How to Remember the Navy 11 General Orders of a Sentry

Being in the armed forces can be really nerve racking. If you're enlisted at all, regardless of whether you're in dep or out there in the real military working, you're going to know what I'm talking about. Even forming ranks while in delayed entry program classes and being asked on the spot what your general orders are can definitely be quite stressful, especially if you get them wrong and are required to fall out and do additional pushups each time.

The general orders of a sentry are definitely a pain to try and memorize. Since they don't really apply to your everyday life before going into the navy, it's extremely hard to remember them since you're unable to relate, and you may not even be able to understand them. In this article, I intend to help you learn the general orders in a way which you can remember them and recite the orders immediately and on the spot.

If you've tried practicing at all, you may have discovered that you can remember what the orders ARE pretty easily, with an exception of a few general orders, but you're unable to put them in order or recite each specific one when given only the number. This is the dilemma, since obviously when you're called on in basic or dep training meetings you're going to only be given the number and be expected to know the order right off the tip of your tongue like nothing.

There are a few different ways I tried to memorize which orders went with which numbers. My first attempt was just making flash cards. Flash cards are effective at memorizing, not really learning. If you're someone who likes to go for flash cards, try it and see if it works for you.

In order to really learn these orders, you're going to have to either be able to relate to them or at least know what each means. It's nearly impossible to recite something from mind that you don't understand. Try reading through the orders, understand what they mean. What really helped me was to read through them a few times and try to associate pictures with each of the orders.

Well, so long as you understand what each of the orders are, you're ready to learn my odd, unpatched yet still effective means of learning the orders in the correct sequence.

Order 1, I just remember. "To take charge of this post and all government property in view". That's not terribly difficult for most to remember. In fact, a psychologic principle states that we tend to remember information at the beginning, and at the end. So right off the bat, so long as you've rehearsed, 1 and 11 should come quite easily.

Order 2, I use a rhyme. In order to remember which order is which, you're going to need to associate the number with something. I think of two.. shoe. Shoe.. to walk!

Order 3, I use another rhyme. These rhymes are awesomely effective and quick. Pee.. Peeing in public is a violation.. To report all violations!

Order 4, Roar. To yell.. To repeat all calls..!

Order 5, Hive.. A big hive, we can afford to lose a few bees.. To quit my post!

Order 6. I simply remember this one because it's a pain. 6 and 11 are the hardest, therefore I just remember them for that reason.

Order 7. Heaven. I'm waiting at the gates of heaven, I'm not going to dare speak to anyone.. To talk to no one..!

Order 8. Gate.. A train comes through the station and the bell rings. To give the alarm!

Order 9. Dime. It costs a dime a minute to call someone with many phones. To call the officer!

Order 10. I simply remember this one because it's at the end.

Order 11. I remember this one because it's long, and at the end.

There are other methods, but this is the one that proved most effective in my case.
If you prefer a more simple method, you can use an acronym that gives you the first word of every order after "to".

I used TWRRQRTGCSW or "The World Record Runner Quit Running To Go Catch Some Wind".
As you could imagine, this gets a bit difficult when you're called on the spot. If you got order 10 you'd have to go all the way down to "Some" to know that the first word was "salute".

But use whatever helps you the most! If you prefer to use rhymes (the work best for me) come up with rhymes which are easiest to remember for you, not mine, as you're going to do better if you came up with them yourself! Good luck!