WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- With an eye on the continued war in Iraq, the Army has made basic training harder and more combat-oriented, a top general said last week.
Prior to the Iraq war, the Army only put its new recruits in the field for three days; most of the time was spent in the classroom and on drills. Now freshly minted soldiers spend 21 days in the field.
"The focus of basic training has changed dramatically ... to combat skills soldiers need to contribute to their unit upon arrival," said Gen. William Wallace, the commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
"At the pace (of) operations the Army is keeping we need to produce new soldiers who are capable upon arrival to make an immediate contribution because they are being asked to," Wallace told reporters last week. "We threw out the superfluous stuff ... You won't find drill and ceremonies being emphasized in basic training anymore."
On the third day of basic training, soldiers are issued their weapon, and they keep it with them the entire time rather than turning it in after drills for safekeeping in an armory. It mimics the relationship soldiers have with their weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan -- in most cases, never more than three feet away.
Soldiers' marksmanship skills are also tested in Iraq-like scenarios. Rather than shooting from a fixed foxhole position, soldiers learn to fire in a free-standing position, without anything to rest the rifle on, and wearing full body armor, which affects how the weapon is braced on their shoulder.
"It's very, very difficult," Wallace told reporters.
They are also learning how to protect convoys, how to spot roadside bombs, and how to become human "sensors." In one frequent exercise, while soldiers are training, a sand bag or another object is placed in their room to test how long it takes for soldiers to spot it. Identifying subtle changes in their surroundings is a life-saving skill in Iraq.
"We teach them to be extremely suspicious ... and get their head on a swivel."
