Losing our skills

2014-06-10T07:49:58-04:00

People always call me old school because I'm not a fan of technology versus proven methods but I think we are far too dependent on technology and forgetting the basics.
Electronics are great but when we become dependent on them and forget some of the simple basics such as land navigation we are setting ourselves and Soldiers up for failure.
Each day I am confronted with and baffled by Soldiers and NCOs that cannot do even the simplest land nav. I'm not talking about resection or intersection, I'm talking about just knowing the cardinal directions, how to plot on a map or even do terrain association.
I think about the hours Soldiers spend sitting in front of computers doing online training like Accident Avoidance, IT awareness, Antiterrorism, trafficking in persons, GAT or the plethora of others.
We didn't have this mandatory training when I was growing up in the Army and we turned out fine. What we did have was HOURS and HOURS of tactical training, the stuff we needed to stay alive in combat.
It saddens me when I hear Soldiers recite the Soldiers Creed or even worse NCOs recite the NCO Creed "I will strive to remain tactically and technically proficient" yet they can't read a map, or can't do other tactical skills from memory.
I can only thank my NCOs for drilling these skills into me at every opportunity. As I always told my up an coming NCOs " Every second you are with your soldiers is an opportunity to train on something".

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2014 10:11 AM

2014-06-10T10:11:07-04:00

I feel your pain SFC Grudzinski. I have heard the arguments from Soldiers that they would be better off with FBCB2 training or DAGR training because that is what they would be using most downrange. But tech will always fail when you need it the most and over reliance is a vulnerability. I heavily emphasized Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills in our Sergeants Time Training and I think it paid off. Some of my Soldiers (junior NCOs included) had only done actual land nav once or twice and were pretty rusty. After a couple STT sessions, most everyone was able to read a map, analyze terrain, plot, determine azimuths and navigate again. The written tests and PEs helped a lot. I think these WTBD basics really need to be emphasized by the COs and 1SGs, but it definitely gets more difficult if you got all that computer based training and little support from higher. I keep hearing about getting back to basics, so if we really want to do that, battle drill 1A, land nav, and marksmanship training must be emphasized to name a few...

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Jun 10 at 2014 9:11 PM

2014-06-10T21:11:58-04:00

I don't know SFC Gurdzinski, not sure that there is anything more important than winning trophies on the CSAT training module. Being told by a computer that you are supposed to let the guy who stole your phone get away, when you can clearly tackle his behind and just get it back.

Remember this: "People sleep safely at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf" George Orwell