“We Don’t Want The Soldiers To Get All Freaked Out!”
BY Herschel Smith8 years, 2 months ago
As gun ownership drops among young Americans and the Army trains a generation more accustomed to blasting out emojis on cellphones than taking aim at targets, drill sergeants are confronting a new challenge: More than half of raw recruits have never held, let alone fired, a weapon. Young people who form the bulk of the Army’s rookie soldiers don’t have nearly the exposure to guns as past generations. And the drill sergeants tasked with transforming these men and women into competent marksmen are going back into training to adjust their approach. Many are dropping the tendency to bark out orders and are adopting a more mentor-like coaching attitude. “You don’t hear any drill sergeants yelling, unless it’s a huge safety issue,” said Staff Sgt. Randy Fisher, one of about 600 drill sergeants working daily with recruits at South Carolina’s Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest basic combat training post. “We don’t want the soldiers to get all freaked out.” Amid deafening blasts of semi-automatic rifle fire at one of Fort Jackson’s 30 ranges, Army drill sergeants paced behind four dozen soldiers aiming M-4s at distant targets during a recent practice session. The hard-nosed, barked commands from the first days of basic training were absent. And though real bullets were being used, not one of the young recruits nor any sergeants wore heavy body armor or helmets. And, during a lull in the shooting, drill sergeants leaned over to offer guidance in measured tones to soldiers learning to fire.
My former Marine, Daniel, is thrilled he is no longer associated with a military like this. His text reply to me concerning this article was this.
Oh …
My …
God …
Granted, he was a Marine, but even the Marine Corps is being pressed to send women through the Marine Corps infantry officer course at Quantico. We will lose the next legitimate war we fight. But perhaps we’re already there. A saddening question comes to mind. The kill ratio of the U.S. military has been around 6:1 – 10:1 in both Afghanistan and Iraq. What would it have been with no CAS, no AC-130 gunships, so helicopters, no A-10s?
It will get worse, as the U.S. government continues to fill the ranks of the military with weaklings, homosexuals, women and nonconformists (here you can safely assume what I would have to say about people like the Sikh Army Captain wearing nonconventional cover). It’s a sad day for the U.S. military
On September 12, 2016 at 8:29 am, Onlooker from Troy said:
They really are missing the whole point of applying stress to recruits, aren’t they? Are they checking on them and tucking them in at bed time yet? Good grief. The wussification of America (and its armed forces) continues apace.
On September 12, 2016 at 8:57 am, Fred said:
Nurturing and a loving environment are vital to the development of a sensitive soldier.
On September 12, 2016 at 9:14 am, magic1114 said:
Pink camo is on the horizon…