Are we still teaching the Fundamentals of Reconnaissance?

MAJ Ken Landgren - That is ok Major. We'uns Yankee's General Custer made up for Stuart's joy ride @ Gettysburg!

The fundamentals are being instilled during 19D OSUT and A-BOLC, not sure how much those fundamentals are being "built" upon when these fine young Troopers get to their units upon graduation. ARTEPs used to be utilized to "test" a units proficiency in its METL tasks and units trained for those core tasks throughout the year, it seems like once we hit the '90s there was a shortage of funds to actually conduct the same amount of training that we had conducted a few years prior, and the ARTEPs went by the wayside as we drew down our forces following DS/DS. I am hopeful for the sake of our Army that they find their way back to the way we trained when I first enlisted in the late '80s and that the Army as a whole regains the technical and tactical edges that made us the Army that we were.

MAJ Ken Landgren - Sir, I know this, but are we relying too much on electronic, not enough? And what happens when electrons fail, will soldiers have the recon skills to fill in the gap? Maybe I'm too old school.

MAJ Ken Landgren - I remember the route recon skills we learned as 12B. I just wonder today how much of this is being taught or is most of it beginning to rely on electronic recon? All the time I spent figuring water crossing, slopes, turn radius, road density.

Reinforcing those basic scout skills and teaching newer skills (body language at a distance, haptics, patterns of life, etc.), and the core skills such as Land Nav, Call for fire, Fieldcraft, if scouts are strong in the basics and understand the mission the electronics became, "for the most part", multipliers. Also the new skills required, operating this equipment, troubleshooting, PMCS, can only add to a Scouts toolbox.
IMHO