Introduction to Airmanship and Culture

You'll spend a lot of time at BMT in classroom lectures, on top of everything physical you do. The classes are designed to grow your knowledge and help you become a Warrior Airman of Character. The better your study and test-taking habits, the more you'll get out of them — and the better you'll do on performance evaluations and the End of Course (EOC) test.

This section walks through what works: how to study, how to read for retention, how to listen and take notes, how to handle test anxiety, and what to expect from the formal evaluations and awards waiting at the end of training.

Summary

• Effective Study Habits
• Test-Taking Skills
• Performance Evaluation
• Awards

Effective Study Habits

Adopt a study system that works for you

Find a system that fits your brain. If you had habits that worked in school or college, keep using them. The exact technique matters less than picking one and using it consistently — applying any deliberate study method helps you spot gaps in your learning, retain key information, and lock things in for performance evaluations.

Habits worth building:

• Plan ahead. At night and on weekends, review what you've already learned and preview the next day's or week's classes for main ideas. A little every day beats a last-minute cram every time.
• Keep a positive attitude. Your attitude toward studying directly affects how well you learn. If you tell yourself you'll do well, you improve your odds of actually doing well. If you make excuses, you set yourself up to fail.
• Avoid distractions. Many distractions exist; minimize what you can. If you have minor personal issues, set them aside temporarily. If something needs immediate attention, deal with it (or get help from your wingman or MTI) so you can focus.
• Overcome barriers. They take many forms — distractions, lack of concentration, fatigue, stress, low self-esteem, noise, poor lighting, weak vocabulary, weak study habits, or bad time management.
• Study in 30–60 minute blocks with 5–10 minute breaks between sessions. You'll learn more through repetition of shorter sessions than from one long stretch. And since BMT time is so limited, study whenever it's allowed — even standing in formation.
• Recall. After a session or a break, force yourself to mentally summarize what you just learned, without looking.
• Ask questions. Frame questions as you study to clarify main points. If you don't understand the material, ask in class.
• Designate a study area and time. Tough at BMT, but do your best to find a consistent spot and time each day.

Reading

Reading is the foundation of every other study skill. Improve your reading and you make everything else easier.

Reading skills:

• Adjust speed to difficulty. Speed up on familiar material, slow down on unfamiliar or technical sections.
• Minimize sub-vocalizing (silently reading words to yourself one at a time). Look for keywords, ideas, and images instead. Try shifting your focus from a small area of print to a larger area at once.
• Don't read word-by-word. Train your eyes to take in groups of words.
• Avoid re-reading. It's a sign your concentration broke. Reduce distractions, find a better study environment, or cover the previous passage so it doesn't pull your attention back.
• Don't let unknown words slow you down. Infer meaning from context first; come back to look up words later if needed.
• Practice. Most people stopped working on reading the moment they learned to read. Treat it like a skill you can still improve.

Reading for study

Use the Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review method:

• Survey — preview the material to identify main ideas (headings, bold print).
• Question — write questions you want answered before you read in detail.
• Read — read carefully, looking for the answers.
• Recall — summarize each section. The goal isn't to remember every word; it's to rephrase the main ideas in your own words.
• Review — skim the section immediately after reading, and revisit any notes or questions you wrote.

Reading to remember

• Organize the information. Group ideas to make them easier to recall.
• Make it relevant. Connect new information to things you already know.
• Learn actively. Use all your senses. Move around. Recite things out loud (when you're not in formation).
• Use long-term memory. Review information several times, and occasionally change the order in which you recite it during review.

Effective listening

You spend a huge portion of your life listening — make it work for you. Strong listening makes you a better trainee and wingman, but it does take effort.

Listening skills:

• Prepare. The night before class, preview the next day's sections. Ask your flight's Academic Monitor what's coming up.
• Concentrate on the message, not the delivery. Focus on what's being said, not the instructor's mannerisms or speaking style.
• Take notes. It keeps you engaged with the material.
• Stay physically alert. Sit comfortably but don't slouch. If you feel sleepy, take your gear, move to the back of the classroom, and stand up.
• Stay mentally alert. Ask questions internally; compare what's being said to what you read in these materials.
• Use the time gap. Average speech is about 120 words per minute, but your brain processes around 500 words per minute. Use the gap to recall, rephrase, and summarize what's being said.

Note taking

Better notes lead to better study habits.

• Write short notes or highlight passages in these materials that the instructor emphasizes or repeats. Don't try to transcribe everything — you'll miss key points.
• Concentrate on finding, summarizing, and understanding main points.
• Define key words.
• Paraphrase important items in your own words.
• Pay attention all the way through; it's easy to lose focus during the middle and end of a class.
• Pay attention to visual aids.
• Organize your notes and rewrite them if it helps.

Make it a habit to review your notes and these materials at the end of each day — repetition is what locks the material in. On average, you can recall only about 50% of new material 48 hours later unless you review it. Beat that curve by reviewing several times. Study groups can also help if you find them productive.

Test-Taking Skills

Advanced preparation is the key to doing well on tests. Use the techniques below to prepare, reduce anxiety, and get better scores.

Test-taking technique

• Have a positive attitude. It really does reduce stress and fear.
• Plan and stick to it. Daily study, locked in. You'll feel more prepared and less anxious.
• The night before: quick review, then sleep early. Cramming is usually ineffective and stressful.
• The day of: eat a good meal. You think better on a full stomach.
• Manage your time. Don't rush; there's no prize for finishing first. Calculate how many minutes per question you can spend and stick to it. If a question stumps you, skip it and come back after finishing the rest.
• Read carefully. Read the entire question and all answer choices before selecting. Don't pick the first one that looks right — several may seem close, and the most correct answer might be later in the list.
• Use process of elimination to remove answers that can't be correct.
• Difficult questions: don't get rattled. Re-read, choose the best answer, and come back to it after you finish.
• Don't change answers. Once you mark an answer, leave it. Changing answers usually hurts your score more than it helps.

Common problems and how to handle them

Performance Evaluation

There are three types of evaluations at BMT.

1. Appraisals

Informal evaluations that identify your day-to-day progress. These are how your MTI tracks how you're doing in real time, not a graded event.

2. Progress Checks

A formal documented evaluation of a specific task. Your MTI watches you perform the task to see if you can do it correctly.

3. End of Course (EOC) Test

A 100-question multiple-choice test taken during the 6th week of training (WOT). You need a 70% or higher to graduate. Score 90% or higher and you become eligible for Honor Graduate recognition (other criteria apply — see Awards below).

The EOC test covers material from a long list of academic sections, including topics like Human Relations, Comprehensive Airmen Fitness, Sexual Assault Prevention, Basic Situational Awareness, Basic Leadership and Character, Mental Preparation for Combat, Law of War, Air Force History, Nutrition Principles, Combat Stress Recovery, Air Force Organization, Suicide Awareness and Prevention, Military Citizenship, Financial Readiness, Air Force Career Progression, Healthy Lifestyles, Joint Ethics Program, Military Entitlements and Educational Opportunities, Public Relations and the Media, Joint Operations, Operations Security, and Professional Interpersonal Interactions.

If you fail the first attempt, you're scheduled for a re-evaluation on a different version of the same 100-question test.

Warning. You're prohibited from soliciting, disclosing, receiving, or obtaining any information about the test before, during, or after testing. Violating this is a breach of Air Force regulations and a crime under Article 92 of the UCMJ.

Awards

Excellence In All We Do is one of the Air Force's Core Values, and the service backs that up by recognizing individuals who consistently go beyond the standard. The four awards described below can be earned during BMT.

National Defense Service Medal

Established by President Eisenhower to recognize honorable service during a time of war or national emergency. All personnel on active duty after 11 September 2001 are authorized this medal.

BMT Honor Graduate Ribbon

Awarded based on a whole-person concept that includes academics, performance, leadership, teamwork, peer ranking, and conduct. Up to 10% of weekly graduates may be designated Honor Graduates — this is genuinely the "best of the best" of each week's class.

To be eligible to compete for Honor Graduate, you must:

• Receive a satisfactory grade on every trainee performance area — Recruit Living Area (RLA), Core Values, M-4 Trainer Weapon, Drill Movements, Military Skills Development, FAST, Dress and Appearance, and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC).
• Have an RLA evaluation based on item failures and points — fewer item failures = more points awarded.
• Complete CBRN, CATM, and PACER FORGE.
• Score 90% or higher on the EOC Test.
• Meet or exceed Air Force standards on the PT evaluation.

Small Arms Marksmanship Ribbon

Awarded to all Air Force service members who qualify as "expert" in small-arms marksmanship with the M4 rifle.

Air Force Training Ribbon

Authorized by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force on 12 October 1980. Awarded to all Air Force service members upon completion of initial accession training after 14 August 1974 — meaning you earn this just for finishing BMT.

Summary

You'll go through a heavy load of lectures and need to improve your skills across many subjects at once. Don't let the volume overwhelm you — pick the techniques in this section that fit your brain, plan your time, and use it wisely. Do that and you can be proud of what you accomplish at BMT. Some of you will also earn the awards that recognize the best work.