back to the parade ground after changing from Kit A to Kit B, which was a bastard with shirt shoulder straps which had to be fitted through jumpers and over basic webbing, and found a different NCO screaming at us for being in Kit B when last night’s orders were perfectly clear that we should be in Kit A, so back we went again in an impossibly short time, presumably causing much mirth to the instructors who think these amusements up.) It’s just part of getting you used to obeying the most recent orders you were given. There is also a fair chance that the army got things wrong, which is something all militaries excel in, so that the bloke screaming in your face is unaware of the orders issued to you last night and thinks you are all genuine fcuktards! 
Treat it all as a game where you can and will endure everything they throw at you as part of their game and just do what you’re told when you’re told without complaint, secure in the knowledge that you can endure it because of your sound mental attitude and that you will triumph, and be a better man for it.
Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention the rocket you will get (a) for leaving your personal part of the barracks in disarray when you returned once, twice or thrice to perform your kit change in an impossibly short time and (b) anyone else in your platoon doing the same. This will result in the whole platoon doing something none of you want to do even if only one bloke’s area wasn’t up to standard. And even if his or everyone’s was up to standard, there’s a chance that a corporal kicked it apart while you were all out so that punishment could be awarded to all. For corporals, with almost no power but great responsibilities, are the meanest rank in an army.
This comes back to pdf27’s comment: “so don’t hare off on your own or look after yourself and leave your mates to struggle.”
Some stuff I’ve seen on the marvellous internet suggests that US training doesn’t aim for or at least appears designed not to achieve the same things implicit in pdf27’s comment, which is very much consistent with the team buildiing aim of Australian training and apparently British training, so I’m not sure if slowing yourself down by helping a bloke who’s struggling rather than ‘reaching your potential’ without regard to others is what the US Army now values most.
Yeah, Change Parades and lockers flying out of the window are great fun. Still, at least I managed to miss out on the delights of Mess Tin Order!
Like the Army’s idea of variety in one’s diet is giving you the choice of Meat Loaf, Salisbury Steak, or Hamburgers.
What’s wrong with mess tin order?
All I can say is give it your best, look after your mates and they’ll look after you (hopefully). You’ll also make some great life long friends, I’m still good mates with blokes 9 years on and I can see it staying that way. And whatever you do don’t contradict the instructors, you’ll be on a hiding to nothing!
And if you’re really lucky you’ll have the same ration pack for a 2 week exercise!
‘Hmm…what shall I have today? Corned beef hash or corned beef hash. Of course there’s always corned beef hash…’
When we had the old tinned rat packs we had chicken in brown sauce for 6 weeks, it was ok for first couple of days, started struggling with variations we could cook in a BV by week 2, four weeks and we were foraging for anything (luckily I somehow managed to break down outside a schnelly on the odd occasion).
I never had the pleasure of that particular menu choice. Did you ever have the joy of herb paste? <shudder>
It’s liable to be a trifle chilly outside in Warcop in October!
Once, after sending a few days in the woods, in March of the Bavarian spring,(cold, rainy,the usual) we got back to home station, worked putting up the tanks, and other gear, and hot footed to the mess hall. where we had the choice of either one peanut butter, or one bacon sandwich. Good that we had already turned in arms… Its the old line, Cookie, the food smells bad, tastes worse, and why cant we have seconds?? 
My favorite C-rat heavy was Ham & eggs, or spaghetti & meatballs. And the John Wayne cookies, (peanuts in chocolate.)