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I just received a rather disturbing call from my buddy who is in bootcamp. He is on week 12, which is apparently the one week they get off during the 12-14 weeks of training they receive at Fort Benning Georgia.
During his call, he told me about the new, affirmative action-like preferences for promotion the army has adopted, which entails the promotion of women and minorities to leadership positions regardless of their actual level of competence. I have no problem with women or minorities, but the fact that they are getting picked for promotion over more experienced combat veterans because those veterans happen to be white males is definitely appalling. My buddy told me that an Army combat veteran of 24 years was not going to renew his contract when it came up in 2 months because of the drastic changes that the Army has experienced in the last 4 years or so. Hmm....the last 4 years....what a coincidence.
He told me that they are receiving sub-par combat training before they will be deployed to Iraq to fight ISIS. They trained on M4 Carbines for 3 weeks, qualified, and so far have not since fired a round of live ammunition. They have been firing 3-400 rounds of BLANKS per day, with no feedback, no drill instructors calling people "Dead" or any way for them to actually increase their skills as marksmen or combat troops. This is pathetic, and this is the best that the US Army and the United States Government has to offer our new soldiers before they get deployed to combat.
Lastly, he told me that the Army has developed a series of new "sensitivity policies" that involve complaints against drill instructors that can cost the DI's their rank, as well as medical leave from training based on a trainees complaint. He told me that one trainee in particular complained that the sand they were PT'ing in dug into his knees and elbows. The DI pointed out to him that he was going to be deployed to Iraq, a desert country where sand is abundant. The trainee responded by complaining all the way up the chain of command, and now has received his very own knee and elbow pads to PT in.
Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. I am not a service member, I have never been in the military at all, but what I have heard disturbs me greatly. The United States government, the officials who drafted these policies, and the officials who continue to obey and enforce these policies are committing a great disservice against our servicemen who so bravely put their lives on the line for us, as well as against this Country.
Is this what the Army was like when you were in? Is this the same Army as the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's? I could be wrong about this, maybe this is how it's always been, but when I heard about my friends complaints, the inexperienced Officers being promoted to leadership positions because of their race or sex, the lackluster combat training, and the recruit complaint system, I was appalled. I was absolutely appalled that this is the way our country prepares young men and women to GO TO WAR. Somebody, please tell me this isn't the way it's always been.
During his call, he told me about the new, affirmative action-like preferences for promotion the army has adopted, which entails the promotion of women and minorities to leadership positions regardless of their actual level of competence. I have no problem with women or minorities, but the fact that they are getting picked for promotion over more experienced combat veterans because those veterans happen to be white males is definitely appalling. My buddy told me that an Army combat veteran of 24 years was not going to renew his contract when it came up in 2 months because of the drastic changes that the Army has experienced in the last 4 years or so. Hmm....the last 4 years....what a coincidence.
He told me that they are receiving sub-par combat training before they will be deployed to Iraq to fight ISIS. They trained on M4 Carbines for 3 weeks, qualified, and so far have not since fired a round of live ammunition. They have been firing 3-400 rounds of BLANKS per day, with no feedback, no drill instructors calling people "Dead" or any way for them to actually increase their skills as marksmen or combat troops. This is pathetic, and this is the best that the US Army and the United States Government has to offer our new soldiers before they get deployed to combat.
Lastly, he told me that the Army has developed a series of new "sensitivity policies" that involve complaints against drill instructors that can cost the DI's their rank, as well as medical leave from training based on a trainees complaint. He told me that one trainee in particular complained that the sand they were PT'ing in dug into his knees and elbows. The DI pointed out to him that he was going to be deployed to Iraq, a desert country where sand is abundant. The trainee responded by complaining all the way up the chain of command, and now has received his very own knee and elbow pads to PT in.
Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. I am not a service member, I have never been in the military at all, but what I have heard disturbs me greatly. The United States government, the officials who drafted these policies, and the officials who continue to obey and enforce these policies are committing a great disservice against our servicemen who so bravely put their lives on the line for us, as well as against this Country.
Is this what the Army was like when you were in? Is this the same Army as the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's? I could be wrong about this, maybe this is how it's always been, but when I heard about my friends complaints, the inexperienced Officers being promoted to leadership positions because of their race or sex, the lackluster combat training, and the recruit complaint system, I was appalled. I was absolutely appalled that this is the way our country prepares young men and women to GO TO WAR. Somebody, please tell me this isn't the way it's always been.
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