<P> United States Army Basic Training (also known as Initial Entry Training, IET) is the recruit training program of physical and mental preparation for service in the United States Army, United States Army Reserve or Army National Guard . </P> <P> Carried out at several different Army posts around the United States, Basic Training is designed to be highly intense and challenging . The challenge comes as much from the difficulty of physical training as it does from the psychological adjustment to an unfamiliar way of life . Basic Training is divided into two parts: Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT). BCT consists of the first ten weeks of the total Basic Training cycle and is identical for all Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard recruits . </P> <P> AIT instead consists of the remainder of the total Basic Training period and is where recruits train in the specifics of their chosen fields . As such, AIT is different for each available Army career path, or Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). AIT courses can last anywhere from 4 to 52 weeks . Soldiers are still continually tested for physical fitness and weapons proficiency and are subject to the same duties, strict daily schedule and disciplinary rules as in BCT . </P>

When does basic training start for national guard