# To keep recruits, US Army boot camp gets revamped.



## Sask HCAO (27 Feb 2006)

Wall Street Journal
February 15, 2006
Pg. 1

To Keep Recruits, Boot Camp Gets A Gentle Revamp
Army Offers More Support, Sleep, Second Helpings

By Greg Jaffe

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- New recruits used to be welcomed to boot camp here with the "shark attack." For decades, drill sergeants in wide-brim hats would swarm around the fresh-off-the-bus privates, shouting orders. Some rattled recruits would make mistakes. A few would cry.

Today, the Army is opting for a quieter approach. "I told my drill sergeants to stop the nonsense," says Col. Edward Daly, whose basic-training brigade graduates about 11,000 soldiers a year. Last fall, Col. Daly began meeting with all new recruits shortly after they arrive at boot camp to thank them. "We sincerely appreciate the fact that you swore an oath and got on a bus and did it in a time of war," he recently told an incoming class. "That's a big, big deal." He usually is accompanied by two male and two female soldiers, who can answer questions the recruits may have.

"The idea is to get rid of the anxiety and worry," Col. Daly says.

The new welcome is a window on the big changes sweeping boot camp, the Army's nine-week basic training. For most of its existence, boot camp was a place where drill sergeants would weed out the weak and turn psychologically soft civilians into hardened soldiers. But the Army, fighting through one of its biggest recruiting droughts, now is shifting tactics. Boot camp -- that iconic American experience -- may never be the same.

Once-feared drill sergeants have been ordered to yell less and mentor more. "Before, our drill sergeants' attitude was 'you better meet my standard or else.' Now it's 'I am going to do all I can to assist you in meeting the Army standard,' " says Command Sgt. Maj. William McDaniel, the senior enlisted soldier here.

New privates are getting more sleep and personal time. Even the way soldiers eat has changed. Drill sergeants long ordered overweight soldiers to stay away from soda and desserts. Today, soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood fill out a survey about their boot-camp experience that asks, among other questions, if they liked the food, whether they were "allowed to eat everything on the menu, including dessert," and whether there was enough for seconds.

Recruits still must meet the same basic standards and pass the same tests for physical fitness and marksmanship to graduate, say Army officials. But more variable criteria that in the past might get a recruit expelled -- such as whether a drill sergeant thinks a recruit has the discipline and moral values to be a soldier -- have been jettisoned. "Now it doesn't matter what the drill sergeant thinks. We work off of the written standard," says Capt. Christopher Meng, who oversees a company of 11 drill sergeants and about 200 recruits at the base.

The new approach is helping the Army graduate more of its recruits. Last month, only 23 recruits failed to make the cut at Fort Leonard Wood's largest basic-training brigade, compared with 183 in January 2004. Army-wide, about 11% of recruits currently flunk out in their first six months of training, down from 18% last May.

Full Potential

Senior Army officials say attrition has fallen because the new techniques are helping more soldiers reach their full potential. "This generation responds to a more positive leadership approach. They want to serve and they want people to show respect for that decision," says Maj. Gen. Randal Castro, the commanding general at Fort Leonard Wood. Smarter training also is preventing injuries, Army doctors say.

Some drill sergeants worry that the "kinder and gentler approach" -- as drill sergeants have dubbed the changes -- is producing softer soldiers. "If the privates can't handle the stress of a drill sergeant yelling at them, how will they handle the stress of bullets flying over their head?" asked Staff Sgt. Clayton Nagel as he watched his recruits file past him in the Fort Leonard Wood dining hall. "War is stressful. I think we overcorrected."

The Army's decision to overhaul basic training came last spring. The service was having a hard time bringing in new recruits. It ultimately missed its 2005 recruiting goals for active-duty troops by 7,000 soldiers, or 8%, and National Guard soldiers by 13,000 or 20%.

Meanwhile, boot-camp attrition was climbing. New soldiers brought in to replace those who were tossed out weren't much better. "We realized that the further you go into the barrel, the lower the quality," says Col. Kevin Shwedo, a senior officer in the Army's Training and Doctrine Command in Virginia.

A team of 20 officers from the Army's training command was formed to figure out how the service could help more soldiers survive the first six months. They consulted sociologists and psychiatrists and even flew in MTV's senior vice president of strategy and planning, in search of fresh ideas for motivating today's youth.

The changes, put in place this fall at all five of the Army's basic-training camps, are apparent the moment recruits step off the bus at Fort Leonard Wood. On a chilly Tuesday in January, about 200 new recruits in white Army sweat suits filed into a big auditorium on the base for one of Col. Daly's welcome-to-the-Army talks. Staff Sgt. Mike Gilmore grabbed a microphone and told the recruits what was going to happen: "The brigade commander is going to talk to you. He is a colonel. He is way up here. You are way down here," Sgt. Gilmore explained.

He then coached the recruits on how to spring to attention when Col. Daly entered the room. "When I say 'attention,' you stand up. That's it. You don't say nothing. You do it quietly as possible."

"Attention!" Sgt. Gilmore ordered. The recruits rose slowly and unevenly.

"Could we all just stand up together?" Sgt. Gilmore said, sounding more let down than angry. "It would look so much nicer."

A few minutes later, Col. Daly, a Special Forces soldier who served in Afghanistan and was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in the U.S. invasion of Panama, strode into the room. He told the recruits to take a deep breath and a swig from their canteens. "There is no problem that you might have that in last 230 years the Army hasn't already heard," he said.

The recruits then got 40 minutes to fire questions at the four privates accompanying Col. Daly. One recruit asked if any of the privates had failed the Army's physical-fitness test. (Two struggled with it but eventually passed.) Others wanted to know how often they got to talk on the phone (once a week), how long they got for showers (five minutes) and how many hours of sleep they got a night (8 hours). A few asked if they had any regrets about enlisting. All four said no.

Too Easy

After the session, Pvt. Angela Holmquest, one of the privates brought in to answer questions, said she worried that basic training had become too easy. "The drill sergeants tell us we are in the low-stress Army. I'd rather be in the old Army. When we need to lock it up and work together as a team we can. But we should be more disciplined than we are," she said.

In recent months, the Army has told drill sergeants to back off the recruits in the dining halls as well. A few months ago, sergeants would hover over new recruits, rushing them through meals, quizzing them about Army regulations and chastising them for minor infractions like carrying their drinking glass with one hand instead of two.

The dining hall still is far from relaxing. But drill sergeants no longer shout at recruits. They aren't allowed to order overweight privates to skip dessert. At first, some drill sergeants refused to embrace the new directive. "There was a lot of balking on the dessert rule," says Capt. Meng, who oversees 11 drill sergeants. "I have had to say, 'Don't even mention it.' "

The Army also has cut the amount of running troops do in boot camp by more than 60% in the past three years. "A lot of these kids have never done P.E. or sports. We were injuring too many by running too much," says Col. Greg Jolissaint, an Army physician with the command that sets baseline standards for boot camp.

Instead of running, privates do more calisthenics and stretching. They also are spending more time learning the basic combat tasks they will need in Iraq or Afghanistan, such as how to spot a roadside bomb. Last month, Sgt. First Class Kevin Staddie, who spent a year in Iraq, was teaching soldiers how to move through a city under enemy fire. Suddenly he called a halt to the exercise. A private who was slithering on his belly lost his only canteen. Sgt. Staddie asked the private if he knew the temperature in Baghdad in August.

"It is 115 degrees," the sergeant said in an even voice. "Will you give me a solemn promise that you'll do a better job securing your canteen? You'll get a whole lot further."

The private nodded and rushed to continue the exercise.

Soldiers also get a few more chances to succeed, say drill sergeants. Not long after she arrived at boot camp, Pvt. Starr Mosley was accused by another soldier of writing letters home when she was supposed to be training. Her drill sergeant ordered the 18-year-old private to crawl on her belly through the barracks and chant: "I will not write letters in the war room."

Pvt. Mosley, who said she wasn't writing letters, refused. The Army offered her a fresh start in a new platoon. There she struggled to meet the service's marksmanship standards, her drill sergeant says. Sgt. Darren Baker, her new drill sergeant, spent hours coaching her. "Without him I would have quit," Pvt. Mosley says. "He was down there in the dirt helping me."

A year ago, a drill sergeant wouldn't have taken as much time working with one struggling soldier. Today it is part of the job. "We're all working more one-on-one with the privates," Sgt. Baker says.

Soldiers with certain medical conditions get more help as well. Recruits with mild asthma now are allowed to carry inhalers with them. Privates who come to the Army with a history of mild depression now can take Paxil or Zoloft. Both changes, pushed through last fall, are "contributing to the lower attrition overall," says Col. Jolissaint, the physician.

Some basic-training facilities also are setting up special units for soldiers who are hurt or out of shape. In August, Col. Daly created a "Warrior Rehab" unit for injured recruits. Before the unit's creation, soldiers hurt during training often would go home to heal. The vast majority never came back.

Soldiers in Warrior Rehab practice marksmanship, take classes on map reading and do low-impact workouts in the base's indoor pool. So far, 170 soldiers have passed through the program. Only 30 have quit basic training.

Last month, about 40 members of the unit gathered in their barracks for a class on how to ambush the enemy with an M-18 Claymore antipersonnel mine. The troops included Pvt. Matthew Brent, a 29-year-old former hotel manager, who enlisted because he "wanted a personal challenge." He came to boot camp overweight at 5-foot-10, 220 pounds and quickly went down with tendinitis in his ankle. In his five months in Warrior Rehab, Pvt. Brent has lost 57 pounds.

Next to him was Pvt. Richard Hodgson, who has been with the rehab unit since it started in August, trying to recover from stress fractures. He was having doubts about his ability to stick it out. "I've just lost my motivation. I was supposed to have graduated in September and I am still stuck here," he said. The sergeants in Warrior Rehab have been working hard to convince him to stay. "I've had a few mother-son type conversations with him," says Staff Sgt. Nicole Waters, one of the drill sergeants. "We talk about his goals in life. This job is a lot more mental than the typical drill sergeant job."

Not all Army commanders have embraced the new approach to basic training. Col. Daly says one of the 14 company commanders he oversees is a "gung-ho combat arms officer, who right now is just killing me."

Recently, one of that commander's recruits brought a round of live ammunition back from the rifle range, which isn't allowed. The bullet was found by a drill sergeant in the barracks common room. As punishment, the commander ordered the entire unit, which numbers 60 soldiers, to don their helmets when eating in the dining facility. He then threatened to send all the privates, who were just two weeks from graduation, back to the beginning of basic training.

Col. Daly bristled when he heard about the threat. "I am not going to keep 60 soldiers back because one guy made a mistake," the colonel says he told the commander.

Instead, Col. Daly ordered the commander to have his drill sergeants do a better job of searching the recruits' pockets for extra ammunition when they leave the range.

"The commander's leadership style has got to change," says Col. Daly, noting that the commander's recruits have gone absent without leave at more than twice the rate of any other unit in the past two months.

Even among those units that have embraced the new approach, there is debate about whether the changes have been too much, too fast. "It's a hot topic," says Capt. Meng, another one of Col. Daly's company commanders.

Like many of his fellow commanders, Capt. Meng spent a year in Iraq, in a tour that ended in 2004. He was second in command of a 100-soldier armor company. In the past six months, the West Point graduate has been in the forefront in reducing attrition, overseeing drill sergeants and recruits.

Last month, a few dozen of Capt. Meng's privates clambered onto olive-green trucks for one of their final boot-camp exercises. The troops, traveling in an Iraq-style convoy, were "hit" by a series of smoke-spewing roadside bombs. Enemy fighters, represented by pop-up targets, sprung from nearby prairie grass. A broad-shouldered drill sergeant ordered a counterattack.

Instead of leaping off the back of the truck, as they would in a typical exercise, or in actual combat, the privates waited about 10 seconds for someone to walk to the back of the truck and place a ladder on its rear bumper. They then climbed down the 5-foot drop, one at a time.

Falling Short

Capt. Meng conceded it wasn't realistic. He said the Army couldn't afford to have privates twist ankles and wrench knees just a few days before their final physical fitness test. "A few months ago attrition was seen as a good thing," he says. "It meant we were sending higher quality troops to the Army."

Now he says he is racking his brain for new ways to motivate more soldiers who are falling short of the Army's standards. He recently petitioned Col. Daly to let his troops have an extra half-hour of sleep on top of the 30 minutes of additional shuteye all recruits were granted last fall. Standard boot camp sleeping hours are now 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. His troops rise at 5:30 a.m.

"It has been great for morale," Capt. Meng says. "A soldier's happiness is directly proportional to the amount of sleep he gets."

The Iraq veteran says his boot-camp troops are in many ways better prepared for combat than their predecessors were. They spend far more time working with their M-16 rifles and more time in the field training on critical combat tasks like defending a base camp from insurgent attacks.

Asked if his soldiers are as disciplined and tough as their predecessors, Capt. Meng pauses. "There are some who feel we are not sending as high a quality soldier to the Army....I am not smart enough to tell you," he says.

In the near term, he has other worries. "The commanding general's No. 1 priority here is to support the war," he says. "In order to do that right now we have to graduate more privates."
_____________________________________________________________________________

 Any thoughts, comments?


----------



## Sh0rtbUs (27 Feb 2006)

First thing that came to mind, "Oh no! They're canadian'ising!!"  :'(


----------



## chrisf (27 Feb 2006)

Some good ideas, some bad ideas... over all, can't see it improving their quality of troop.


----------



## jmackenzie_15 (27 Feb 2006)

Sh0rtbUs said:
			
		

> First thing that came to mind, "Oh no! They're canadian'ising!!"  :'(



lol my thoughts exactly.


----------



## ExistancE (28 Feb 2006)

Some of the things in there really make me wonder. Aside from wondering how anyone can get more than 4 hours of sleep a night even if they are lucky on basic and how eating with a lid is a punishment, I wonder why they aren't teaching personal responsibility, as suggested by the range incident and a Pte. refusing to take her punishment, even if she felt she had been wronged. What I really wonder, from my very limited knowledge, is why they think sending lower quality troops overseas will do anything but increase casualties and make recruitment continually harder.


----------



## jmackenzie_15 (28 Feb 2006)

They have no choice.... theyre hitting the bottom of the barrell. Theyve been wide open recruiting since before the war started.. most of the high quality, motivated soldiers have already gone through... you can't grow brand new 18 year olds overnight.

Alot of the troops going now are doing it to pay bills, and to get into school. That's their motivation, not to fight the war. 
At least thats what I gathered from quite a few of them when I was down south last week.

The longer the war goes on, the lower quality the new recruits get.


----------



## MikeL (28 Feb 2006)

The rehab thing they got for injured troops sounds good, same with getting troops training that is similar to what they'd see overseas like convoy ops, spotting IEDs, etc.


But, the rest of it is pussifing basic. Having overweight people cut down on fattie foods an dessert is something that should happen so they can drop the extra pounds... but now its not allowed?


8 hours of sleep a night... I barely got 6 on mine

60% less running?



Lowering standards may be great to increase number, but than your getting weaker solders who aren't properly prepared.


I can't believe people fail the APFT, its not that hard, anyone in decent shape can pass it.


----------



## Quiet Riot (28 Feb 2006)

What really gets me is the part about the soldier bringing the live round back from the range, instead of putting the fault on the recruit he says the DI should check the recruits pockets better.   I am sure they get the same lectures as us about bringing stuff back from the range live or not, just seems they are taking away the personal accountability of the troops.  Same with the recruit refusing to take punishment for something she did wrong. 
Then there's the part about the overwieght troops being allowed to eat all they can handle and go back for seconds.   Do these changes only go for the army, or do the marines have to follow it too?


----------



## Michael Dorosh (28 Feb 2006)

Quiet Riot said:
			
		

> What really gets me is the part about the soldier bringing the live round back from the range, instead of putting the fault on the recruit he says the DI should check the recruits pockets better.   I am sure they get the same lectures as us about bringing stuff back from the range live or not, just seems they are taking away the personal accountability of the troops.  Same with the recruit refusing to take punishment for something she did wrong.
> Then there's the part about the overwieght troops being allowed to eat all they can handle and go back for seconds.   Do these changes only go for the army, or do the marines have to follow it too?



If lardass can meet the physical requirements of the job, there's no reason to stop him from eating.  And since they apparently got rid of most of the running....


----------



## foerestedwarrior (28 Feb 2006)

> Recruits still must meet the same basic standards and pass the same tests for physical fitness and marksmanship to graduate, say Army officials.



Apparently they meet the same standards, just deal with less crap from the DI during Boot.


----------



## MikeL (28 Feb 2006)

Quiet Riot, these new standards for BCT are just at the one base. Not sure if any other bases that run BCT are gonna do the same. I doubt BCT/OSUT at Ft Benning and other Combat Arms training bases would change though.


----------



## Quiet Riot (28 Feb 2006)

Ah I see, I thought they were just using that base as an example of the new system.   And I guess you're right micheal, if they still can pass the standards it doesn't really matter how much food they eat.


----------



## Bobbyoreo (28 Feb 2006)

"First thing that came to mind, "Oh no! They're canadian'ising!!"  

I dont even think thats close. I've worked with the US a few times in Fort Knox and too see how they treat their troops...and how "well" trained they are. I still think we are held to a higher standard as bad as that sounds. I think it is us that are getting softer now.


----------



## Bobert (28 Feb 2006)

Well that is the U.S. Army. I would imagine the Navy and Air Force are similar, but the Marines would never change would they? Any Marines or other servicemen/ women care to comment? From reading this article some of things are good, but others like having steps to get down from a truck that is supposed to be under fire is not.


----------



## Forgotten_Hero (1 Mar 2006)

> Senior Army officials say attrition has fallen because the new techniques are helping more soldiers reach their full potential. "This generation responds to a more positive leadership approach. They want to serve and they want people to show respect for that decision," says Maj. Gen. Randal Castro, the commanding general at Fort Leonard Wood.



Precicely why they shouldnt give it to them. They should learn to deal with not getting what they want.  

And sure, its good that this technique, consisting of the instructors helping the recruits achieve something is helping recruits attein their full potential, but isnt it just as important, if not more important, to teach them to achieve that same thing either by themselves, or have the recruits help as a group?


----------



## Jaxson (1 Mar 2006)

I Would think the recruits helping eachother would be more beneficial in the team work department, but who better to teach you and give you much needed help, then those who have already been there? I always found in school, a good teacher was the difference between me trying my hardest each and every day and me doing enough to pass with a decent mark, a good teacher can always make you believe in yourself and what your capable of, alot more then you think they could.


----------



## Synthos (1 Mar 2006)

These recruits get a heck of a lot more sleep than we do on our weekend basic 0_0.

I think that they should adopt a more happy medium than what they had/have. If they feel the need to pass more recruits then making it "softer" may be just the trick. The question is really how many more of the less than ideal soldiers are getting through the system? If it's a lot, then how big of a burden will they be later on?


----------



## Bobbyoreo (2 Mar 2006)

"so how many is a few times, and please describe your how "well trained" they are comment."

Well to start off with I've gone down to Ft Knox twice and twice Ive seen some really different stuff!!

1. The obstacle course. We in Canada run thur it with helmets, rifles, webbing and sometimes Ive seen heavy weapons with the groups as well. The US troops that stopped to watch us were very shocked that we were allowed to wear more then our helmets. The 1st Sgt we talk to said his troops only wear helmets and thats it.

2. Grenade range. We in Canada wear helmets, body armour and webbing. We get out grenades and walk down to the range. Prep them and throw them. Once again the 1st Sgt said we were very trusting people as they only allow the soldiers to wear body armour and helmets as alot of the troop catch their hands on the webbing straps and drop the grenade either in the hole or not very far. He also told us that the staff preps the grenades in the hole and hands them one at a time.

I know small things but it just seemed funny to me.

Plus Ive deployed twice and those two times I've worked with US Army and Marines and I found alot of well trained troops. Just from my personal experience I think the Canadians are better trained....or at least use to be.


----------



## tomahawk6 (3 Mar 2006)

Typical TRADOC nonsense. First BCT is toughened up because we found that support units were not trained to protect themselves. Now its too tough ? To top it off pre-deployment training is going to be toughened up.
Seem's like a disconnect here.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-06-army-training_x.htm


----------



## enfield (3 Mar 2006)

Bobbyoreo said:
			
		

> Just from my personal experience I think the Canadians are better trained....or at least use to be.



My reserve unit (inf) just came back from working with a National Guard element of the 10th Mtn Div. They are so far ahead of the Militia in terms of operational experience that we're barely in the same book. The Americans consistently demonstrated a maturity, professionalism, and level of skill that only 'playing the game' for real can produce. Whatever stereotypes we used to have about Americans have to go out the window - they've been at war for five years, and it shows.


----------



## Sh0rtbUs (3 Mar 2006)

Enfield said:
			
		

> My reserve unit (inf) just came back from working with a National Guard element of the 10th Mtn Div. They are so far ahead of the Militia in terms of operational experience that we're barely in the same book. The Americans consistently demonstrated a maturity, professionalism, and level of skill that only 'playing the game' for real can produce. Whatever stereotypes we used to have about Americans have to go out the window - they've been at war for five years, and it shows.



Thank you. Bobbyoreo, I think your idea of 'deployment' is a lot different than those you're placing below you. The quote "Only the strong have the luxury of appearing weak" comes to mind (or at least something to that effect). They've been in warzones, simple and sweet. No amount of 'deployments' with your unit for training Ex's, is going to come close to amounting to the experience they have.

The Georgian National Guard have a leg up, period.


----------



## tomahawk6 (4 Mar 2006)

Top five reasons recruits fail basic. To allow soldiers to drop out of basic without fulfilling their contract is wrong. During the draft days the only way out was to be killed in training. I think it sends the wrong message to kids that if they dont like something they can just quit.

http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,030206-5-reasons-people-fail-boot-camp,00.html?ESRC=recruiting-b.nl


----------



## Bobbyoreo (6 Mar 2006)

"Thank you. Bobbyoreo, I think your idea of 'deployment' is a lot different than those you're placing below you. The quote "Only the strong have the luxury of appearing weak" comes to mind (or at least something to that effect). They've been in warzones, simple and sweet. No amount of 'deployments' with your unit for training Ex's, is going to come close to amounting to the experience they have."

Maybe I didn't make this really clear. I am talking about their basic not the guys that go over into war zones. I've worked with great people in the US army and Marines. I guess I painted them all with the same brush but that is how I saw it and how alot of people saw it. You can ask the first deployment of Canadians into Afgan 2001 about what they saw with 10th MTN in the Mtns. You'll see that our training anit half bad!!!


----------



## Bart Nikodem (6 Mar 2006)

> Pvt. Angela Holmquest, one of the privates brought in to answer questions, said she worried that basic training had become too easy. "The drill sergeants tell us we are in the low-stress Army. I'd rather be in the old Army.


That was the funniest comment in the whole piece. Yeah, Pvt. Holmquest, basic is super easy now, not like when you did yours in the "old army", 18 months ago.
I thought it was only CF policy to talk about how hard your basic was compared to the slackness of today. Because let me tell you how hard my basic was. We had to get up at.....etc.
All the best
Bart


----------



## Noid (16 Mar 2006)

More fuel for the fire:

"Military Candidates Fall Short", Washington Times, Mar. 13, 2006

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060313-120147-8858r.htm


----------



## CougarKing (10 Oct 2007)

Here's a little update to add to this thread: US Army BCT extended from 9 weeks to 10 weeks!

Any thoughts on this, folks?

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,152237,00.html



> Army Extends Basic Training to Ten Weeks
> Army News Service  |  By John Harlow  |  October 10, 2007
> FORT MONROE, Va. - In early November, Basic Combat Training will expand from nine to 10 weeks at all five Army BCT sites: Fort Jackson, S.C., Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Benning, Ga.
> 
> ...


----------

