Army OBC FTX & glasses/contacts

[deegs]

Anyone go through OBC with four-eyes? During FTX, do you have to wear the wrap-around BCGs, or can you wear contact lenses?

I ran out of contacts last year. I haven't gotten new ones because I prefer just to wear glasses (too lazy), but I would invest in more before June if I didn't have to wear those awful BCGs.......

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[bogatyr]

They told us that contact lenses are verboten in the field, so I wore my TEDs the whole time. My battle buddy was from West Point and knew better, so he wore contact lenses without consequence. Oddly enough, I grew to love the TEDs, and subsequently wore them to school occasionally, usually when I wanted to feel like Drew Carey on medicine rounds.

 

[deegs]

Thanks for the info. I'll adapt accordingly.

I agree, BCGs/TEDs can be fun. I keep a pair of my own around, mostly for shock value. My girlfriend screams and won't go near me in public....

 

[llort]

Thanks for the info. I'll adapt accordingly.

I agree, BCGs/TEDs can be fun. I keep a pair of my own around, mostly for shock value. My girlfriend screams and won't go near me in public....

will we get issued the glasses or do we have to purchase them?

 

[deegs]

will we get issued the glasses or do we have to purchase them?

Issued. You wouldn't want to pay for them. Although the Navy "frame-of-choice" program isn't too bad. I don't know if the army has an equivalent.

 

[madky]

Issued. You wouldn't want to pay for them. Although the Navy "frame-of-choice" program isn't too bad. I don't know if the army has an equivalent.

The Army has a similar program, but not for OBC students. Don't know why, I think it's because they considered us in Initial Entry Training. They sure are nice to look at in the clinic though.

BTW, here's a few pretty good reasons not to wear contacts in the field:

1. Wearing glasses makes that branch the guy in front of you snapped back less likely to end your military career...oh yeah and your eyesight.

2. Get some dirt in your eye while low crawling with glasses...clean up, replace glasses. Get some dirt in your eye while low crawling with contacts...hope someone is cool enough to show you the way out of the barbed wire obstacle and under the cement tunnel that follows 'cause you're runnin' blind.

3. Chemicals plus contacts = baaaaadddd...particularly CS, though it won't kill you like G, or permanently blind you like H.

Then again...safety sucks, press your luck. But.....
I love the BCGs. I don't go to the field with anything but the black plastic wrap arounds air force hospitals (ironically) issue because they take a lickin' and don't fall off your noggin.

 

[DoctorDoom]

BCG's are now standard issue for OBC students also. If you have your own "conservative frames" they are permitted for the field also.

I wore contacts for the field except during land nav and gas day.