How is the life of a 19d and how can some one prepare before going to OSUT?

I came out as a 19K in 1999. Since that dealt primarily with M1 Abrams, there will probably be someone on here with later intel on 19Delta.

Let me just leave you with this. When I was a 19D back in 2006, I maxed out in PT and I didn’t have any problems. I had my PT badge which only like 2 of us had in my platoon of 50, and we were always the go to guys. If you can hit 50 push ups without stopping you can max that PT test. You have a lot of opportunities for schools if you’re maxed and you can be that guy going to airborne, ranger, air assault, path finder, or even special forces like I almost did until I decided to get out. As long as you can discipline yourself to stay fit and be above the bar by maxing your PT test at 300 points, the rest will come easy and your PSG and LT will most of the time, automatically assign you as their comms, gunner, and tank commander. Good luck.

My advice is to not prepare beyond exercising to pass the physical fitness test. The reason I say this is there are all sorts of recruits that ruck sack with weights improperly in the rucksack or suddenly hit the gym and try to get a body like Arnold before they ship. A good portion of them get injured and some even drop out before they ship. Leave the physical conditioning to the course itself and only strive to meet what they ask you to via the PT test they will give you as well as hieght and weight standards. That is enough for 11B and 19D. Anything beyond that and your wasting your time and taking a risk of over doing it or doing it wrong and risking injury. Both 19D and 11B are iterative training courses with hands on and testing. You really have to be near the idiot level to fail the tasks. The weapon systems are designed for no special skills to aim and fire. They will not even expect you to be an expert at your first unit, they will give you 12-18 more months to become one.