[simon says what]

“Didn’t you throw a grenade in Basic Training?” and he replied, “It rained that day in Basic Training.” And it all went down hill from there: http://www.projectdelta.net/the_ashau.htm

I understand your point, and if we were in a situation like Vietnam where we were sending thousands of fresh recruits every month directly into combat, I'd be more concerned as well. As it stands, infantry and other combat positions can train up in AIT or their assigned unit.

[DJ Taylor]

During the Vietnam War, it got to the point that troops were arriving in Vietnam so ill trained after completing Basic, AIT, and the SFQC, that in 1969 the 5th Special Forces Group found it necessary to send replacements through a Combat Orientation Course(COC) prior to assigning them to a field unit.

What they were training troops for in the U.S., I don’t know, but it sure wasn’t training for combat.