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

When you create a nation of wimps and assholes that is what you will also get in the military.

You can candidly and honestly "tell it like it is" with a signed and written counseling statement. A good "one on one, come to Jesus" meeting with the NCO can often force folks to wake up. I blame the school systems and "participation trophies" for giving us soft trainees. The boot experience is the first time many of them have ever been challenged.

The mental toughness has to start at home, when their good and young! The real problem is that discipline is considered fucking child abuse now. A good ole ass whooping every now again when nesseccary to teach manners, respect, and to remind an individual that stupidity hurts always worked when I was growing up!

To quote the French Foreign Legion.....March Or Die. Quit coddling them. They enlisted not drafted fer christs sake.
Thankfully most rise to the challenge. Those that don't.....shrug see ya.

Sgt. Roncari has quite a few good points. Unfortunately, I wish it was as easy as mommy and daddy stepping up to the plate. I've spent many long hours trying to deprogram my children when they come home from school. It's everywhere. About the only way we're going to get back to a majority of mentally prepared people is to get rid of cell phones, internet, TV, and home school all of our children. It might be too late though. We already have a couple of generations of "everyone gets a trophy" parents out there.

I've said this in many an article written, but if you tell people long enough and loud enough that they're a victim, they're going to believe it. I usually get derided, at best, for comments like that. I can only imagine what drill instructors have to put up with, but I have a pretty good imagination based on my experiences in management. (Every time I hear someone say, "I did my stint just to get money for college," I want to slap em. Even worse for conscientious objectors.)

I especially love reading college teeny-boppers quoting stats on PTSD. I know it's real soldiers so don't get me wrong. However, why are the majority of instances not among actual combat veterans, but FOBBITS and REMFs? (If there is some new research done by the military that I haven't seen on this subject, please excuse the comment.) I just happen to believe that people who are mentally prepared to defend their homes and family with deadly force have an easier time in the military. Modern America is doing everything in its power to squash that preparation.

1. Treat everyone with respect. 2. Demand they meet the standards and enforce those standards all the time. 3. Challenge everyone to train up to take your job. 4.Never mistake compassion for a license to slack off. 5. Make them prove their troubles and them help them to overcome them.

Today's Snowflakes, the ones that cry and throw temper tantrums then, after their initial training show up at their first duty station. Expecting to still be coddled. Remember IETs are meant only to introduce and then AITs were meant the basics of the job. Lowest of the rung on the ladder. They are suppose to get their real training in their first units. So you need to have that first heart to heart talk with new soldier, that life is tough, but war is tougher. Time they grew up very quickly and understand they are no longer a kid. Welcome to the Real World.

did not know things have dropped so low...

Stupid . If they can't participate in training.. Dump them as unfit with a less than honorable discharge. They frauded the Govt. and failed to uphold the enlistment contract. Those over 40 guys, should be retired or just discharged.

Here is a simple idea, but hard to implement. Let's pay ALL our troops really well, and make recruiting more selective. Make it competitive, and pick the best. My family has a lot of prior military; my Dad credited the Corps with turning his life around and keeping him out of jail (he enlisted, and retired a Col.). I am watching my stepson turn into an awesome young man thanks to the Corps. Our family has members in every branch of the military (except Natl. Guard, but I might be wrong. I lost track of who is where) All of them feel that they are better for having served. PTSD from AIT? That insults our combat vets with REAL issues. It starts with just telling them NO and saying 'grow up'. Stop apologizing for turning men and women into soldiers. But if our president is going to apologize for the entire US to our enemies, what do we expect from the rest of our 'leaders'?