How do we rebuild the mental toughness of new troops while keeping with the military's new direction?

SGM Kindred, very well stated !

agree..go to the old standard training. we get what we create.

SGM W. Heath, as I have told members of Congress the enemy is not gonna give a shot of a soldier id's stressed, they will torture the enemy or anyone else, if we cont to allow this pussy bull shot we are gonna have big issues with our soldiers, we don't make soldiers accountable for being wimps, and it's past time, we need to go back to our old ways and weed out these lil bitches that mom and daddy's raised! Very disappointed in our rules of training. Its time we bring back Motivational seminars and let the soldiers handle this shit like day's of old. Failure is an excuse, that needs to be handled. If we allow weakness then we will be weak. I think we should do away away with recycling, and make them know coming in that this ain't for all, and pursues need not apply!

They need to return to the draft and back when the military turned out fighters, not whiners. Not speaking for any other branch, but the Marines did just that during Vietnam. The Marines didn't have as many draftees as the Army, but what came out of Marines Boot Camps did just that. I shipped over as a 2511, field wireman, didn't look forward to climbing poles or trees in the jungle, within a week I became a warrior with a radio on my back, humping the bush.

PFC Scottandkelly Godwin My dad knocked the crap out of me frequently. Being immature, I just thought he was mean. As I got older it became more and more clear that I had every one of those coming. He loved me enough to care and he cared enough to correct me in terms that I could understand. I'd be dead or in prison if it wasn't for him.

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing; it usually pays off.

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Absolutely! Now and for many years I spend my excess money on tools, guns, etc.; things that will tend to give decades of use. Alcohol just makes expensive urine.

No matter what mommy and daddy instill it is supposed to be up to the military to break them down and build them up in basic training. The civilians and Senior Officers making policy is why we have a social experiment for a military these days.

Absolutely It's the Coddled Syndrome..

When I came back from TDRL I was ready to step in and take charge again, and I got told they could say
No and ask to go see their “social-worker”. Seriously? I asked..
Seriously! Well maybe I overplayed it a bit. But it has seemed to have reached a boiling point these days.
We had a G.I. Party and we’re giving the kitchen a realky good going over.. don’t be telling them to do that.. you got to get right in there and scrub and scour too.. Well first I got to get them going in the ‘right direction’ once I do that I will get doing that Scouring thing..
My job is to lead/ direct.. kind of hard when I’m tied down myself..
got to keep them working ... and not malingering .. Well... don’t say we didn’t tell you, they said... a few tried to play some stuff.. the others got with it and did what they were told... those guys and I had a party after the party.. the whiners
Went and whined some more...
“Hey Sarge, where’s our pizza and beer, huh? I said these guys that stayed and did their job without whining got rewarded.. if you had done that.. you’d of got beer and pizza .. somebody told my top pizza I had to order them whiners a pizza and beer.. I got them the nastiest greeziest pizza and skankiest beer(they wanted their participation trophy.. they got it) I could get hold of..
after that they were too busy taking care of a personal prob to be complaining.. after that point.. when we had a G.I. Party, they were there and did their assigned detail..
no whining... I didn’t buy pizza and beer for participating I bought because my cooks did a fab job w/o complaint. With exception of those others.... I did it cause I wanted to show appreciation not because I had to.. i handle have to’s diffeeently aa you have read..

Bring back the good old draft; and start from scratch. Oh wait that's not politically correct, oh well tough for momma boys and girls

CPT Bob Coleman - Award for getting Your drivers license, thought the license was the award. I don't like all kinds of garbage to hang on a uniform anyway, I think it looks foolish, the less the better. I put more stock in being told I did a good job when i did a good job than some award. Being part of the team was the real reward and carrying Your own weight.

The commodore, Tandy, and IBM TRS-80 all had lower case letters...

TSgt Frank Shirley - Please, please press the "Caps Lock" key once more and turn it off. Your posts are incredibly difficult to read. Also, just wanted to point out that SN Kevin Neff has a beard and a "V" next to his name, so I think he may have made it to the other side and past the point of needing to make the program work for him.

You're absolutely right about PTSD being passed out left and right these days. It's ridiculous. No one has grit anymore.

I went through Basic, AIT, Jump, NTC, all of it in '90 being specifically trained for Shield/Storm. It was drilled into us with no breaks. As far as the cherries are concerned now I would have to say to keep drilling them repeatedly to the allowable limits and once they've actually reached something resembling a soldier pass 'em on.

Sounds like my childhood, surprisingly, I survived and flourished.

Now I could live with that...Excellent Point Cpl !!!

That's music to my ears!

Worked for me...they pushed me hard...dropped 60 pounds...turned into a "Lean Mean Fighting Machine"...Fort Dix, New Jersey...2nd PLT Bravo-3-3 Summer 1983...

First, There is no need to yell. Secondly, I was referring to the timeframe. Yes, those things went on, but not often. Now days, the Drill can't even touch you unless it's a safety thing. Not even to correct a crooked nametag. Blanket parties still go on to this day, I'm told. They were not "condoned", but not heavily punished, either. May of the recruits I saw in 1979 needed to learn how to follow those leaders you speak of. We still had Judicial Draftees. They pushed the Drills as far as they could. Some learned that they could be good soldiers. Some didn't learn a thing. Most of those went back out to the civilian world to serve their time in jail. One found that he pushed too hard and that Leavenworth Military Stockade was not a nice place to be for 20 years. What I'm really saying is that the whole military is so PC now, we have to take a vote to shoot back. That can cost lives. I hope not mine or a member of my extended "family" or yours.

Frank...the point Tim is making is that training methods were more hands on and much more flexible...these days the Drill Sergeants have a very hard time training Soldiers b/c of Regulations that conform to Political Correctness...You can hardly yell at them now and you certainly can't touch a trainee for fear of an investigation for harrassment or worse...If you see how many Chapter 11s and 5-17s that are given out you would understand his point better....Wall-to-wall...oh yeaaaas...story for another day....

Don't know if this is the correct place to place this this story but: Back in late 1976, A BCT company would graduate a cycle and fill usually in a couple of days. I commanded a company at Fort Knox and it took the Army 6 WEEKS to find 230 new soldiers to fill my company. A few facts. Only 14 had graduated high school. Average age 18 average education level 10 years. 196 out of 230 had to go to remedial reading every week. I had 28 trainees recycle for failing Basic Rifle Marksmanship. I had only 4 CAT 1 trainees. You talk about challenges. Had to get rid of one trainee for fraud. He lied about his arrest record on his application. it turned out he had been arrested 56 times since turning 18. He said he did not list all his arrests because there was not enough space on the enlistment form. Had another SAD trainee that said he wanted to come in the Army to become a cook. He was told his scores were not high enough so the Army was going to make him a helicopter mechanic. Did several sanity checks that cycle.

I hear that Trump knows more than the Generals...maybe he will fix it ?

MAJ (Join to see) - Sir, I believe he is a better solution than the current administration and Hillary.

I'm not very optimistic about either. As a CEO he evidently was good at seeking out folks knowledgable about something and then saying to him or her "Fix this. Do what you have to do but I want results back no later than next month, next year etc"

The physical training wasn't hard at all, at 19 I was pretty fit when I entered basic I did take Army JROTC but at a Military Academy, (I had no problem with that either. My weight has always been constant and in the last 40 years has never changed. in My 60s even on an armed federal Contract could still run 1 and 1/2 miles in 9:46, do all my pushups and sit ups. A lot was My metabolism, still in good health. Still in the work force even though I'm retired from two jobs, have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter - You are a rare bird SMSgt...I had to work hard at keeping in shape...it was a constant battle...even when I was in shape, I wasn't in shape...I was just good enough to pass the APFT and not bust the tape...I failed my APFT ONCE! and I never failed again after that b/c the NCOs in my unit made me feel like a dirt bag....after that experience...I didn't want that to happen again EVER.

Is that why you voted me down?

TSgt Frank Shirley did you mean to down vote SFC(P) (Join to see)? If not, you can reverse this by clicking the down vote button again or by up voting.

Excellent Point SSG Maxwell !!! Concur!!!

Brace yourself. Initial guidance about Transgenders just came out. Apparently, as soon as they feel they have Gender Dysphoria and get it confirmed by Mental Health and Medical, they can begin the gender reassignment. From that time until they are "transformed" they are Non-Deployable (and likely on profile for everything). By the time they are complete, they can ETS.