Day 1 - Check in, 3 powerpoints, Uniform sizing.
Day 2 - Medical processing.
Day 3 - More medical processing.
Day 4 - Gas mask fitting, finalize medical processing.
Day 5 - Check out and uniform issue.
NMPS consisted of about 80 people coming in from around the country to process to various area - about half to Astan, the others to Africa, Iraq, Qatar, etc. It was an assortment of Reserves, Active duty and GSA. About 75% are going directly to FT Jackson for Army indoctrination and the others are heading to various other places including FT Dix and Bliss. We board a bus at 0700 tomorrow and despite them telling us its only about 8 hours, I'm not going to bet on it. I was made a 'Group' leader today to make sure my people get to the bus on time. Not a big deal, but this may end up being a harbinger for things to come - meaning I will be assigned as a platoon commander when we get to Jackson.
Not much I can tell you about the whole week of NMPS that you won't pretty much find out anyway, but here are some things that I think might help.
1) Make sure you get as much of the medical portion done as possible, including immunizations. Also, if you are going to Astan make sure you already have your Doxy with you otherwise you get to wait to pick them up at the pharmacy - 2 hours (they tried to pick up most peoples, but batted only about .500).
2) Uniform. You have to be in uniform each of the first four days. I wore Khakis which by the end of the week was a bust. Most others had the Navy blue digis and they looked way more comfortable. Only bring one set of uniforms as you will have to get them back home on Friday. I made the mistake of bringing too many civilian clothes. I suggest you bring 2 or 3 t-shirts, one pair of workout shorts, one pair of casual shorts, a pair of jeans, one polo shirt and enough socks and underwear to make it a week without doing laundry. Otherwise, leave it at home.
3) As for other personal gear - make sure it can fit into a backpack. We are allowed to bring two small bags on the bus and onto FT Jackson. I ended up sending home about 20 pounds of gear as I got a little overzealous with making sure I took everything I needed at the beginning. The bottom line is that where ever you are going they will have clean wipes, batteries, deodorant, etc. I suggest you have a small bag for a week of these things and also a backpack with computer, ipad, iphone, iwhatever as well as all your paperwork and medical/dental records. Otherwise leave it at home.
4) Finally, I took a gamble and sent home a couple of things that they issued us already - like cold weather boots (pretty sure its not going to be cold where I'm going - ever). If I need them then my wife can send them to me. The sea bag is pretty much 100% full when you get it, so unless you send stuff home you won't be able to fit anything else in.
Final list of personal gear - 3 t-shirts, 8 pairs of underwear, 6 pairs of work-out socks, one pair of jorts (kidding they are cargo shorts), one pair of jeans, one button down shirt, one pair of sweat pants, one pair of workout shorts and a pair of tennis shoes. As for the electronics: computer, ipad, ipod, headlight (get a good one), camera, wet wipes, batteries, leatherman, fan (good for both air and white noise), bath towel (don't forget this) and all the assorted adaptors. I should be good for now, but will post later if this is still too much.
All in all it was a pretty slow week, but the base has pretty much everything you need - food, convenience store, coffee shop, barber shop (shaved my head - hooah!), and wifi everywhere.
Hope this helps.
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