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.”
I spent 24 years in the AF and never had to pass a flight exam or math class for pilots....
I seem to remember that the permanent positions on the range had something similar. However, having said that, I am sure that during a real situation of a grenade in the pit, you might not remember about the sump.
Guy on the left gets a medal.
Guy on the right gets a letter of reprimand.
Chick in the middle gets to go home.
Anyone who can throw a baseball can throw a grenade. But not everyone can throw a baseball.
Guns are too scary. All firearms should be dropped from training. In U.K. they are actually doing this, as high school military cadets shouldn’t have to see or touch any real guns.
When I was in Basic Training in 1973, we tossed a few dummy grenades, then were taken to the grenade range where we each got to throw 2 live grenades over a cement wall. That’s all the training we had. It wasn’t much more than the “bayonet training” we had. The Drill Sgt told us that if we were down to just having a bayonet, the best option was to turn around and run like hell, because the enemy was going to shoot you. Needless to say, our bayonet training was extremely limited.
I hear the trannies are POd because penis females prefer vagina males and vice versa.
If it were up to me, I’d reinstitute the WACs in a heart beat.
Back in Basic we threw dummy grenades frequently. Object was to learn how to get a high arc and air burst rather than ground. I know times have changed but I can’t remember anyone having a problem with getting a grenade safely down range.
Awesome!
This occurred in 73 or 74 at Fort Riley as I remember. I am not sure of the pit construction as I was busy running a field Mess Hall set up and did not re-equalify that year. The way I remember it was the soldier lost his legs and the safety office died but I could easily have some of that wrong even which fort as we traveled all over for annual and spring training exercises.
But... but... I’m a veritable beast in Call of Duty...
The number of times a well-thrown grenade saved my life are high, but once I bounced one off a metal rod (that I couldn’t hit again if I tried) in a open window in Basra and nearly killed myself and others.
We took to sneaking up to buildings and just lightly lobbing inside at point blank range prior to entry.
That is one of the things so hard to explain to civilians. Soldiers have training accidents and there are deaths and injuries. Especially since we play with dangerous things and big heavy vehicles.
The amazing thing is how few die when comparing our training to other nations. We train a lot harder and a lot more than they do.
What he’s really saying is that they can’t meet recruiting goals if they insist that kids can throw a hand grenade the required distance.
We had one recruit in my basic training that couldn’t do it and he had to repeat basic training. I believe he washed out the second time around. And at the time the trainees were predominantly college students who’d lost their deferments or graduated and were then drafted. In other words, a higher than normal nerd-to-normal ratio.
If a 19-21 year old boy never threw a ball as a kid, he won’t learn to throw effectively with a few days of lessons. But if he’s overweight, he’ll shed a lot of poundage.
And from that type of happenings springeth the old truism of" "Shit Happens".
Believe it or not, I once set a Claymore over a bamboo sprout...that grew enough in three days to upset it to the point of pointing back at my LP hide.
Had I not gone out and checked, it would have given me one hell of a surprise if I'd had to blow it.
Yep...shit do happen.
As for grenades, I used quite a few in 'Nam, but they really weren't our "go to" item, since Charlie had a bad habit of catching them and throwing them back.
That's why I learned to "cook" them for about a three, three and half count.
Got two of the little bastards with one grenade once after cooking for a four-count and the little shit caught it, but didn't get it back in the air quite quick enough.
Then they improved the LP perimeter with Rome plows and weed killer and it was much to far to throw a grenade.
Not the Army I once knew.
5.56mm
Difference in fighting in a jungle vs. a city, I guess.
Grenades are your BEST friend when entering a building or even going around a corner. And you don’t even really need to throw them, just lob or roll them in, as you don’t want to announce they are coming until they go “bang.”
You sure as hell aren’t throwing any 30 yards.
When did that happen? The ones used when I went through basic were full strength live grenades.
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