Army Altering Basic Training To Emphasize A "Warrior Ethos."

[AvesPKS]

Washington Post

The Washington Post (9/8, A19, Loeb) reports, "The US Army is upgrading basic training for officers and enlisted personnel to emphasize combat leadership skills and what officers at the Training and Doctrine Command here are calling the 'warrior ethos.' The moves come after Army leaders concluded that the increasingly high-tech force was becoming too specialized, with too many troops thinking of themselves in terms of their military specialties, not their mastery of marksmanship and other basic combat skills." The Post adds, "The emphasis on the warrior ethos, which will begin in basic training later this year, was set in motion long before an 18-vehicle convoy of the 507th Maintenance Company got lost and was ambushed March 23 by Baathist fighters in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq. But the incident has served to highlight the importance of basic combat skills on the part of all troops in fast-moving, irregular campaigns with hundreds of miles of supply lines and dozens of bases vulnerable to guerrilla and terrorist tactics. Gen. Eric K. Shinseki formally authorized the warrior ethos program in a memo signed in May, a month before he retired as Army chief of staff. A separate initiative being developed here will add a six-week basic leadership course to the training all officers receive, beginning in 2006. The course would come before officers' eight- to 14-week training in their specialties, such as intelligence, infantry or logistics, and emphasize small-unit leadership skills, similar to those possessed by Special Operations forces."

 

[Schadenfroh]

cliff notes?

 

[burnedout]

Most combat-arms officers, NCOs and enlisted already subscribe to this "Warrior Ethos", per se. We called it "Back to the Basics" a few years ago. The concept certainly would help the readiness of CS and CSS troops.

 

[AndrewR]

What? No more stress cards and feel good drill sergeants using "constructive criticism" and positive motivation?

Thank God.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

Originally posted by: AndrewR
What? No more stress cards and feel good drill sergeants using "constructive criticism" and positive motivation?

Thank God.

Nice Can they at least do push-ups in cadence nowadays? The 'kinder, gentler Army of a few years ago could not...no turn-and-bounce for awhile, but I think they brought that back...

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
cliff notes?

drill instructors can cuss at recruits again.