Should trainees be allowed to quit basic training?

Yes they should, i dont want them watching my back in combat if they quit during basic.

It's a contract that you signed and volunteered for! Why make it easier for those to quit when the going gets tough! I was not a man when I entered Basic Training, but sure was when I graduated! Military service is an honorable profession and one of the core values of the Army is HONOR! Be a Man/Woman and honor your commitment and contract!

I am in general agreement with most of the responses that say that new recruits should be allowed to quit. I don't think it should be easy, but I do think that if people find out that the military is not for them, then they should be given an opportunity to terminate their contract. As for the consequences of terminating their contract, it should be under the category of general discharge and incur no significant hardships, but give no rewards whatsoever.

My thought is this: why do we want people who don't want to be here? Any good organization should be built around individuals that want to be there. If people don't want to be part of an organization, but are required to, they are usually low performers and detrimental to the overall organization.
I think giving people an out in the early stages of training would help eliminate some of the problems we face as an organization. It's about creating an organization of people that want to be here and are motivated to do a difficult job. All good organizations and all good businesses have to work hard to keep good people and often get rid of people that "need" to be there.

I do offer a solution: Create an military-wide program (branch specific, Active and Reserve) that both evaluates and indoctrinates recruits prior to attending Basic Training. The Army National Guard has been doing this for years with their Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP). For three to six months prior to shipping to Basic, recruits attend a one-weekend-a-month drill intended to prepare them for Basic Training. During those drills, the new enlistments are given a PT test, complete administrative paperwork and learn Skill Level 1 Warrior Tasks. I think expanding that program throughout the military and making it a requirement for all new enlistments would greatly improve the military's ability to prepare and screen new recruits prior to their attendance to Basic Training.
I spent seven months as a RSP Instructor/SGL and during that time, there were recruits that decided the military was not for them as were able to terminate their contract (it was not an easy process, but easier than doing so at Basic Training).

In my humble opinion: The drill sargents should a go / no go a recruit in the end of basic....or alow the recruits to not continued to AIT

Yes sir .....I agree ....u can't never quit...never want that have my back ....never would trust em......can't finish basic training ....wow ........coward ...gave up ? Not exceptable

I say let them quit, but only allow them to do it like within a few weeks of basic. The military already has enough shitbags in it already, would be nice not to have them stay. When they are discharged it should be like if they never went in and take back there pay.

Lots of opinions here, but what is really needed are metrics. Do Soldiers who create problems in Basic Training ever adapt to being good service members and at what rate?

In the small population that I can personally discuss (my own Basic Training class), many good trainees ultimately had trouble in the regular force and either chaptered out or got out at the end of their initial enlistment. In other words, their Basic Training performance did not predict their actual performance. Some marginal trainees are still in...and still marginal...and we have been paying them a paycheck for 8 years and getting not much out of them (almost all are still E-4s). I am beginning to worry they will make it to retirement and get a check for the rest of their lives. We should have shown them the door (waiting for more leaders to catch on to using the "bar to reenlistment"). The worst trainees, the ones who make histrionic suicide claims, spent almost the entire time at sick call, etc. never finished Basic but were on the rolls (getting paid) for the entire cycle - some were still there when classmates finished AIT. 100% of these trainees (and I use that term for clarity, not description) would have quit if we would have let them. We should have let them. Their fake medical issues caused injured trainees to have to wait for hours. We probably spent at least 2 or 3 times on these wash outs then we spent on graduates.

I understand what it means to sign a contract, but understand that there are BIG costs to the military for forcing people who don't want to be there or don't belong into staying. The biggest cost, which a few people have pointed out, is that it hurts the image of military service and interferes with creating a professional force. In high school, I had two friends who were separately sentenced to military service (different cases, different judges). It caused me to view military service as akin to jail and did impact my decision to join after high school. We should have a reputation for kicking people out of Basic Training, not forcing people to stay in. Look at other things that function that way: medical/law school, Ranger School/Special Forces, firefighter/police academy, etc.

It should be hard to get accepted to even attempt Basic Training, and then finishing Basic Training should be a demonstration of your personal will, not something you cannot escape from...like prison. Just this one change would go a long way to change public perception of the Armed Forces. Yes, people thank us for our service, but deep down, many Americans still see us as a necessary evil and not as professionals.

I'm fine with the idea. If someone can't make it through 8 weeks of basic training - especially with as easy as it has become - then by all means chapter/get out. It may hurt the individual for a while if they got a chapter discharge, but the military isn't for everyone. Not to mention it would save millions of dollars not having to send them to AIT, pay them in the future, or pay their eduation cost (TA and GI Bill).

Choices have consequences, but does the military want Soldiers/Marines/Airmen that will choose to quit at the first sign of adversity?

In the Army, a Chapter 11(Entry Level Separation) is the method for separating "quitters". If a Trainee refuses to train, they are refusing the lawful orders of a non commissioned officer and are subject to UCMJ (usually an Art15) followed by separation.

The By refusing to separation "quitters", we are pushing a problem on to the operational force. In the long run, that will cost the military more resources, in time and money. I'd rather see BCT a a filter. High standards in initial entry standard create a better foundation for the fighting force.

It’s a sad reflection on our society, when it gets tough or hard just quit and collect free shit for life, no effort required. They should be put in the stocks and let the Sr classes torment them and pelt them with rotten fruit. Embarrass them then give then a dishonorable discharge that sticks fir life, you signed a contract, you took an oath...twice, anytime before that you could have just gone home.