IF you thought basic was going to get you ready...

[goon175]

If you thought basic training was going to get you ready for RASP... think again...

New York Times
August 31, 2010
Pg. 1
Army Revises Training To Deal With Unfit Recruits

By James Dao

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — Dawn breaks at this, the Army’s largest training post, with the reliable sound of fresh recruits marching to their morning exercise. But these days, something looks different.

That familiar standby, the situp, is gone, or almost gone. Exercises that look like pilates or yoga routines are in. And the traditional bane of the new private, the long run, has been downgraded.

This is the Army’s new physical-training program, which has been rolled out this year at its five basic training posts that handle 145,000 recruits a year. Nearly a decade in the making, its official goal is to reduce injuries and better prepare soldiers for the rigors of combat in rough terrain like Afghanistan.

But as much as anything, the program was created to help address one of the most pressing issues facing the military today: overweight and unfit recruits.

“What we were finding was that the soldiers we’re getting in today’s Army are not in as good shape as they used to be,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, who oversees basic training for the Army. “This is not just an Army issue. This is a national issue.”

Full Story

[The Holmchicken]

Good post and a fairly depressing story to read.

[mortar_guy78]

I'm all about combat focused PT, and I do think that pushups, situps and 2 mile run are not necessarily the best things to prepare for what we do in combat, but Pilates? C'mon.

If they revamped PT to create better, stronger warriors that would be one thing. Revamping it to deal with fat, weak recruits is another.

[Slowpoke]

I really, really tried to do this several times in my younger days, and wasn't able to:

Another study found that at one training center in 2002, 3 recruits suffered stress fractures of the pubic bone, but last year the number rose to 39. The reason, General Hertling said: not enough weight-bearing exercise and a diet heavy on sugared sodas and energy drinks but light in calcium and iron.

Under General Hertling, the new regimen will also include a makeover of the mess halls at its training bases. At Fort Jackson, there are more green leafy vegetables, less fried food, and milk instead of soda. The food line includes color-coded messages to encourage privates to eat low-fat entrees (marked in green).

They didn't have this problem when I was in the Army, there was only one entree. You just went through the chow line, took everything they gave you, and kept your fuckin' mouth shut. When you got to a table, you might be able to trade something you didn't like with somebody else. Enjoyment had nothing to do with the mess hall, you ate it, but you didn't have to worry about whether you liked it or not.......it was better than going hungry! All of the meals were nutritionaly well balanced. You weren't going to be malnourished eating the food, but you sure as hell weren't going to get fat either.

[Silverback]

FORT JACKSON, S.C.

Look at the most telling part of the story. 13 weeks, that is how long the Army has to convert a civilian into a "Soldier". Anyone who knows anything about fitness will tell you that 13 weeks is not enough time to significantly change the effect of a person's previous life style. When I went to Basic in 1984 there were times I found myself wondering (internal voice) "Is this it?" .

True "Combat Fitness" begins and ends with the Team/Squad Leader level. A first line leader (TL/SL) will never receive a Soldier that is absolutely "Good to go" and every generation has thought "This new generation is weak."

I knew a man that was in WWII and I was amazed to find out that his first training event was to walk from Vancouver Washington to Camp Lewis to attend Basic training.....Stories tend to become grander with the passage of time.

[ZoneIV]

I wouldn't be too quick to diss. I remember doing aerobics while going through "Master Fitness Trainer" certification years ago when I was in. We would joke about it being a chick thing, etc but you know what? It kicked our asses big time since it goes way beyond pushup, situps and running. It appears that the Army is attempting to do lifestyle changes with our generally out of shape youth of today as well as fitness training. This is not a bad thing. I hope this change is not a case of an overall lowering fitness standards but merely a different approach to fitness.

Of course none of this would replace the hard long ruck, run, etc. where a point comes that it is your "mind" that keeps you going. I feel this type of training is still needed.

[Silverback]

They didn't have this problem when I was in the Army, there was only one entree.

brontosaurus burgers ?

[Slowpoke]

Bronto Burgers were VERY nutritious! Pteradactyl eggs...not so much!

Back in ancient times we had THE DRAFT!!!! Consequently, the Army got some people who were VERY out of shape. We took a kinda "minimum standards" PT test at reception and those who couldn't pass were sent to the "Goon Platoon" where they did PT until they could pass the minimum standard.

[Silverback]

Back in ancient times we had THE DRAFT!!!! Consequently, the Army got some people who were VERY out of shape. We took a kinda "minimum standards" PT test at reception and those who couldn't pass were sent to the "Goon Platoon" where they did PT until they could pass the minimum standard.

The same thing happens at Benning school for boys

[Richard Cranium]

I really, really tried to do this several times in my younger days, and wasn't able to:

Another study found that at one training center in 2002, 3 recruits suffered stress fractures of the pubic bone, but last year the number rose to 39. The reason, General Hertling said: not enough weight-bearing exercise and a diet heavy on sugared sodas and energy drinks but light in calcium and iron.

Under General Hertling, the new regimen will also include a makeover of the mess halls at its training bases. At Fort Jackson, there are more green leafy vegetables, less fried food, and milk instead of soda. The food line includes color-coded messages to encourage privates to eat low-fat entrees (marked in green).

They didn't have this problem when I was in the Army, there was only one entree. You just went through the chow line, took everything they gave you, and kept your fuckin' mouth shut. When you got to a table, you might be able to trade something you didn't like with somebody else. Enjoyment had nothing to do with the mess hall, you ate it, but you didn't have to worry about whether you liked it or not.......it was better than going hungry! All of the meals were nutritionaly well balanced. You weren't going to be malnourished eating the food, but you sure as hell weren't going to get fat either.

I'll never forget my Drill Sgt yelling at us to keep our face down in our food, no looking around.... "We could worry about tasting it on the way out!"


I felt the same as the Ape did sometimes like, "This is it?" I was always outside and working before I joined the Army but all I did to prepare beforehand was run 2 miles a day in the Texas heat, and 2 x 50 ea PU and SU.... the rest, I just did EXACTLY what I was told, when I was told!

I don't mind them IMPROVING the PT standards and training methods across the Army, I just hope that they don't totally pussify everything to "cover down" for all the lard asses, etc. recruits that join these days.

[Flesh Thorn]

Only having two tv channels, no cell phones, no computer and no videos games kind of left outdoor physical activities my only option for entertainment. Once in the Army, eating everything out of the limited choices was the only way to get a full stomach. If it hadn't been for the Army I never would have learned to like Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

[ZoneIV]

Once in the Army, eating everything out of the limited choices was the only way to get a full stomach.

Never did learn to like c-rats "spiced beef" but ate it anyway.

[IntelToad]

My .02 cents. When I was a kid, we played after school without any adult supervision- pond hockey, baseball, football, soccer, whatever. We also play organized sports for our town team a couple of days a week, but after school we dumped our book bag, ran back out the front door and joined in whatever was going on in the street, the local park or pond. We came home when it was dark, soaking wet and freezing, took a shower and ate dinner with the family.

I don't see much of that now. Kids

1- Don't play sports and what exercise they get at school is not enough.
2- Kids don't play sports for the love of the game, its become too organized in some ways (and I will argue that skill levels have suffered because of it.)

My son is in great shape, plays hockey 3 or 4 days per week, soccer 1 or 2 days, in organized practice/leagues. He is the exception in his 5th grade, some of the lazy lima beans he goes to school with can't run a lap at the school track. Not the kids fault, their parents would rather park their kid in front of a television and playstation as a baby sitter. Still, I often take him aside, and ask him-

Are you having fun ?

Has the drive towards youth sports made kids miserable ? Hockey is like an arms race where parents are seduced to spend tons of money on the 1 in 15,000 chance that they will make the NHL (statistics from the Hockey News.) I had an argument with a parent that is convinced that her golden child will play in the NHL one day because he scored 55 goals as a 9 year old- despite the fact that he is small, a pussy and USA Hockey doesn't allow checking at his age. I told her I have no idea if my kid will play in the NHL, or college, but he plays because he loves the game, not because I forced him to do it. More likely (hopefully) he will end up a policeman, plumber, engineer, soldier, doctor, electrician, pilot...whatever he hopes to do I just want his experience in sports to make him understand that there is a world out there larger than himself.

So, I would argue that the Army if it wants a pool of good future recruits for enlistment should fund and support youth athletics. Goes against everything that I think about the government, but if you're going to blow a few billion dollars it's money well spent.

[Flesh Thorn]

I read somewhere that back in the days of the USSR, if a Russian kid wanted to participate in a sport like scuba diving, marksmanship, skydiving, or anything of military application etc then the opportunity was available free of charge. Maybe the DOD could fund the Boy Scouts in a covert way.

[Looon]

If you think about it, pushups, situps, and 2 mile run are a shitty way to judge fitness levels. However, I believe that they still should serve a purpose.

At one point while I was in Batt, our XO brought in his girlfriend to conduct company level PT. She was an arobic instructor and was a tiny thing. She smoked our fucking bags. When she was through, she started knocking out pushups while everyone was laying on the ground.