"Recruits from a more obese and sedentary generation.... they need to learn how to fight. “Most of these soldiers have never been in a fistfight or any kind of a physical confrontation. They are stunned when they get smacked in the face.... We are trying to get them to act, to think like warriors.’’
Which is VERY INTERESTING because we are PREACHING NON-VIOLENCE at them while CASTIGATING BULLYING!
What would you expect to be getting for recruits, sir?
"Army training targets the core; New regimen puts focus on speed, strength" by Susanne M. Schafer, Associated Press | March 17, 2010
FORT JACKSON, S.C. — Trainers also want to toughen recruits who are often more familiar with Facebook than fistfights.
Frank Palkoska, head of the Army’s Fitness School at Fort Jackson:
“Soldiers need to be able to move quickly under load, to be mobile under load — with your body armor, your weapons, and your helmet — in a stressful situation. We geared all of our calisthenics, all of our running movements, all of our warrior skills, so soldiers can become stronger, more powerful, and more speed driven.’’
The exercises are part of the first major overhaul in Army basic fitness training since men and women began training together in 1980, he said....
Drill sergeants with experience in the current wars are credited with urging the Army to change training, in particular to build up core muscle strength. One of them is First Sergeant Michael Todd, a veteran of seven deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
On a recent training day Todd was spinning recruits around to give them the feel of rolling out of a tumbled Humvee. Then he tossed on the ground pugil sticks made of plastic pipe and foam, forcing trainees to crawl for their weapons before they pounded away on one another.
“They have to understand hand-to-hand combat, to use something other than their weapon, a piece of wood, a knife, anything they can pick up,’’ Todd said....
Another aim is to toughen recruits from a more obese and sedentary generation, trainers said.
Many recruits didn’t have physical education in elementary, middle, or high school and therefore tend to lack bone and muscle strength. When they ditch diets replete with soda and fast-food for healthier meals and physical training, they drop excess weight and build stronger muscles and denser bones, Palkoska said....
Bayonet drills had continued for decades, even though soldiers no longer carry the blades on their automatic rifles....
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, said the current generation has computer skills and a knowledge base vital to a modern fighting force. He foresees soldiers using specially equipped cellphones to retrieve information on the battlefield to help repair a truck or carry out an emergency lifesaving medical technique.
But they need to learn how to fight. “Most of these soldiers have never been in a fistfight or any kind of a physical confrontation. They are stunned when they get smacked in the face,’’ said Captain Scott Sewell, who is overseeing almost 190 trainees in their third week of training. “We are trying to get them to act, to think like warriors.’’
So they can BRING PEACE to the WORLD, 'eh, General?
