Posted on 02/15/2018 5:53:54 AM PST by MarvinStinson
The U.S. Army will drop its hand grenade competency requirement for graduation from basic training because getting recruits to pass it is taking “too much time” and they’re just not strong enough, Major General Malcolm Frost told reporters on Friday.
Changes to the Army’s Basic Combat Training (BTC) will eliminate the current hand grenade proficiency standards as a requirement for graduation, Military.com reports:
“The new BCT does, however, do away with hand grenade qualification and land navigation course qualification as graduation requirements.”
Discussing the change with reporters, Maj. Gen. Frost explained that training recruits to pass the current requirement was taking too much time:
"What we have found is it is taking far, far too much time. It's taking three to four times as much time ... just to qualify folks on the hand grenade course than we had designated so what is happening is it is taking away from other aspects of training.”
Plus, trainees just aren’t strong enough to throw the grenade far enough away – and simply can’t be taught to properly throw a grenade “if they haven’t thrown growing up” – Maj. Gen. Frost explained:
"We are finding that there are a large number of trainees that come in that quite frankly just physically don't have the capacity to throw a hand grenade 20 to 25 to 30 meters. In 10 weeks, we are on a 48-hour period; you are just not going to be able to teach someone how to throw if they haven't thrown growing up."
Still, the amount of grenade training won’t be reduced – developing enough proficiency to meet the current standards just won’t be required - Maj. Gen. Frost said:
"Just because we took it off as a graduation requirement does not mean they won't be conducting hand grenade or land navigation training."
“They are going to learn all the technical aspects of the hand grenade, and they are going to learn tactical employment and they will throw a live hand grenade.”
As Army Times reports, in order to save time trying to teach trainees to meet requirements, hand grenade training will be blended into other exercises:
“Rather than spend time getting soldiers through the hand grenade and land navigation qualification courses in order to graduate basic, those skills will be incorporated into three new field training exercises, dubbed Hammer, Anvil and Forge.”
Hollywood, please notice: There isn’t any fire.
I don’t think E-schools are dropping the math requirement. I hadn’t heard that.
We were set back (two weeks).
I know times have changed but I can’t remember anyone having a problem with getting a grenade safely down range.
I can. My basic training was in Jan/Feb 1971. After throwing dummy grenades, the time came for us to throw live ones. Our platoon was lined up in a bunker with our backs to the wall so we could not see the grenades being thrown. The assistant drill instructor (ADI) called each of our names as our turn came up, and watched us as we went to a wall where the senior DI (SDI) handed us a grenade to throw over a wall. One of the guys was very uncoordinated and, as he went out, we were saying to each other that he was going to goof up. The assistant DI kept saying that he would be okay. As the kid threw the grenade, the ADI said, “he’ll get it over the HOLY S___”. The guy dropped the grenade and the SDI picked it up and just barely got it over the wall.
Yep. That’s what they called it at Ft. Leonard Wood when I went through basic training in 1971.
I went through that same lovely place about a year earlier right at the end of the meningitis outbreak. Got pneumonia, pleurisy, plague vaccine reaction, and all sorts of fun stuff putting me in the hospital with 104 degrees twice. Lost so much weight from illness I was skin and bones. I was a squad leader but still got re-cycled twice. As I was Army Guard reserve, they did not want me to break the 180 day barrier and get GI bill benefits so they didn’t hospitalize me the third time I got the URI.
Fun story about Fort Leonard Wood. If you remember out in the woods at Ypres Training area with the nice picnic tables they had a CS Gas and Gas Mask training building. Well close to 40 years later I was building all sorts of military projects around the country and got a contract to do a 26 acre complex there. That woods, building, latrine and picnic tables were still there. Looked just the same. Guess what, I got to tear it down.
Can you imagine what the concrete block masonry smelled like after almost 50 years of CS gas impregnation? Worse than the big pit latrine.
Common sense isn't so common anymore ...
#27 They will say to each other.
“You throw like an American! Ha! Ha!”
#24 It is 14oz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M67_grenade
In the old days these people could not throw a spear.
Although they could do an adequate job of stopping them...
Women don’t have the upper arm strength to throw them. So.....end of training. But not to worry, the military is being rebuilt.
I haven’t read yet where combat is going to become less demanding and stressful. Maybe that comes next?
No Sergeant Major, the military you and I knew is long gone, not just a laboratory for left wing ideas.
Hey there, welcome to FR !
They are cutting corners on land navigation, too?
What happens when the GPS receiver stops working or the GPS constellation is brought down?
Hopefully they'll give their grenades to the actual MEN in the unit.
Throwing is a very specific skill. A complex interaction between a number of muscles and muscle groups.
Even 40 years ago it was noted that the sports Americans play give them a large advantage in grenade use over most other nations. For most it was something already natural.
It’s much more than pure strength, and something most kids don’t do anymore.
That’s ONE BIG MISTAKE.
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