Those who served in the Marine Corps enjoy picking on the Army because of its reputation as the softer of the two ground-combat services.
But this is getting ridiculous.
From Stars and Stripes this Sunday:
The platoon of 70 greenhorn soldiers rested on the barracks tile floor during a recent evening of Army basic combat training, while their drill sergeant, Megan Slone, gave a final lesson for the day about how to sight a rifle. Half of the soldiers had never shot a gun before, which was fine with Slone. That meant fewer bad habits to fix before qualification time.
"If you are scared to fire a weapon, that’s OK," said Slone, 27, assuring the kick isn’t bad and ample practice time at the range. "You are going to shoot three rounds, five rounds, and then you are going to be OK. I promise. You will be fine."
Later she said physical training exercise the following morning would be held inside because of cold weather.
The mild tempo defies the "Full Metal Jacket" image of a profane drill instructor barking out orders to terrified privates. It’s exactly the kind of new relationship today’s military wants to see between drill instructors and trainees.
The piece is headlined, "More female drill sergeants help change cadence at Fort Leonard Wood." The tone is clearly meant to be positive, though it is not clear why the reporter writing the piece thinks that associating female drill instructors with a virtual caricature of soft, ineffective military training portrays these pioneering soldiers in a more positive light. Cooing words of encouragement if recruits are afraid of a rifle’s recoil? Physical training to be held inside … because of the cold?
The piece makes a point of quoting a recruit who notes that, "Sometimes (the female drill sergeants) are a little stricter, other times it’s the other way around." But the strangest part of the article is the surreal tone of acceptance that this approach to basic training is in any way acceptable, regardless of the sex of the instructors.
In a wider sense, Slone’s ability to show a gentler approach is consistent with a transformation of basic training. It’s a shift designed to forge a new skill set as the nation transitions from lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today, the Army is training new soldiers to be "apprentice thinkers." Their first assignment likely won’t be in battle.
No doubt. American troops are going nowhere fast under the present administration, and many of the troops in this co-ed training program will not have combat jobs. But some of them will, and if history is any guide, there will be another war, which may start at a time and place not of our choosing. When it comes, the soldiers graduating from this questionable training regime will find that there are things out there that are a lot scarier than a rifle’s recoil. The battlefield might even get a little cold. Let’s hope that these "apprentice thinkers" will be able to "transition" back into an ability to fight when the time comes—because their leaders, and their drill instructors, are failing to prepare them today.