Posted on 02/10/2018 6:26:58 AM PST by Strac6
The U.S. Army will soon launch a redesign of Basic Combat Training intended to build more discipline after many commanders complained that new soldiers often show up to their first units with a sloppy appearance and undisciplined attitudes.
The program will also feature three new field training exercises that place a greater emphasis on forcing recruits to demonstrate Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills, the list of key skills all soldiers are taught to survive in combat.
The new program of instruction is the result of surveys taken from thousands of leaders who have observed a trend of new soldiers fresh out of training displaying a lack of obedience and poor work ethic as well as being careless with equipment, uniform and appearance,
"What leaders have observed in general is they believe that there is too much of a sense of entitlement, questioning of lawful orders, not listening to instruction, too much of a buddy mentality with NCOs and officers and a lot of tardiness being late to formation and duties,"
"The other big piece we are doing in Basic Combat Training that helps with the esprit de corps and the discipline aspect and also lends a measure of grit and resilience to [BCT] is we have three major field training exercises that we are going to do now. We are calling them the Hammer, the Anvil and the Forge," Frost said, describing how the final Forge FTX is an homage to the Army's historic ties to Valley Forge.
"That is going to be a culminating FTX which is a graduation requirement. It will be an 81-hour field training exercise with about 40 miles of tactical road marching that is conducted through a series of tactical events and mini field training exercises."
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
‘adjoin’? How many miles do you figure?
It is at several hours away from Knox. And yes, Ft Knox has and had basic training in the past.
P.S. Disclaimer= If FK no longer has BT, I was unaware of it. But I do know they had it up until fairly recently.
Yes, the A Shau Valley still tops the list of places I’ve been that I don’t care to go back to again.
Came back to do the Motor Officer Course. That was fun because there were no career implications. Learned some things and chummed around for a few weeks.
I was very, very disappointed when I learned they were moving everything to Benning, which was and still is in my mind the home of the Infantry.
So, they had basic at Campbell and Knox at the same time?
It is called the final stages of pussification...
They might try putting Marine Corps Drill Instructors from the WWII & KW era in charge of basic training for a year or so...
I know, most of them are dead (I know a few who aren't)...However, I believe the newbie DI's at P.I. these days are not even close to the caliber needed...
Basic and 19D AIT May of 1985.
RLTW
Your class was a few weeks? Wow...my MOC was a one week course at Vilseck. Upon my return, I assumed my role as Systems Maintenance Officer, the most thankless job I've ever endured.
A few weeks in my tenure, the DCG of 32nd AADCOM dropped in on his way to the outbriefing for a nearby Nike-Herc battery's USAREUR nuclear surety inspection. As usual, I was the only officer on site, and I was wearing coveralls in order to get under the tracks to see what my mechanics were doing.
The general good naturedly chided me, suggesting I should focus on being a supervisor. I could tell by the look in his eye that his message was, "Keep up the good work, but I'm a general now, and this is what generals are supposed to say."
My OBC class at Bliss started while West Pointers were still on leave from graduation. We had a number of Marine Officers from the Naval Academy, and we got along great. We bonded so well, the Company Cdr, split us into two football teams, so that the Captains had a better chance to compete.
My vote goes to the Black Hats at Fort Benning. I’ll never forget the training I had at Jump School.
IIRC, my Motor Officer Course was at least four weeks if not six. Irony is, I was never made Bn. Motor Officer. My next promotion was to company XO. I worked really hard to get a FUBAR HHC to pass its IG inspection and they sent me to the MOC as a reward. Looking back, we had a really great group of guys in that battalion.
None of them appreciated my sense of humor. Within a month of taking the job, I had a FOUR page deadline report. On several vehicles, there were too many deficiencies for the available space, so I inserted "MFB".
When asked by battalion what MFB meant, I replied "M----r F----r's Broke". That was followed in rapid succession by the XO calling my CO. My OER in that stint was a doozy. Good thing I never planned on making it a career. I loved my Group Commander, who added comments that my problems arose from the inability of the Battery & Battalion Co to provide proper leadership.
We had a battalion maintenance platoon run by an LT., CWO and MSG. That CWO was the crustiest old bird I ran into in the Army but he sure knew his stuff.
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