What mandatory training should the Army get rid of?

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:38:19 -0400

The Army has reviewed all mandatory training in order to reduce the amount of time we spend doing non-MOS related training. It has gone back and forth within the upper levels of the Army. From the ground level though, what do you think we need to remove? The virtual SERE training is one of the top 5 I can think of.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2016 6:41 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:41:26 -0400

I figured I'd ask a military question about training of all things in the midst of all these political discussions. What the heck.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2016 6:55 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 18:55:08 -0400

Only training I can remember right now was IT-related - annual IA, PII, social media, and a few others. I thought they were good training, though. Maybe a bit drawn out.

Response by MSG Mitch Dowler made Mar 15 at 2016 7:12 PM

MSG Mitch Dowler — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:12:37 -0400

Remove all the political correctness type of training. I remember sensitivity training, equal opportunity training, sexual harassment training, race of the month training, etc.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Mar 15 at 2016 7:35 PM

SGT Dave Tracy — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:35:11 -0400

The B.S. MRT training.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2016 8:06 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:06:16 -0400

Annual security refresher training. (Make it so you don't have to do it if you don't have a clearance) Resiliency training--gone. Sharp should stay, but be completely revamped. Focus on the right/wrong/moral aspect rather than a crapton of definitions and contact numbers. Do my joes really need to know the definition of quid pro quo? or is ITS WRONG!!! not good enough? TARP should be replace with "see something, say something." Drivers licensing should be streamlined. Changing companies shouldn't cost me my drivers license, and vehicles should stay on license even if the soldiers unit isn't MTOED the vehicle. Accident avoidance can get the axe. In fact I can't think of a single online mandatory training that I find valuable.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2016 8:36 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:36:32 -0400

Easy. Let's scrap EVERY last bit of online/mandatory training that's out there. Start fresh with some basic set of guidelines:
A. Total training will not exceed 80 hrs for the entire TY.
B. TRADOC published 1 set of PP slides (not to exceed 20-25 slides). Those are the MASTER slides for the whole service. TRADOC is responsible for keeping them up to date etc. Real simple to create a share file to download and use on TRADOC's homepage.
C. Revamp SSD's and fix the damn website. Soldiers should not have to wait to be loaded to complete the courses. And while they're at it. Let ALL ranks do ALL the SSD's.
D. Bring back the SQT's!!. Each proponent schoolhouse is responsible for establishing and monitoring it. Ie: MCoE handles Infantry and Armor. Etc.

Makes sense to me.

Response by CPT Mark Gonzalez made Mar 15 at 2016 10:12 PM

CPT Mark Gonzalez — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 22:12:19 -0400

I would keep SHARP and EO. I would eliminate every other one. For everything else the intent can be delivered by NCOs with little to no slides. Return training to the NCOs and away from computer screens with content created by contractors.

Response by CSM Carl Cunningham made Mar 15 at 2016 10:33 PM

CSM Carl Cunningham — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 22:33:58 -0400

If I had to pick one, it would be the Cyber Awareness Challenge. I think you should have to do it the first 5 years in the Army, and then once at every 5 year mark after that. Once you have done it the first five years, you know the difference between right and wrong on a computer. Anything after that is on purpose. Especially with how much technology is in the Army now.

Response by SPC Alexander Brandt made Mar 16 at 2016 4:02 AM

SPC Alexander Brandt — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 04:02:21 -0400

All of it. I can't think of a single piece of mandatory training that really benefited Soldiers or provided real knowledge. If we teach anything, throw up a few slides to teach Soldiers the difference between restricted and unrestricted reporting.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 16 at 2016 7:51 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 07:51:20 -0400

COL Private RallyPoint Member Anything that uses Powerpoint should be deleted, burned or shred to pieces

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 16 at 2016 2:04 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 14:04:21 -0400

Damn near all of it could go and I would cheer it haughtily.
Even the ones that make sense have become a joke in the ranks because they are oft repeated and sandwiched among pointless sessions.
Things have run amok when leaders decide to show that they have "done something" about the problem of the day by making the whole Army miserable rather than focus where the problems lie.

It is interesting that none of these ever "sunset" either.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 16 at 2016 3:46 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 15:46:41 -0400

SERE, Trafficking Persons, GAT, IA Awareness, PHA (Can I see a PA without doing something online), ADSO, Security Clearance JPAS crap, TRiPs. It's so friggin painful to get anything done...Oh and don't forget to do the online survey (Oh you are sending me a reminder for the tenth time, still not doing it).