Fort Jackson guides

The full BCT timeline — the phases, what your Soldier is doing each one, the culminating field exercise, and what families can expect to hear back. Fort Leonard Wood uses a different phase naming system (Yellow/Hammer/Anvil/Forge); the page surfaces that where it applies.

Realistic 2026 cost ranges for the Family Day and Graduation trip — flights, hotel, rental, meals, the Wednesday afternoon dinner.

Vetted hotels within practical drive time of the gate, sorted by what actually matters on graduation week.

Mobility, hearing, visual, and sensory accommodations for graduation week — how to plan and where to ask.

Documents, bleacher gear, on-post day-pass items, and what stays in the hotel.

Family Day and Graduation dress code, season-by-season layering guidance, and what not to bring to the bleachers.

From the airport to a parking spot at the parade field: which gate, what to expect at security, when the lot fills.

Wednesday before graduation: the ceremony, the day-pass with your Soldier, and what to expect.

Tactical Thursday morning: the night-before checklist, gate-line timing, bleacher logistics, and finding your Soldier after the parade.

The pass that releases your Soldier to spend Wednesday with family: where you can go, when to be back, and what they can wear and do.

How to spend the Wednesday afternoon off-post pass and the Thursday extra day — food clusters, light activities, what to skip. Verified for Columbia, SC near Fort Jackson; other gateway cities are coming as we confirm.