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 ...
um....are you directing that at me?
In your wettest dream...
Gee, from that last post, I guess you would have had trouble passing the "don't ask, don't tell policy," in addition to peaking in basic.
Thanks, I've been here before, I just never got around to creating an account. This particular topic struck a chord in me, however. Basic has gotten easier, anyone who's been in the Army would tell you that.
I think the All-Volunteer Military is a great thing. But even with All-Volunteers, you get people who have joined for the wrong reasons and make life miserable for the rest of us, maybe things will change. We had a few washouts in basic, a few medical and others who didn't want to make it. I don't want to go to Iraq with someone who was just shuffled through training and don't know their weapon from a hole in the ground, but that's just me.
Or as a POW.
Basic training is tough enough on the recruits. (I speak from experience, circa 1973, Aniston Alabama, WAC.) Many young people are away from home for the first time. It's an adjustment, so why not help as many recruits get through the process as possible? They all want to serve their country, and they've taken a big step by volunteering. Give 'em a break, I say.
That sums it up very nicely. There comes a point in time when the hand-holding has to stop. If you don't do it in bootcamp you'll have an army with many weak links.
One of the important functions of boot camp is to weed out the people who would wash out later before the military invests hundreds of thousands of dollars in training them and then entrusts them with multimillion dollar equipment.
When I went through basic in 74 we only had about three or four washouts, but 40% of the guys who started quit. They went to the TI (the AF equivalent to the DI) and told him they couldn't take it and wanted to go home to mommy. I would much rather have them quit in basic than to wait until they were in the field and quit.
I see from your tagline that you are retired military, USAF SMSgt. I salute you, Sir, for your service.
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