Then why do it, Sgt. Stober? Why do it with such a big splash if "nothing will change?" I fail to see the intelligence in that. Whoops, my bad ... that's military intelligence, found in the dictionary under "oxymoron." Nevermind.
Why do it? That is a very good question. The job didn’t change at all, the official answer was that it was to change the soldiers perception.. The powers that be said that once basic training was complete “The soldierization process is complete” and that the soldiers need an environment more like their gaining units(ie: Squad leader - Platoon Sergeant - etc...) Anyone in the AIT training process will agree that most soldiers arriving at AIT still have a lot to learn about being a soldier and the Soldierization process is still a big part of their training.
Most of the Drill Sergeants/Platoon Sergeants believe it is all about the money. Drill sergeants get a special duty pay of $375.00/mo. And considering that they put in 80-100hrs a week and deal with added stress, I personally believe that is nowhere near enough. Savings: about .5 million a year on drill pay(just Ft Huachuca), and another $300 per soldier for uniforms.
All the platoon sergeants arriving since the de-hat receive no special pay, work the same number of hours, deal with the same stress and don’t receive a clothing supplement or assignment of choice afterwords. The only thing they are getting is rated time in a platoon sergeant slot (though there has been talk about giving them the xray identifier). Seems to me the platoon sergeants are getting the short end of the stick.