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Army Recruits to Get More Basic Training
Friday, October 19, 2007
RICHMOND, Va. -- The Army is adding a week to basic training, not to teach
additional skills but to help recruits better master what they're already
learning.
The Army is expanding its standard basic training program from nine weeks to
10 at all five basic training sites beginning in November. The Army Training
and Doctrine Command, based at Fort Monroe in Hampton, announced the changes
this month.
"We believe we'll get soldiers more physically fit and more disciplined,"
said Col. Kevin Shwedo, deputy commander at Fort Jackson, S.C. "Rather than
add more tasks, we want to take more soldiers from introductory skills to
proficiency, and some from proficiency to mastery by using that time more
creatively."
With the extra time, drill sergeants will identify specific skills for
soldiers to master.
"It's not that we weren't meeting the standards, but drill sergeants
specifically said 'We can do better things,'" Shwedo said.
"In order to be a learning organization you have to be open to not only
criticism, but recommendations as well, and the field told us that if we
held the soldiers at least another week we may be able to increase certain
proficiencies," Shwedo said.
In addition to Fort Jackson, the new training regimen will take place at
Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Benning,
Ga. The bases train up to 180,000 soldiers annually, including National
Guard and Reserve components.
In March, the Army will revert to the nine-week regimen for its Army's peak
training period until October 2008, when the 10-week program becomes
standard. Reverting to the nine-week program is to ensure all resources are
in place for a full-scale rollout following the Army's busy period,
officials said.
The Army used an eight-week training program for enlisted soldiers from the
1970s until 1997, when it added a week to include more values training.
In recent years, the Army has added skills at the basic training level to
prepare soldiers for life in the combat zone. Those include a weapons
immersion program, in which soldiers carry M-16 rifles _ and blank
ammunition _ at all times in an effort to reduce accidental discharges on
the battlefield.
Other programs include combat lifesaver training to enable soldiers to give
critical medical care to wounded comrades on the battlefield, such as
starting an IV and helping soldiers breathe through a tube.
Those skills, Shwedo said, are ones "the operational Army told us they
needed for success in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The Marine Corps has the longest basic training of the U.S. military, with a
12-week program. Navy boot camp is about eight weeks and Air Force training
is at least six weeks.
James Martin, a retired Army colonel and expert on military culture at Bryn
Mawr College in Pennsylvania, said training is a critical investment that
"needs to be rigorous, and lay the foundation for one's identity as a
'Soldier.' "
"I have always believed that rigorous training and high performance
standards early will help to eliminate those not suited for this
profession," Martin said in an e-mail.
Army Recruits to Get More Basic Training
Friday, October 19, 2007
RICHMOND, Va. -- The Army is adding a week to basic training, not to teach
additional skills but to help recruits better master what they're already
learning.
The Army is expanding its standard basic training program from nine weeks to
10 at all five basic training sites beginning in November. The Army Training
and Doctrine Command, based at Fort Monroe in Hampton, announced the changes
this month.
"We believe we'll get soldiers more physically fit and more disciplined,"
said Col. Kevin Shwedo, deputy commander at Fort Jackson, S.C. "Rather than
add more tasks, we want to take more soldiers from introductory skills to
proficiency, and some from proficiency to mastery by using that time more
creatively."
With the extra time, drill sergeants will identify specific skills for
soldiers to master.
"It's not that we weren't meeting the standards, but drill sergeants
specifically said 'We can do better things,'" Shwedo said.
"In order to be a learning organization you have to be open to not only
criticism, but recommendations as well, and the field told us that if we
held the soldiers at least another week we may be able to increase certain
proficiencies," Shwedo said.
In addition to Fort Jackson, the new training regimen will take place at
Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Benning,
Ga. The bases train up to 180,000 soldiers annually, including National
Guard and Reserve components.
In March, the Army will revert to the nine-week regimen for its Army's peak
training period until October 2008, when the 10-week program becomes
standard. Reverting to the nine-week program is to ensure all resources are
in place for a full-scale rollout following the Army's busy period,
officials said.
The Army used an eight-week training program for enlisted soldiers from the
1970s until 1997, when it added a week to include more values training.
In recent years, the Army has added skills at the basic training level to
prepare soldiers for life in the combat zone. Those include a weapons
immersion program, in which soldiers carry M-16 rifles _ and blank
ammunition _ at all times in an effort to reduce accidental discharges on
the battlefield.
Other programs include combat lifesaver training to enable soldiers to give
critical medical care to wounded comrades on the battlefield, such as
starting an IV and helping soldiers breathe through a tube.
Those skills, Shwedo said, are ones "the operational Army told us they
needed for success in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The Marine Corps has the longest basic training of the U.S. military, with a
12-week program. Navy boot camp is about eight weeks and Air Force training
is at least six weeks.
James Martin, a retired Army colonel and expert on military culture at Bryn
Mawr College in Pennsylvania, said training is a critical investment that
"needs to be rigorous, and lay the foundation for one's identity as a
'Soldier.' "
"I have always believed that rigorous training and high performance
standards early will help to eliminate those not suited for this
profession," Martin said in an e-mail.
