Other services let you have breaks and shit during boot camp, giving you time to spend with your buddies, have snacks, shit like that.  I went through AF Basic in 2010 and I didn't have any of that. If you weren't in class or PT, you were cleaning the bay or practicing for BEAST Week. I only got 2 phone calls when I was in Basic. One was when I first got there to let my folks know I was alive and to give them my mailing address for letters. The other one was a 12 minute call home to make sure they were squared away to come to graduation. For the AF the problem starts once you get out of basic and into tech school. Kids go nuts with the freedoms they get and start drinking and eating like crap,  10dc   go overboard, and that becomes their new normal.