Posted on 07/31/2005 7:02:02 AM PDT by kellynla
This is not your father's boot camp. Apparently, there have been some pretty big changes in the operating procedures of those infamous Army training centers where young men and women go to get, shall we say, seasoning for the rigors of military life. Veterans who went through the process 20 or 30 years ago might not recognize it today. And a lot of what they see, they might not like.
The Pentagon has put military personnel on notice that it won't tolerate abuse or mistreatment of recruits by drill sergeants or anyone else. The higher-ups have even made an example of drill sergeants who may have gone too far in trying to mold green recruits into soldiers. Some of the sergeants have been court-martialed. When convicted, some have been demoted and dishonorably discharged. As the Pentagon's tougher policy takes hold, and word spreads, it's getting harder to find the sorts of instances of hazing and intimidation that have become legendary in military life.
According to the new "regs," drill sergeants may address recruits only as "private" or "soldier" or by their surname. That certainly leaves out some of the more colorful expressions known to have been used by drill sergeants over the years. They also have to ask permission before laying their hands on a recruit. And at the end of the nine weeks of basic training, recruits are free to evaluate their experience with superior officers, including how they were treated and what they endured at the hands of drill sergeants.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
They've got it backwards. The softer they make it the harder time they will have with recruitment. This is what the Army gets for paying attention to psychobabble.
Notice that the Marines don't have this problem.
And the Corps has a separate boot camp for men & women.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
The army has really “screwed the pooch” with this one. Who in their right mind would want to join the army if it meant going into combat with a bunch of politically correct panty-waists?
Well the Army may find out that "being polite" is not the way to train warriors.
The enemy sure won't be polite. LOL
And God help them if this latest bunch of recruits are ever captured in war by the enemy.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
"Who in their right mind would want to join the army if it meant going into combat with a bunch of politically correct panty-waists?"
Not I!
Recruits who are not trained properly will get you and your fellow combatants KILLED!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Now the "panty waists" will be seperated from the men (and I do mean men, not men and women) in combat. Unfortunately, others are going to get hurt in the process.
Better to sort out the problems in training but it looks like that lesson has been lost on our current PC crowd.
There was some abuse of recruits when my son went through BCT at Knox at the beginning of this year. Not in his company, thankfully.
..and so goes the attempted "pussification" of America.
Not to demean your service, but current soldiers in Iraq are some of the finest examples of military personnel in the history of this country.
As a retired Army First Sergeant I don't think I would fit in any more. I got the impression this was coming when I retired after Gulf War '91
"What do you think?" thank you all be strong good country!!!
When I was a private I would hear the old timers (Brown Shoes) talk about how the “new” Army was going straight to hell. When I made Sergeant I started saying it. A couple years after I retired I sat at my favorite watering hole and heard a young Staff Sergeant bitching about the “new” Army, and how it was going straight to hell.
The “new” Army might be heading straight to hell, and that has been said for many years. The Army is a constantly changing institution. It has always been “going straight to hell”, but it always answers the call and just keeps on stroking - and doing a very nasty job very well.
To me, all this crap was already here in the late eighties, just not institutionalized until Clinton got in there. Now the only surprise is that anyone is still surprised.
But it's good, I'd rather they were surprised than accepting of it.
To me, all this crap was already here in the late eighties…
I was a BCT Company Commander at Knox as the draft was ending and the Volunteer Army was crankin' up.
Abuse has never been accecptable and training and discipline can be tough without it anyway. During that time a directive came down from I-don't-know-where (probably TRADOC) that the only way a trainee could be addressed was, Trainee, Recruit or Soldier.
As long as a 'cruit knows there is a Chain of Command backing up the training cadre in their job, the mission of building a soldier will be understood by all. Of course the 'cruit has to believe they have rights that go along with their responsibilites.
If it's done right, most of the pressure on the trainee comes from within and from peers. The cadre just has to set the tone and the standards.
So true.
Hey – us Old Farts gotta bitch about something.
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