Posted on 03/16/2010 4:35:47 PM PDT by rawhide
FORT JACKSON, S.C. — (Adapting to battlefield experience, the Army nixes 5-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and honing core muscles. )
New soldiers are grunting through the kind of stretches and twists found in "ab blaster" classes at suburban gyms as the Army revamps its basic training regimen for the first time in three decades.
Heeding the advice of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, commanders are dropping five-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and exercises that hone core muscles. Battlefield sergeants say that's the kind of fitness needed to dodge across alleys, walk patrol with heavy packs and body armor or haul a buddy out of a burning vehicle.
Trainers also want to toughen recruits who are often more familiar with Facebook than fistfights.
"Soldiers need to be able to move quickly under load, to be mobile under load, with your body armor, your weapons and your helmet, in a stressful situation," said Frank Palkoska, head of the Army's Fitness School at Fort Jackson, which has worked several years on overhauling the regime.
"We geared all of our calisthenics, all of our running movements,all of our warrior skills, so soldiers can become stronger, more powerful and more speed driven," Palkoska said. The exercises are part of the first major overhaul in Army basic fitness training since men and women began training together in 1980, he said.
The new plan is being expanded this month at the Army's four other basic training installations — Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Knox, Ky.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
The battlefields have changed drastically. I’ll trust they know what training is best.
How we've learned to use and developed UAV's, MRAPs, anti-IED tactics, etc.
Use it or lose it.
“Heeding the advice of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, commanders are dropping five-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and exercises that hone core muscles.”
Things have changed. When was the last time a U.S. soldier used his bayonet in combat affixed to his rifle? I like that it was on the advice of returning combat vets. Sounds like a good move.
Being in shape helps running in the Afghan mountains after the al Quada and the Tali Bunnies. Sucking too much wind causes degradation to combat effectiveness.
I can see dropping the bayonet drills and adding zigzag sprint drills, especially if they are doing it with a full load and carrying weapon(s). But not dropping the 5 mile runs. Long distance running is very important to cardio and cardio is what enables your body to deal with exertion in extreme heat.
I dunno, it sounds more realistic in some ways, but I think they should add hill drills in the mix,
Especially with Afghanistan, mountain climing always makes your legs strong, if you can sprint up a LONG hill, yer in shape!
You are absolutely correct.
In the absence of war, military will award promotions based on things other than performance on the battlefield. Many years of such promotions will finely hone a military into a non-fighting institution.
My mother used to go one step further with her saying that war is required to keep society from turning strange.
Without any taste of a struggle for survival, people turn to frivolous endeavors and become increasingly shallow and silly.
No more trench warfare (let’s hope).
Tell that to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They still ought to know something about cutlery, esp
in the SOF arena.
Slicing and dicing is a useful skill in CQB
I asked my son, a Marine, to comment on the new Army physical training program. His comment, typically succinct, follows:
“I don’t care how good your abs are, I’m pretty sure that they’re not gonna stop a bayonet thrust.”
As far as I know, the USMC continues to require that all USMC personnel, enlisted and officers alike, do 5-mile runs (fully equipped), do bayonet training, and continues to issue bayonets for the automatic rifles carried by all Marine ground forces.
This article makes sense to me, but for those wondering in general if the bayonet has totally left the battlefield, the answer is no, also, the tomahawk is still there as well.
At least two Americans have made kills in hand to hand combat with tomahawks in Iraq.
May 16, 2004 Go UK!!!!! First Bayonet Charge since the Falklands War British troops in Iraq perform their first bayonet charge since the Falklands War. 35 insurgents were killed, while only 3 British troops were wounded. Isn’t it ironic that only a few days after Nick Berg was beheaded, that the same terrorist scum feel cold steel themselves. Turn about is fair play.
Argylls fight hand to hand in Iraq
BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR
SCOTTISH troops fixed bayonets and fought hand to hand with a Shi’ite militia in southern Iraq in one of their fiercest clashes since the war was declared more than a year ago, it was reported last night.
Soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders mounted what were described as “classic infantry assaults” on firing and mortar positions held by more than 100 fighters loyal to the outlawed cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, according to military sources.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1138046/posts
I hear that alot of the guys use Crossfit over there to keep in shape. The Marines also use its elements in basic. This is from Crossfit.com.
Just because we haven't done it in years doesn't mean it won't ever be needed again. Here are two accounts of what one British unit did a few years ago in Iraq, after running out of ammo:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article88661.ece
http://www.tactical-life.com/online/tactical-knives/bayonet-charge/?right=related
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Oorah to that. Bayonet training should always be an integral part of basic. Ammo may not always be available, and recruits should know how to handle that situation. The Marines have taken an extra step, in addition to 5 mi marches, they have a program where Marines are forced to sprint carrying ammo cans, etc, and fireman’s carries, thus simulating dragging a wounded buddy. We do all this IN ADDITION to the marches. I’ve been out awhile, so I don’t know the exact name of the training evolution. Nevertheless, I think it’s foolish that the Army would abandon such a time tested endurance booster. I did see though, that SF training has an additional week added to their assesment training, for a total of 3 weeks. Good for them.
The army is using crossfit also.
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