Did BMQ twice (the weekend version and summer full time) and Land. Here are some tips from my own experiences.
1. DO THINGS WITH URGENCY. Everything is done with URGENCY. You do things as ordered, correctly, and quickly like your life depends on it. Don't ever walk, only marching or running. But don't even bother marching, just RUN!
2. MAKE TIMING! Everything is timed. Even if not given timing, you are still be timed (hence refer back to point #1 on URGENCY). If you were always the person that was late, all over the place in time management, I guarantee you that by the end of BMQ, you will be an ace at meeting timing, time management, or the very least will despise those who are late or don't grasp the concept of time management. I can't stress this point enough. Not making timing can result to the extremes of corrective remedial training, anyone who has done BMQ can vouch on them. Let's just say I rather do a 10km ruck.
3. PULL YOUR WEIGHT! At BMQ, everything is done as a team. As cliche as that sounds, but it's true. However, for things to be done as a team, everyone needs to pull their weight. So don't be that one person just standing around while everyone else is taking down chairs and tables or washing hay boxes. Your fellow peers and the staff are watching and will remember you for being a POS that never took initiative to do a task. Or don't be that loser who decides to lay around the cot/bunk while everyone else is cleaning their weapons or do something that's contributing to the well being of the section/platoon
4. Keep your kit organized! Label all your stuff, lock up all your stuff, and remember where your stuff are. All it takes is one person to forget where is their BFA or mag and BOOM, staff is pissed and you will be doing a show parade.
5. Don't be a SH*TPUMP. Just do everything contradictory to points #1 to #4 and you are a SH*TPUMP. But be careful on making judgement who is a SH*TPUMP, there are those who just slow getting things, but will be putting in all the effort in the world to get it.
6. You will get reviews for tests. Don't sweat it. If you fail a test, it's not the end of the world (trust me).
7. Bore snake and carbon scraper for cleaning your weapon. GET THESE TOOLS! There is a difference between 5x pulls on a bore snake vs. pulls with endless amounts of swab pads to clean the bore of your weapon. Likewise carbon scraper vs. brushes to clean the bolt carrier group.
8. Surgical gloves to clean your weapon or apply cam paint. Let's be real, why make a mess if you don't have to
9. Classroom lectures probably were my fav, because it is a relaxed environment. But if you are falling asleep, ask for permission or just stand up and go to the back or side of the room. Don't be a selfish *** and just let your fall asleep. If enough people fall asleep, staff will be pissed and you will be doing marching drills or push ups to get yourself and the platoon lively again. All that does is take away precious 'own time' for later. Always be wary of buddy to your left and right and in front. If they are falling asleep, tap on them. If they keep falling asleep, insist they get the **** up and go stand.
10. Weapons sweat. If you cleaned it the night before inspection, GREAT! but by morning at inspection, the staff will get traces of carbon when their swipe the charging handle on their arm or sticking their pinky into the chamber area because it has sweated. On the night before inspection, clean your weapon by removing all the carbon and such as best you could, but don't even bother lubing up the weapon with CLP after cleaning (unless the place is damp/humid). On the morning before inspection, run the bore snake through the bore a couple times again before inspection. Likewise wipe down the charging handle and bolt carrier group again. Then lube up your weapon with CLP so it's not dry.
11. STANDARDIZE YOUR KIT, YOUR BUDDY'S KIT, AND THE ENTIRE PLATOON! The logic is, let say you are the C9 gunner and in a fire fight. Buddy beside you in the trench is killed. You run out of ammo. Do you trust that your dead buddy is carrying the C9 ammo in his C9 pouch on the Tact vest? or actually, does he/she have a C9 pouch? if the staff doesn't post up diagrams of where things need to go, then come up with something as a section/platoon on where things need to go. Draw diagrams!
12. If you are on fire picket and don't need to patrol around the place, take this time to study for the test coming up. This will the very least keep you awake and make you productive.
13. There are going to be those moments (notably the beginning) in which you will question yourself on why you are at training and why you even joined. It will even be overwhelming. But everything gets easier! It will get easier because you are starting to get familiar with the military ways and likewise picking up methods along the way to make things easier on yourself. Think of it as starting a new job, you go there on the first day of not knowing anything, but you become a pro at it eventually. If you think it is tough? the staff who is training you and done BMQ before you probably and most likely had it a lot tougher than you! When it gets tough (which will happen right at the beginning), just dig in deep and ask yourself why you joined. If you doing a weekend BMQ, you know you will be released before 1700 on Sunday. Always have an eye on the prize to help you get through. On my full time Summer BMQ, me and another buddy were counting meals (eg. "we made it to lunch today, one more meal to go and we are done for the day."
14. Don't make your staff look bad. If let say everyone just did a cam paint exercise and everyone in the platoon was just instructed remove cam, remember to clean up the area where you just removed cam. Wherever you are doing BMQ, the armoury for instance is more than likely a shared space with the home unit or other units. All it takes is one non BMQ personnel to complain to a BMQ staff and **** will hit the fan. If you make the staff look bad, they will make you pay for it, BAD!
15. Your weapon is attached to you AT ALL TIMES! Need to take a dump? the weapon is in the stall with you. Sleeping at night? you sleep beside your weapon. Don't ever forget your weapon, likewise the mags/cleaning kit/bfa/sling that's also issued as well. Remember your weapon is the same concept of always remembering your kit. Don't ever forget anything. If you do see someone forgetting something and it's just laying there, pick it up for them and figure out later on who forgot it.
