![]() ![]() First Class MADISON: No one is going to listen to someone who barks all the time. First Class MADISON: So go back over to the staging area and drink water.īOWMAN: Madison says this approach makes more sense. First Class MADISON: But you did everything else pretty good, (unintelligible). Unidentified Group: (Unintelligible), Sergeant. That's the whole reason why we do the flank, (unintelligible). MADISON: Once they start moving, we're going to flank them. Fire, fire, fire.īOWMAN: And quietly coaches them on their mistakes as they gather around him at their makeshift camp. Army): Enemy 12:00 o'clock unknown, unknown. But this is our general location right there.īOWMAN: Recruits fire their weapons more, ride in convoys that come under simulated attack, patrol through Fort Jackson's endless pine forests.īOWMAN: Where Sergeant First Class Joe Madison leads Charlie Company to beat back a mock enemy assault. Unidentified Man #3: We're going to move out to that location, but before we move out, you're going to plot it. SCHWITTERS: Which may not serve us well in the very, very beginning.īOWMAN: The more mellow drill sergeant comes at a time when the training itself is changing, more keyed to wartime. ![]() ![]() Army): We're trying to replace that with non-commissioned officers establishing a calm authority, complete control in the right sense of the word, and respect based on competence, not on an act that we put on.īOWMAN: As the training progresses, Schwitters says recruits are better able to handle an increased amount of stress.īrig. He says the drill sergeants made sport of scuffing up the recruits.īrigadier General JAMES SCHWITTERS (U.S. Three decades ago, he scurried off the basic training bus to screams of maggot, worm, meathead, and much worse. You've got to extend your stride.īOWMAN: Brigadier General James Schwitters is the commander of Fort Jackson. Unidentified Man #1: Go on and get that stride out. Don't slow down.īOWMAN: During their nine weeks of basic training, recruits also get more time ramping up to the physical challenges, like running two miles. Unidentified Man #1: Ortega, just keep running. The Army found it was catering to a new type of recruit, one who is technologically savvy, more of an individual, and less physically fit. Top Army leaders push for the training changes after complaints from recruits of verbal abuse, a lack of respect as the recruits were walking out the door. The Army failed to meet its recruiting goals for the past two months. Keeping more recruits in training is even more important now. Now, partly because of a kinder, gentler drill sergeant, that loss rate has been reduced by more than half. Unidentified Man #1: Really, so what do are you going to do when it's 140 degrees in downtown Baghdad and you do have a loaded weapon with rounds in the chamber? You going to point it at your toe or at your buddy or something like that?īOWMAN: Why the change? The Army found it was losing too many recruits, about 10 percent on average five years ago. TOM HANKS (Actor): (As Forrest Gump) To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant.īOWMAN: Now, this is the type of drill sergeant a recruit runs into at Fort Jackson, South Carolina more low-key and understanding. AFEMO OMILAMI (Actor): (As Drill Sergeant) Gump, what's your sole purpose in this Army? He's been a rite of youthful passage for generations and the stuff of Hollywood movies, like "Forrest Gump." TOM BOWMAN: The thundering drill sergeant is a khaki piece of Americana. And they wonder whether they are really preparing young soldiers for the stress of war. They're more like coaches or mentors now.īut as NPR's Tom Bowman reports, some drill sergeants say they feel more like babysitters. ![]() In the American Army, gone are the days when boot camp meant screaming drill sergeants who struck fear into the hearts of recruits. ![]()
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