A Letter to Myself

BMT includes one short journaling exercise called "A Letter to Myself." It's optional in the sense that no one grades you on it — but it's worth doing, and the rest of this section explains why and what it involves so you know what to expect.

Why the exercise exists

Most people don't write a journal, so they have no record of what they were thinking on the days that mattered most. BMT is hard. After a particularly long, exhausting day, it's easy to find yourself asking "Why did I join the military?" or wondering whether you made the right call for your future.

The Letter to Myself is a way to capture why you decided to enlist — in the moment, before the doubt creeps in. When the doubt does come, you have something concrete to look back at, written by the version of yourself that had just made the decision and was committed to it.

What you'll be asked to do at BMT

When this exercise comes up during BMT, the prompts are designed to get you started — you don't have to follow them word-for-word. They include:

• Why you joined the military. What pushed you over the line from thinking about it to actually signing.
• What motivated you to join. The deeper reasons — family, service, career, a goal you wanted to chase.
• The hardest decision you had to make about joining. Most people have one specific moment they had to push through.
• What challenges might lie ahead in the coming weeks of training, and how you'll face them.
• One to three goals — short-term, long-term, or both.
• A reminder of your worth and your ability to overcome challenges. Write it like you're talking to a future version of yourself who needs to hear it.

How the letter is stored

When you finish writing, you sign it, date it, and seal it in an envelope. Your name and roster number go in the right-hand corner so it's identifiable. The sealed envelope is then placed in the back of your security drawer.

You'll have access to it whenever you need a reminder of why you started.

You don't have to wait

If this resonates and you want to start before you ship, you can. Many people write a version of this letter at home, bring it with them, and add to it during BMT. Either approach works — the point is to capture your reasons before the hard days arrive, not to follow a specific format.