Posted on 02/15/2006 9:35:13 AM PST by jjm2111
New recruits used to be welcomed to boot camp here with the "shark attack." For decades, drill sergeants in wide-brim hats would swarm around the fresh-off-the-bus privates, shouting orders. Some rattled recruits would make mistakes. A few would cry.
Today, the Army is opting for a quieter approach. "I told my drill sergeants to stop the nonsense," says Col. Edward Daly, whose basic-training brigade graduates about 11,000 soldiers a year. Last fall, Col. Daly began meeting with all new recruits shortly after they arrive at boot camp to thank them. "We sincerely appreciate the fact that you swore an oath and got on a bus and did it in a time of war," he recently told an incoming class. "That's a big, big deal." He usually is accompanied by two male and two female soldiers, who can answer questions the recruits may have.
"The idea is to get rid of the anxiety and worry," Col. Daly says.
The new welcome is a window on the big changes sweeping boot camp, the Army's nine-week basic training. For most of its existence, boot camp was a place where drill sergeants would weed out the weak and turn psychologically soft civilians into hardened soldiers. But the Army, fighting through one of its biggest recruiting droughts, now is shifting tactics. Boot camp -- that iconic American experience -- may never be the same.
Once-feared drill sergeants have been ordered to yell less and mentor more. "Before, our drill sergeants' attitude was 'you better meet my standard or else.' Now it's 'I am going to do all I can to assist you in meeting the Army standard,' " says Command Sgt. Maj. William McDaniel, the senior enlisted soldier here.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Anyway, thank God for the Marine Corp.
Humor aside, I do not think this is a good thing. Sometimes in boot a helping hand is required, but mean drill instructors force the boots to rely on each other as a team. It develops camraderie and teamwork and toughens people. Yeah it sucks, but it is over in a few months and then you can laugh about it.
The officers in this article strike me as the squishy PC types who are hoping to make rank. I'll publish more thoughts about it in my blog later.
There should be acknowledgement of the recruits for signing up. After that, the message is that they will be tested, pushed, challenged and forced to dig deep to make it. They will need to put out or wash out. They will need to fight for one another. There's really no need to be unprofessional but there's no room for DIs to have to be someone's mommy or best friend.
Now it's 'I am going to do all I can to assist you in meeting the Army standard,' " says Command Sgt. Maj. William McDaniel, the senior enlisted soldier here.
And I'll bet it makes him want to puke every time he says it. ;)
OMG....we need hard recruits - real fighters. Not a bunch of candy butt little kids that cry when they get off the bus becasue of yelling.
This is a molding process. Take little mommy boys and make them into MEN
I wish they had that more pragmatic approach to bootcamp when I went. That first day, when I snuck away from the group, went into the seargent's quarters and left him a note listing the days off I'd need, that was one of the worst mistakes of my life. If I never have to do another buck naked push up in front of the rest of the platoon, I'll die a happy man.
Owl_Eagle(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Different times, I suppose.
I see boths sides.
The screaming B.S. just annoyed me, it didn't make me a better soldier or teach me to deal with stress. I just bit my tongue and tried to learn.
The recruits now are largely people who are volunteering for combat or at least a strong possibility of the same. They are pretty motivated already.
A certain amount of respect is due for people who are volunteering to make that sacrifice --- even from the SGT.
If you cant handle someone speaking to you in a harsh tone how are you going to hold up under fire.
The yelling and fear have been effective in weeding out the ones who can't take stress and for creating an environment that builds teamwork and has to completely instill new values and behaviors into kids that just got out of high school.
You know the rules!
When you go into boot camp, you don't go DIRECTLY to the D.I.'s, you end up spending 3-5 days at what's called a "Reception Center".
That's where they shave your head, and teach you a lil' about drilling and what 'At Ease' is.
The "Sharking" is already known beforehand, and only entails a lot of yelling and alot of pushups.
I was fast enough to to cut copy and paste the whole article you originally posted....
I dropped it into MSWord, then printed it, stuffed it an envelope with a quick note, walked across the street to the maildrop, and sent it to my son who is now in week 5-6 of bootcamp at Fort Benning...
I am sure it will be an interesting read for him and his fellow recruits...
Oh...the note said not to share it with the Drill Instructors...
LOL
We cain't doo nuthin' no mow-er.
The brave and handsome Sgt. Phantom states that the soldiers just out of the new, gentler Basic Training are horrible. They think that they can't be criticized for doing things incorrectly, and have very poor discipline.
When i was in basic they grabbed me by the straps on my duffle bag and pulled me out of the back of the cattle car. I put the heel of my boot right on the collar bone of anothe rrecruit they also threw out. It broke. Oh well if you can't stand the heat don't go into the kitchen.
**Anyway, thank God for the Marine Corp.**
After they are finish with the Army they will do the same to the Marines.
When I was active duty Army the worst soldiers we had was the ones we got from Fort Jackson basic training imo. Soldiers from Fort Sill or Fort Knox or other combat training posts became soldiers for the most part before they left but Fort Jackson Basic graduates was civilians in Army uniforms.Now they are going to make Fort Jackson Basic the standard for the Army
Change is not always good.
I can't believe the military chiefs of staff have apparently taken Yawn kerry's "sensitive" advice on how to manage basic trainees. Next, we'll have a bunch of wimps in the fighting forces.
I hope to God they don't forget the tough discipline on these kids...it's what works and works well. When I was in the USAF basic training course, we gals got to do skin care, and other charm school activities. It was like being at a health club for 6 weeks. But that's the USAF for you. We also learned to march etc but it was nothing at all like what the Army and Marines go thru.
The entire purpose of boot camp is to tear you down to a point you never knew you could reach..... only to build you back up to a point you never dreamed you could reach.
I don't know if this new touchy feely approach is going to pull that off.
Will they also be issuing them pink panties? This is stupid. Most young men never encounter their "rights of passage" to manhood. Boot camp has been one way for some to prove their manhood, prove to themselves that they can endure and be proud to accomplish something harsh and difficult. We don't need more girlie men attempting to fight wars - which is what the military is tasked to do.
I'm disappointed in my Army.
If you lower the standards needed to get through boot camp, you'll get a softer army. Suppose that boot gets captured. Think his captor is going to do his best to see that he meets the terrorist's requirements? The very worst thing you can do for a recruit is to let him go on in the denial that makes him think the rest of the world behaves in the squishy limpwristed manner that the effete west does. The rest of the world pisses on the PC manners of the west, AND the Geneva Convention.
There is no reason to soften boot camp. Recruits *want* boot camp to be tough. They expect it, and frankly may resent it if it isn't.
That said, I rather like the "Thanks for volunteering in a time of war" bit... in acknowledging the sacrifice that recruits offer.
But the sentence should end with "...now DROP and give me TWENTY!!"
:-)
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