Leaving for the USAF
 

Well im heading to San Antonio, TX for my basic training on Feb. 22 and heard that once im in tech school at phase 2 im able to have a vehicle on base. What do you military guys do with your bike on base. Are there parking garages there? Do I just get base tags and I can go in and out of the base? Thanks!

Im not sure if its different in the USAF, but Im in the Army and know its really dependant upon the base and what they have for facilities and available. When I went for my OBC school I was allowed one vehicle, luckily there was a storage facility 5 blocks away so it was only mildly inconvenient to walk the distance if I wanted to go for a ride. Once I was in OCS I was allowed 2 vehicles on base. Congrats, good luck! Air Force guys have it easy anyway, they will probably ask you if you want your bike in climate controlled parking or in their secure bunker parking. :-P

What is your job, where is your phase 2?
I have two bikes and a car in front of my dorms. Not really a big deal.

You're probably going to have to attend/pass a motorcycle safety school, wear a flourescent green/orange vest on base, etc...

Not just on base, everywhere. You also need long sleeves, boots, gloves, and you may need to attend a briefing with the commander depending on your base.

And be strong when going through. Basic training can be a stressful time, but the rewards at the end are worth the effort.
Don't be like the punks that give up because they finally experience some stress. They go right back to being a loser.
As for the pt, I don't know your physical shape, but push yourself when you're in there. I used to be able to do maybe 20 push ups total, but now I can do 60+ in a minute, and I can run a 10:26 1.5mile without too much effort.

A night student of mine back in the '80s, who was a Marine stationed at El Toro MCAS, told me that if a Marine rode off base without his helmet (we didn't have a helmet law here until '92) or orange vest, he would be responsible for any medical bills if he crashed.

But I think that may have changed. I live 5 minutes from Camp Pendleton, and I don't see any riders leaving the base with the funky vests anymore. Maybe they figured they were being targeted as military with the vest. I mean really, whenever you saw one of those vests you knew it was a military guy...or gal.

My wife and I talked to 6 young guys from Miramar NAS just last week on Ortega Highway at Hells Kitchen. They said their superior told them to take the day off and have some fun, so they rode up to Ortega Highway. All but one were on I-4 sportbikes, and they weren't wearing vests. Nice group of guys.

Oh, and I'm a Navy Vet, Vietnam era, late '60s...but I didn't serve in Vietnam. As a matter of fact, my Class A school and my duty station were both in California. Good luck!

Ie, common sense... ;) Sorry, I just had to say it...

We call it common sense, but it's not that common anymore.
And if you're not wearing proper safety equipment and you crash, you will be footing your medical bills, and you might find yourself not reenlisting

well texas in feb. is not bad, temp wise,, my brother just got out of the USAF, intell, he was telling us about the regs. i think there is an age requirement now for sportbikes, and the vest and attending a class i believe is mandatory, good news is he said the AF is not as strict as the Army, Marines, and Navy.

good luck and GOD speed, visit the Alamo and the river walk.. before you leave. i was there in august while visiting Austin.

good time to be there, not too hot. I was in but in 1984, got shipped to Lackland AFB and then stayed until July. Then shipped to North Dakota, so don't go in as a cop, they will probably ship you there.

Job is Aircraft Armament Systems and tech school is 6 months in Whichita Falls, TX so I don't know when I will be in phase 2. I always wear my one piece alpinestars suit and helmet boots. Ive heard about the riders course, but I didnt know anything about the orange vests. I dont really care. I was just hoping I have a place to keep the bike under a roof if I bring it with me eventually. Hopefully they let me do some track days too!

Too many Marines returning to Camp Pendleton from combat duty in Iraq were ending up as motorcycle crash casualties. They'd get back Stateside after surviving in the combat zone and use their extra pay to buy a bike, but they had little or no riding experience. So about 2 years ago, Camp Pendleton teamed up with Keith Code and his California Superbike School to teach an advanced riding course on the base.

Of course you have the major advantage of being a veteran SuperHawk rider.:thumbsup:

Phase 1, you won't be allowed to ride a motorcycle at Wichita Falls. Buy a cheap car if you want to get around, but that little town sucks. Phase II, you may be able to ride it.

It's been 17 years since I've gone through that but IIRC your Phase II begins about 3 weeks after you get to Sheppard. Unless things have changed, you can't leave base out of your uniform (blues required when going into town) and you can't leave base on a duty day. Phase III allows you to leave base out of uniform, with a curfew on duty days and no curfew on non duty days. If you're unfortunate enough to be there long enough to hit Phase IV, you can pretty much come and go as you please.

They will not allow you to operate your bike on base without taking the course on base (which is the MSF course..) and the scheduling of that may interfere with your tech training..so unless your bike is your main mode of transportation I would agree with Nick on just getting a POS car or hoof it around. Public transportation is abundant there.

On a side note: As Nick said, Wichita Falls is a shithole and the locals HATE the military. Not sure why when I'm sure the military personnel pump millions into that community every year, but they do.
I went on two dates with a girl I met there; first date was just us and went fine, second one we met some of her friends at some cafe for a show..The girl I was with got up to use the restroom and one of her girlfriends says, "So I hear you're from California, are you visiting family out here?" All smiles, very polite. So I told her that I was in the Air Force. She turned away from me and didn't say another word to me all night and I never heard from my date after that night.

Good luck with it, it'll be tough at times (not nearly as tough as the other branches have it), but you'll have some great times and make some lifelong friends.

Well the class you have to take on base and you have to get your basic base tag for your bike...the reflective vest or band that you have to wear is post specific...good luck and have fun the military is one hell of an experience!

Ah i may just leave the bike here and then when I get stationed somewhere I'll bring it. My dad is going to be takin care of it for me and hopefully he wont lay it down like he did when I first got it. Just seems like a hassle at tech school. I cant wait to ride some public transportation in a town that hates Military! lol

I can only speak from the Army Rules, but the vest/PT belt is only mandatory at night on and off post; provided that the rider is wearing brightly colored clothes. Example is that if I have on my white mesh riding jacket in the day time, the reflective gear isnt needed. Having said that, I have ridden in that area several times (every time I go to Fort Sam Houston I take one of my bikes) and it is crazy there. The roads are shit, so reflective gear and full gear at all times is recommended. The only place I have ridden that is worse is DC when i was stationed there, and from those two places all I can say is ride on the defensive.

Typically your command will have to give you a briefing and a counseling statement once you have completed the needed MSF course. I would recommend taking it now, as the ones the military provides are booked up months in advance.

All that being said, thank you for choosing to serve our country in these times. It will make you a better person and give you a greater respect for your fellow Americans. I have been in the Army for 14 years, my wife for 9 and honestly we probably wouldn't be shit if it were not for what it has taught us.

Good luck at basic. I've spent time at both the army and AF bases in SA. The riverwalk is fun when you get some free time. Cab number is 222-2222 if I remember correctly. They kept telling us, "If you get drunk, just remember to keep hitting 2's".

He won't have to worry about that, he's gonna be trapped in there for 2 months, get a few days of freedom, then leave for Phase I.

I just wanted to say Thank You! for your service and to all others who have served! I'm a big fan of the military.

DOD Regs
 

I am a coastie and our regs come from the DOD regs.

This is what the DOD regs say, I know because I did a motorcycle safety presentation for my command last year, so I am intimately familiar with these.

Retro vests are required on all DOD bases, or brightly colored clothing (officer discretion on what is "brightly colored"). Retro vests are also mandated at night and periods of limited vis, ie fog and low light situations.

Other than that you will need a DOT approved lid, long sleeves, (not a jacket, WTF, long sleeves) over the ankle boots, and full finger gloves.

You will also need to complete a BRC or ERC. You will also probably talk with your unit safety officer and have to show him your completion card as well. Depending on the command you may need to attend a military sportsbike course. It depends what they consider a sportsbike.

Honestly the military sportsbike course was a good course. The course is all about cornering, and creating more of a safety fudge factor while cornering. I can honestly say that the MSC was the best MSF course than I have taken. I have also taken the BRC and the ERC.

Of course the service, can impose additional requirements.

I know that at work I have the DOD motorcycle regs, If you like I can shoot them to you on Monday. I would today but I am at home finishing up my homework.

Good luck with everything. Boot is challenging, but you have memories and friends that will last a lifetime.

I'm in the Navy, and we are NOT required to follow the DOD regs.

Retro vests are NOT required on Naval installations, and are NOT required on the Coast Guard Academy.

For us, the BRC and MSRC are REQUIRED.

A sportbike is defined as any motorcycle where the foot position is at the centerline or aft of the centerline of the riders postion. This includes Enduros.

Not trying to start an argument, but not all branches are the same. Not sure about the DOD regs that you are quoting or if you are quoting them correctly.

I'm Army, but am currently assigned to a Navy base. I'm technically the motorcycle safety officer for my brigade, and we are not in compliance with the DoD Instruction or the Navy Instruction. I'm sure if I pressed the issue, then all that would change, but I don't have the time right now for that added responsibility (And yes, I know that sounds irresponsible). All it would take is one guy to get in a serious accident, and . . .

For example, the BRC is technically required to ride a motorcycle on base, but nobody has ever checked. When you get your parking sticker, they tell you that you need to go to BRC before you can ride on base, then they give you the sticker anyway. We are supposed to wear something bright, whether clothing, vest, or belt. But again, nobody seems to care if you don't. The guards certainly don't stop you.

There are both DoD and Navy instructions, and they are almost identical. If your base doesn't follow the instructions, then that's your commanders issue. The commander can do whatever they want, but their boss could eventually order them to fix it. Or like I said, if I mentioned it, the commander would look right back at me and say, "Well, fix it and report back to me." Fixing it would be a full-time job on top of my full-time job. You'd have to set up a database, then get every person that owns a motorcycle to report to you with registration, BRC and/or MSRC proof and expiration dates. Coordinate with security to get them to ticket or boot motorcycles not in the database, and ticket those riding without proper gear. Educate the guards to turn away those without brightly colored clothing, or proper PPE. Coordinate with unit commander to get the guys (and girls) time off to go to BRC and MSRC. Oh, and establish riding courses on base, or otherwise send our guys 50 miles away . . .

Also, each base can set their own standards, which might be more than the DoDI, but they could get in trouble if not meeting the minimum requirements. I know a few Army bases that have added more requirements, like you MUST have a brightly colored reflective vest on at all times.

See DoDI 6055.04 for the DoD Instruction.
See OPNAVINST 5100.12H for the Navy Instruction.

I would attach my copies, but the file size is slightly over the limit.

What's worse than young military killing themselves on bikes is coming back and getting murdered by some gang banger; it happens here in Chitown sadly too often.

On a lighter note, with Camp P being so close to Laguna Seca, wouldn't it be cool if CSBS (KC) did track day/MSBS & BRC there! When I was in San Diego (school & working for Convair) in the 70's I'd see the poor schlubs from the MCRD and NRTC and pitty them. I had a few friends who were Nam vets and even a roommate from Long beach who was a Miramar NAS mechanic. I also was a consultant to Seal team 1's armorer. Those guys were nutz!

Best of luck TDOGG. Thanks again for the parts last year.

Thanks man. Yeah sounds like being able to ride again is gonna be a long process. Its kind of weird being able to ride since I was ten, get my license when I was 16 and now its like being treated like a kid again, which I pretty much have been in every other aspect. Sounds like the DoD regs. are not that bad. I hope there is not a huge wait to sign up for the BRC so I can get back to riding..