© The US Army / Staff Sgt. Teddy Wade / Flickr
The US Army training program will be overhauled with a focus on discipline and physical exercises after multiple complaints about new recruits.
The Army will drop hand grenade throwing and land navigation qualifications.
The existing Basic Combat Training (BCT) program will be redesigned, Maor General Malcolm Frost, head of the US Army Center of Initial Military Training, told Military.com. The expected overhaul, scheduled to go into effect this summer, is the result of multiple commanders complaining about new soldiers demonstrating undisciplined behavior as well as overall sloppy performance.
"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 [non-commissioned officers] and officers and a lot of tardiness being late to formation and duties," Frost said.
This decision was made after analyzing data from some 27,000 reports from officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers, according to Frost.
Boosting discipline and morals of the new soldiers was deemed the top priority.
"The number-one thing that was asked for five-fold or five times as much as any of the other categories was discipline," he said.
Comment: There's a missing piece of data in this report. There's a glaring reason why physical fitness standards have gotten so bad in the US military: the decision in the last generation or so to accept female recruits. When the women naturally could not meet the minimum basic training levels set for an all-male fighting force, the military lowered the bar for everyone so that the women could pass. One of the features of training the women couldn't pass: throwing grenades far enough to avoid killing themselves. Same with push-ups, pull-ups, obstacle courses, etc. Ironically, it has been the feminists pushing for female recruitment, even though they allegedly hate war and the military. But the power is just too enticing.
For more on how much of a disaster a gender-neutral military has become, see:
The New Politics of Sex.
Comment: Finally! A rational common-sense approach to the issue of gender in STEM fields. Let human beings pursue the fields that interest them. What a concept!