[dljordan]

“Most of these soldiers have never been in a fistfight or any kind of a physical confrontation. They are stunned when they get smacked in the face,” said Capt. Scott Sewell, overseeing almost 190 trainees in their third week of training. “We are trying to get them to act, to think like warriors.”

When I was in GRADE school we were fighting. Things sure have changed.

[Robe]

If you really want to witness Army training, go to Ft. Benning ,GA , Home of the Infantry.
They don't do 5 mile runs either , they do 12 mile road marches with full Battle Rattle (About 200 lbs)of gear on.
Then go on to the range where they're given 50 rounds, to hit random pop up targets, 40 hits to center of mass is passing.
Forget Ft. Jackson they train OTG’s there (Other than Infantry )

[ctdonath2]

OK, where’s that M4 Chainsaw pic...

[wendy1946]

In 1900 a soldier still wasn’t able to carry 200 rounds of ammo around with him. The idea of a bayonet on an M16 is pretty ridiculous.

[4Speed]

ping

[Bad Jack Bauer]

I did my basic training at Ft. Jackson in 1988. My AIT was at Ft. Gordon. I am with the poster who was surprised that most soldiers have never been in a fist fight. Where I grew up in Texas even the majority of the girls had been their fair share of scraps.

[95B30]

OK, I learned in combat, OIF-2003, that you really do not run much, short sprints. We carried way to much gear and that really did make it hard to move fast and agile. So far I agree. However, I always fixed my bayonet..I was not issued one, but had my own...and found that most Iraqis found that more intimidating then anything else, and like a lot of things you'll never need it until you need it...sort of like a fire extinguisher. So, lose the stupid long runs and add more forced marches with combat load and add more training with the bayonet. Just my take

Cheers,

[Hot Tabasco]

bayonet drills

IMHO, that was the most worthless training I received in basic. I would have much rather spent that time on the rifle range or the obstacle course........

[Gay State Conservative]

Damn...I *loved* those five mile runs.Particularly when it was 10 degrees outside (Ft Knox..coldest winter there in 50 years).

[2banana]

But how will they know what makes the grass grow?

[exPBRrat]

Bayonets are still useful. Like entrenching tools they aren’t issued to the troops mostly because the troops use them on each other...

...at least that’s the official thinking behind it.

[Jonah Hex]

Just looked up MIL-STD-1366E...crew weight planning factor for crew of 4, including body weight plus basic load = 1,366 lbs. This works out to an average weight of about 342 lbs per soldier. Remember, this is based on the spectrum of soldier weights from 5th percentile female to 95th male.

Running the numbers from the mil-std, this works out to 147 lbs for clothing, equipment, existence load, and body armor. Subtracting these numbers from the planning factor, this works out to a body weight of 195 lbs.

Bottom line, 200 lbs of soldier load may be on the high side on average, but if you once in a while throw in a mortar base plate, rounds, etc...

[dangerdoc]

As a bonus, when they do away with DADT, they will all have fabulous abs.

[Joe 6-pack]

Not to long before Just Cause in Panama, we were told the days of the mass tactical parachute drop were a thing of the past.

Just before Desert Storm, there were many saying that the days of mass armor formations were over, and even that MBT's were obsolete.

Now we're saying that bayonet drills are unecessary. Even though they showed their tactical utility as recently as Korea (Lewis Millet / Bayonet Hill) and the Falklands (Mt. Tumbledown), IMHO, the most useful aspect of the bayonet is the psychological impact it has in training and the role it plays in building aggressiveness. As long as any hand-to-hand or CQB type training is considered worthwhile, it's IMHO, foolhardy to omit the bayonet.

[ctdonath2]

[SonOfDarkSkies]

I had heard that the Army was following in the footsteps of the Marines and SEAL's in adopting a variation of the Crossfit regime.

[coop71]

No more morning jogs up Tank Hill?!