I don't know about you kids, but I'm SMELLING a DRAFT!
"Army cuts time spent on training; Aims to bolster front lines quickly" by Bryan Bender/Boston Globe August 19, 2007
FORT MONROE, Va. -- The US Army, struggling to cope with stepped-up operations and extended deployments of its soldiers to Iraq, has shortened the duration of several of its bedrock training courses so that troops can return to fighting units on the front lines more quickly, according to senior training officials.
In a series of interviews in recent weeks, Army training officials expressed confidence that soldiers are able to master the skills they need to perform their jobs, and stressed that their units are gaining invaluable, real-time experience in both wars. But they also acknowledged that it is becoming increasingly difficult to prepare them for all the missions they are assigned, such as tank crews and artillery battalions that are participating in patrols and counterinsurgency operations.
Colonel Joe Gallagher, chief of plans for the US Army Training and Doctrine Command, said in an interview earlier this month:
"We are doing everything we can without jeopardizing the quality of the training to make it more efficient and compress it. The whole intent is to get the soldier into the unit where he can be used faster. Time will tell if something is missing."
[Yup, we will find out when we TOSS 'EM in there!
But it is the greatest, most professional, fully-trained military ever (with lowered recruitment standards, staffed with gang members, etc, but still the best ever).
Isn't this the kind of crap that Hitler's Army did?]
To accomplish this complex task, Gallagher and his team are constantly updating a detailed matrix of unit deployment schedules, lessons learned from the battlefield, and staffing levels so that the Army can place soldiers in the right classrooms and training bases, -- at the right time -- during the limited window between deployments.
The Army has two major types of training: individual training to teach soldiers for their particular specialty, such as infantry, engineering, or military police; and collective training, in which units hone battlefield tactics in a series of combat-related field exercises.
Units preparing to deploy overseas receive a heavy dose of "live-fire" combat weapons training and spend hours sharpening critical skills -- how to conduct patrols, clear dwellings of possible insurgents, and defend convoys from roadside bombs.
To sustain the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq -- including the "surge" security plan -- the Army can keep most fighting units home for only a year before sending them back to the war zone.
[It will never end for our army. No end to the wars. Endless war!]
President Bush's decision last spring... deploying 30,000 additional troops -- followed by the extension of all Army combat tours from 12 months to 15 months -- will mean some units have less than a year at home... between deployments.
[Might as well never come home, guys.
Just stay in Iraq and make it your new home. Marry an Iraqi!]
Colonel James Markley, the training command's director of training development:
"[Soldiers face a] time-restricted environment."
[Is that what they call unending deployments?
A "time-restricted environment?"
Yeah, especially if you are KILLED in Iraq!
That is a "time-sensitive environment" if I've ever heard of one! You're DEAD!]
To help compensate for less time... the Army has established a growing number of mobile training teams. These small groups of instructors, relying on computers and other advancements, bring some training courses to soldiers in the field.
The Army is also increasing its reliance on "distance learning" and other computer-based education tools so that soldiers can earn some certifications without having to travel to a specific training site. And many training courses are now held more often to accommodate deployment schedules.
Gallagher: "You don't make the family or soldier any happier if you bring him home and you send him off to school by himself for 6 to 8 to 12 weeks."
[Or by continuing to send him back to the front and away from his (or her) family!!
Hey, Amurka! Get your heads out your asses, 'cause THERE WILL BE NO WITHDRAWALS!]
