New Basic Training Requirements: Will It Really Be Harder?

I'd like to see a combination of more rigorous screening at MEPS. All too often, I get young, new Soldiers in my aid station/clinic who've been in for less than two years and have "chronic pain". I can't disprove it, so I end up MEB'ing Soldiers that probably never should have been allowed in. Whether their chronic pain is a result of poor fitness, poor body habitus, lack of mental strength or just looking for a free paycheck - its frustrating as hell to the overall unit medical readiness. How to I tell my CSM and BC that a 22 year old kid is being MEB'd for his chronic back pain when I've got a CW4 with 2,000 or more hours in a bird that has the mental toughness to drive on. No intestinal fortitude in this younger generation of recruits - and I say this at 32 years old.

I don't see it becoming harder, I think at this point instead of just pushing through the numbers regardless of a "pass" or "fail", the trainees will now be required to get that "go" in order to progress. I think there will be more recycles and we might see smaller graduation classes.

Given the new SMA and his background in TRADOC coupled with the 490,000 end strength number, it should stick. Like it or not we need a smarter Army. Boom in comes STEP. Seeing a trend?

So we're bringing back the standards that were in place prior to 9/11 and shortening the ruck march? I remember it was 12mi and damn sure wasn't no six hours to do it in. I like the idea though except the whole patch thing. Is the Army really going to an "everyone wins" mentality or the more crap we can make you look cool in thought process? I'm sure if you offered a pass or a patch, the pass just to get away from the DS for a day would win out easily.

When I went through Basic way back when, we did EOCT testing at the end of the 8 weeks. And we did ruck marches. I saw a lot of people drop out due to not being able to pass the PT test. And there were a lot that just couldn't take the physical and mental challenges. I am hoping that the new system will generate a better soldier than we have seen over the last 14 years.

Here is how I see it. And I went through Benning in 84'. At the time that I went in, it wasn't one of those things to where if you had a pulse you were let in, you still had to be qualified to be part of the Army. You had to be able to do the training, pass and the 12 mile road was the last thing you had to complete to even walk on the parade field and be done, Graduated, and a full member of the Army. Someone said that the DS' need to do their jobs....well I talk to a lot of the newly graduated DS' when they come back from school and ask them what has changed? When I was in basic, you feared the DS. Now, gone are the days when the DS smoked your ass to get you motivated. Gone are the days when the DS was so close to your face that you could tell what their last meal was because you smelled it on their breathe. I had one new DS tell me that they could not drop the Soldier for a long period of time, or corrective action couldn't to where the Soldiers were felling picked on. Really? Once we get back into the business of training Soldiers how to be Soldier's (ie...tear them down and re-build, re-mold...whatever you call it), then we will continue to have the spoiled petulant children in our ranks. Stop coddling these adults, because that is what they are, and make them work for the right to be in the United States Military, no matter what branch of the service.

Need to get back to the days when we told whining Soldiers to "Do a Hoover" (Suck it up and move out).

I don't know about "harder", but I'm really interested in seeing how Soldiers react to peer evals. The only time I ever participated in one was during Ranger School and the results weren't pretty when we ended up peering out the Chaplain for not carrying his weight.

Are we prepared as an Army to deal with sheltered 18 year olds who suddenly receive a "you suck at life" from half his/her squad mates?

CPT (Join to see) I graduated in last March and we had Peer evaluations and our last ruck march was supposed to be 16 k but everybody was pretty sure it was at leas 3.2k longer.

What is this "The Force" they keep referring to? Some SGM has a new catch phrase!!!!! When did the Army become "the Force"? I am having a hard time deciding ironically moronic or moronically ironical? When did a Drill SGT become a "training specialist"?

I just find this whole thing a bunch of lip service. They screwed up Basic before 2004 to get anything breathing through so they could deploy. Now that realize that model did not work so they are going to try something new. Let's say, "We screwed up." and go back to pre 2004 and be done with it. Why is there no one left in the Army to stop this type of merry go round policies?

I think that these standards should not only be pushed into Basic Training but for new AIT students as well.