Army admits drill sergeants are softening their approach to training
By Associated Press| September 12th, 2016|Military News, U.S. Army|0 Comments
FORT JACKSON, S.C. – Army Reserve Drill Sergeant Larry Davis of Greenville S.C., instructs Soldiers as they attempt to complete the rope swing at the Victory Tower complex on Fort Jackson, S.C., during the Foxtrot Company training on Aug. 24, 2016. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Michael Adetula, 206th Broadcast Operations Detachment)
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — 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.”
http://popularmilitary.com/army-admits-drill-sergeants-softening-approach-training/
