BASIC Training (Week 1) 1966 VS 1996 VS 2016

While funny, it's not that far from reality sir. In my opinion we're failing our young troops. Our senior leaders wonder why we struggle with resiliency, yet the answer has been in front of us for years. Coddling recruits does not prepare them for the stress of combat or even a rigorous training environment. In my opinion it is better for them to learn how to cope with stress in a controlled environment such as IET than when bullets start flying over their head. Our NCOs and Drill Sergeants should not be walking on eggshells over climate surveys either. We need to empower our NCO leadership to develop tough and resilient Soldiers instead of empowering Privates to hamstring their leadership.

24 hours with with my nephew, Private Benjamin

Due to a SNAFU in Private Benjamin's orders (I know he'll be glad when he gets promoted), the good Soldier did not get to ship with his cohorts on the Thursday of graduation day. There were about five members of his squadron (Calvary term for company) that fell into this black hole and did not ship. So he eventually shipped on the following Monday.

What this did was to allow him to get a 24 hour pass and for me to spend 24 hours with this young man that I have not had the opportunity to do over the last couple of years. The first thing that impressed me is how much he had matured since the last time we were together.

We were able to eat and I watched him devour a Subway footlong in the time it took me to barely get mine unwrapped, take in a movie, John Wick: Chapter 2, his choice, and provide him a comfortable bed that had bigger dimensions than a typical house door. He had been up till 0200 (2 AM for civilians) the night before getting ready to clear barracks and then was up at 0400 to get ready for graduation.

He was able to take a long hot shower without having to share the experience with 48 of his closest friends and had the best breakfast that the Hampton Inn could provide. I didn't know you could pile that much stuff on a waffle.

During those hours together I tried to impart upon him what wisdom that I had learned in my 40 years in uniform that I thought he would benefit from in these, the early days of his Army service, for which he seemed grateful.

We spent some Thursday touring the National Infantry Museum that he didn't get to see during the dinner on Wednesday and on Friday morning we came across a real gem; the Armor Museum Restoration Shop for all of the armored vehicles that one day will be part of the new National Armor Museum. After a VERY informative history lesson from the manager, we basically had free reign of the facility, which made Private Benjamin as happy as a pig in slop.

The tell of the tape. Here are some differences between Private Joe Payne and Ben Payne joining the Army 44 years apart.

In October of 1973 when I joined the Army, I was a married 19 year old, 6'3", weighed in at 144 when I entered basic and 155 when I graduated. Needless to say I was skinny. We didn't have PT uniforms back then, hell we didn't even have running shoes! Our PT uniform was taking off our green fatigue uniform tops, unblousing our pants and running in black leather boots with hard leather soles. My Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) consisted of the inverted or crab crawl, the run dodge and jump, the horizontal ladder bars, the bent leg sit up and the one mile run. I had the M-1 steel pot helmet basically unchanged since World War II and was trained on the same M-16 A-1 rifle with iron sights used in Vietnam. My base pay was $307 per month.

Ben on the other hand, entered the Army in October of 2017 and while being twenty is not only single, but still hasn't gotten his civilian drivers license yet. He is 5'6" short, started basic at 147 and left at 144. He wears the new fire retardant, insect repelling, infrared detection suppressing Army Combat Uniform with the Operational Camouflage Pattern, which Soldiers just commonly refer to as OCPs. He wears never shine Corfram dress shoes and suede boots with rubber soles, a high tech PT uniform with wicking t-short, shorts and quality running shoes. His brass is a version of Stay Brite and he'll never wear his fingers out using Brasso to remove the lacquer off and shine his new brass or know get to know the smell of black Kiwi Polish when spit polishing his boots and low quarters. His current APFT consists of the pushup, the sit-up and the two mile run. He wears the latest model of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) that was fielded in 2003, constructed mostly of Kevlar. He trained on a M-4 carbine with a Close Combat Optic (CCO) sight and never trained with iron sites, but did with night vision goggles. The base pay for an E-1 today is $1576 a month, still not enough for my point of view.

So I wish my nephew Ben well as he embarks on his new military career, reminding him that like most things in life, your military experience depends on how much you decide to invest in it, both physically and mentally. Take advantage of any opportunities that come your way and under the new retirement system, he needs to first invest in himself before spending money on other things. God look over him and keep him safe as he starts his new journey.

Upon graduation from the Leadership Academy in '71, we were simply put on the trail and took our cues from the SDI. There were no expressed rules regarding the 'trainees' as they were called then, you just used your head, exercised common sense and carried out the training schedule.

There was a phrase my father (WWII veteran - the 'brown boot army' as he liked to call it, and by '71, a CSM in a reserve Infantry unit) would offer on certain occasions which I used as a bit of a guide. He'd say: "You can't make a man out of a boy using kid gloves." He meant it and I believed it - that is how he raised me!
(I'd frankly be surprised if young people today even know what kid gloves are)
None the less, we were serious about our jobs since the Army was still fighting in Viet Nam and our boys were still coming home in flag draped coffins. It seemed urgently necessary to be less than kind so as to steel their hearts and spines - we were training Infantry soldiers who were going to be fighting a very capable and determined adversary and we really did care that they stayed alive.

The demasculinization of the DS began in the late 1970's with no longer being able to either touch the trainee (who was now called a "soldier in training") or use any harshness in their speech.
Further, no mass punishment was allowed nor was any ridiculing of a soldiers poor performance.

Regardless of the restrictions placed upon the Drill Sergeants, it does not appear that it has had any real ill-effects as is evidenced by the professionalism and durability of our current crop of warriors.
BCT and CA-AIT are tough experiences for anyone, regardless of how they are administered.
It serves no practical or useful purpose to become physically or profanely abusive with a trainee (yes, to me they aren't a soldier until they have graduated - IMHO) there are many other ways to make a point.

The Soviet (now Russian) army has proven this by using the training opportunity for the NCO to bond with the men - he is akin to an 'uncle' who has a special interest in their success. It seems to have been quite successful for them and we could probably take a page or two out of their book.
If you haven't studied Russian military unit management at the NCO level, it is an interesting topic.