Green Beret Training Standards Now Lower than Army ROTC Camp in the 80’s

US Defense Watch ^ | December 19, 2017 | Ray Starmann

[NRx]

It’s been years since I have been able to encourage young men to enlist. We are rapidly approaching the point where I am going to start actively discouraging enlistment.

[laplata]

That bastards needs to not come back from a live fire exercise.

[PROCON]

Apparently you never served in the Military, so STFU!

[manc]

well said

[pboyington]

Great movie and not as good as Magnum Force...

[Windflier]

My dad was Special Forces during Vietnam. He’d roll over in his grave, hearing this.

[taxesareforever]

Changing the name does not equate to automatic upgrade in ability.

[Strac6]

I can just see stopping a 20 hour march during Robin Sage so some woman can nurse her 6 month-old child who will be fastroped in to be fed.

[dsc]

“I’m afraid we won’t get our act together until an event worse than Chosin.”

Chosin reflects no discredit on our fighting men.

[EarlyBird]

I went through ROTC Baic camp at Ft Knox in 1981. It was totally worthless as army training compared to the the real basic training I went though in 1983.

Granted, ROTC Basic camp taught me a lot about land navigation - but only because I was interested to learn. No one failed because they blew it off. No one was held accountable for learning any of the training.

In army basic training in 1983, I learned what real determination was all about, and whether I had it. I got two stress fractures in my foot and refused to quit until my CO saw the limp I could no longer hide on the rifle assault range.

I was recycled and spent four weeks in a cast, cleaning the barracks when everyone else went to training, dragging ammo on the firing line (had to get a new cast after that), and after they graduated, cleaning their rifles in the armorer’s office.

But my drill sergeant had faith in me. Right before I was recycled, he brought a pair of black socks to the rifle range, and told me to go to his POV to put a sock on over my cast. He then lead me to a firing hole at the end of the line - it was getting dark by that time - and he told me to qualify. That way, when I was recycled, I had completed the four-week rifle training, and wouldn’t have to repeat it.

I remember waiting for my new cycle, cleaning rifles, cleaning the drill sergeants office after their graduation party, cleaning the barracks every day. That was four weeks of pure hell.

But I was determined to graduate from basic, and I stuck it out while other guys on profile gave up and went home. Finally, after four weeks of endless crap details, I recycled into the last two weeks of training, and graduated.

I was a dope-smoking, never-care kid when I joined the army. This experience in basic turned me into a determined man. And I will be forever grateful.

[PROCON]

FYI

[threepercenter]

Great story, repeated many times, by many others over a very, very long time. Thanks for your service and sticking it out.

[pboyington]

Thanks for your service Early Bird. I remember seeing guys going through basic training at Knox and we cadets quickly realized that the drills were only about 20% mean to us and about 120% mean to you guys.

[Dawgreg]

Once again Twinkle Toes Mattis is asleep at the wheel. This has happened way too many times since he has been SecDef to blame it all on “Obama generals.” Rather, it seems clear that Mattis is just fine with the PC rot in the military and has no intention of doing the heavy lifting required to root it out.

And I’m afraid you’re right. If it’s Obammy’s generals, get them out and rehire the generals Obammy fired!!!

[Dawgreg]

why are they still going with a judges order to accept cross dressing , mentally ill men , or women into the military.

I don’t know.........just damn!

[pepsi_junkie]

Very few men—and no women, ever—are good enough to become Green Berets.

That used to be true ....

[shibumi]

Thanks for the ping.

I read this article already.
I did not post a comment because.....
...well let’s just say that anyone who went through training when we did
(mid-late 60s) is bound to be heartsick at what our Army has become.

There are still good men in our military.
They deserve better.

[wbarmy]

Man, I thought I was the only one who had that kind of story.

In 1978, I caught measles in my last two weeks (where from I have no clue) and passed out from a “very” high fever in the Drill Sergeants office the week before graduation. After waking up in the hospital a few days before graduation, I had to be medically cleared from the measles before going into profile status. I did rifle range and trash cleaning details until the next iteration.

[HenpeckedCon]

I was stationed at Fort Devens in Massachusetts in the 80’s. I was in the 39th Engineer battalion. We shared the same mess hall as the 10th Special Forces. Everyone in the 10th wore green berets regardless if they were in an “A” team. Supply personnel, cooks etc... all wore green berets. We didn't have a single female in our battalion. There were plenty of females in the 10th walking around with green berets.