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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/army_training_040608w/
Soldier training is in for a big overhaul
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 6, 2008 17:44:07 EDT
FORT BLISS, Texas — A complex war and a new operations doctrine have prompted the Army to make sweeping changes in the way it transforms civilian volunteers into combat soldiers.
The programs revealed here March 18-20 at the Initial Military Training Forum are in varying stages of implementation.
Taken together, the impending, current and future changes represent the largest overhaul of initial entry training since the end of the Vietnam War four decades ago.
Not only the Army is revamping training processes, but it also is addressing such basic soldiering skills as marksmanship and physical fitness.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Accessions Command, said the changes are limited to the training base for now, but over time, they likely will move to the operational force.
Underlying the changes is a concept called Outcome-Based Training, spawned by the research and analyses that led to the new operations doctrine described in Field Manual 3-0.
That manual, published in February, describes the current operational environment as one of “persistent conflict” that is complex and multidimensional, requiring initiative and adaptability at all levels.
This, in turn, has led the training community to become less concerned with processes than the outcome of training.
“What we’re focusing on is what we want our soldiers to be at the end of their initial military training,” Freakley said.
“We sometimes get overly focused on goals — passing a PT test, qualifying with a weapon, learning Army values and being a good follower in basic training.
“Is that what we want,” Freakley asked, “or do we want soldiers who not only know Army values, but internalize them; who are proud to be a member of a team, and whose pride motivates the team to a higher performance level?”
Freakley said trainers who are process-focused “check the box” when their soldiers perform a skill, such as donning the protective mask, but never go back and revisit that learning experience.
“If you are outcome-focused, you want to know that soldiers, over time and various conditions, really understand their tasks, live the Army values and truly accept being a member of a team,” said Freakley, a former commander of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan and the Army Infantry Center.
“There are a lot of ways to achieve goals, and if we stay process-centered, we will never be better than mediocre,” said Col. Craig Currey, of the Basic Combat Training Directorate at Fort Jackson, S.C.
Freakley said the standard for success under Outcome-Based Training is for the drill sergeant and company commander to look at a soldier and ask themselves whether they would feel comfortable taking that individual into combat.
“If the answer is yes, then you have done your job,” he said.
“If the answer is no, then we have to determine if the soldier is trainable.
“If, the answer is still no, then we probably need to separate him or her from the Army,” Freakley said.
However, if the soldier is trainable, training officials might want to reassign the soldier to a company behind his current company so he will have additional time to learn skills required for graduation.
So far, the Outcome-Based Training has been used at Fort Jackson and Fort Benning, Ga. Freakley has asked the commandants of other training centers to assimilate the concept into their programs.
The training center at Fort Jackson has been a major player in the development of Outcome-Based Training, as it serves as a kind of think tank and testing ground for all aspects of basic training.
As such, it also has played a central role in the development of three other programs that will profoundly change the way the Army trains new soldiers. Those are:
Blended Reception
A new program piloted at Fort Jackson, Blended Reception significantly reduces the time a soldier spends on in-processing before beginning training under the tutelage of a drill sergeant.
“The youth of today are a very active and stimulated group, and yet we bring them to a reception battalion so they can stand in line all day waiting to be fitted with a pair of boots,” Freakley said.
Blended Reception brings the drill sergeant to the reception battalion so that when soldiers are not involved with in-processing, they can be introduced to training tasks by the same person who will be their supervisor, teacher and coach for the next nine to 10 weeks.
“If you are not getting your boots fitted, then maybe you are learning how to wear the uniform, and who better to teach that than your drill sergeant,” Freakley said.
Under the standard reception model, recruits typically spend four to 10 days on in-processing before they even meet their drill sergeant.
Under the Fort Jackson model, training begins one, two or three days after a recruit arrives at the installation.
Currey said Fort Jackson has been working with this concept for two years, and it is not a plan to eliminate reception battalions or cut costs, but rather a system that allows for the immersion of new soldiers into the Army “by their primary trainer on Day 1.”
“The Army can get additional days for training out of this, and I have directed other training centers and schools to look at it,” Freakley said.
Marksmanship training
There is nothing so basic to soldiering as a rifle, and the Army is preparing to change the way it trains soldiers to use that weapon.
Noting that the Army has not made substantive changes to rifle training for decades, Freakley said that under a new regimen developed by marksmanship experts at Fort Benning, “we want soldiers to understand the why and how-to of their weapon.”
The changes in training begin with theory, with drill sergeants showing soldiers how their rifles work, why the flight of a bullet differs from line of sight out to distances of 500 meters, and how to deal with mechanical malfunctions such as jams.
“We want the soldier to be adaptive and know how to employ their weapon in all situations,” Freakley said.
“We will teach them to shoot in multiple positions because in combat you will not find a foxhole filled with sandbags as you maneuver down the street.”
Freakley said the Army has not made any changes in qualification requirements (at least 23 hits out of 40 shots), “but that is where we’re going with this,” he said.
“Right now, we are focused on teaching soldiers about their weapon and how to zero and employ the weapon properly.
“From there, we will go to new qualification requirements, and how to perform as the member of a buddy team, and then a team so that the soldier is learning to shoot in the context of other soldiers,” he said.
“I have asked the training center commandants to apply this where they can now, but we have to make this system adaptable to all three components — the active, Guard and Reserve.”
Physical fitness
A draft revision of the Army’s primary physical fitness manual has been developed by the Physical Fitness School at Fort Jackson and is being staffed within Training and Doctrine Command.
“The current manual (FM 21-20) has been a good manual, but it really was designed toward supporting the physical fitness test,” Freakley said.
The revised manual (FM 3.22.20) focuses on physical fitness for the rigors of combat and is very much in line with the concept of Outcome-Based Training, he said.
“It has on-ground and off-ground exercises, as well as combatives,” Freakley said.
“It focuses on strength, movement and conditioning, and it addresses the preservation of strength and the ability to withstand the rigors of combat with some extra capability to continue the fight.”
The new manual eventually will trigger the fielding of a new PT test, but that will not be anytime soon, Freakley said.
That is because the proposed changes have to complete staffing within TRADOC before being sent to the Pentagon for review by the Army G-3 and eventually the chief of staff.
“I expect that will occur within less than a year,” he said.
New training strategy
The major objective of outcome-based training is to transform civilian volunteers into soldiers who immediately can contribute to mission accomplishment in their first unit of assignment.
Drill sergeants and other training officials strive to produce soldiers who are:
• Proud team members who possess the character and commitment to live Army values and the warrior ethos.
• Confident, adaptable, mentally agile and accountable for their own actions.
• Physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally ready to fight as a ground combatant.
• Masters of critical combat skills and proficient in basic soldiering skills in all environments.
• Self-disciplined, willing and adaptive thinkers, capable of solving problems commensurate with position and experience.
Soldier training is in for a big overhaul
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 6, 2008 17:44:07 EDT
FORT BLISS, Texas — A complex war and a new operations doctrine have prompted the Army to make sweeping changes in the way it transforms civilian volunteers into combat soldiers.
The programs revealed here March 18-20 at the Initial Military Training Forum are in varying stages of implementation.
Taken together, the impending, current and future changes represent the largest overhaul of initial entry training since the end of the Vietnam War four decades ago.
Not only the Army is revamping training processes, but it also is addressing such basic soldiering skills as marksmanship and physical fitness.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Accessions Command, said the changes are limited to the training base for now, but over time, they likely will move to the operational force.
Underlying the changes is a concept called Outcome-Based Training, spawned by the research and analyses that led to the new operations doctrine described in Field Manual 3-0.
That manual, published in February, describes the current operational environment as one of “persistent conflict” that is complex and multidimensional, requiring initiative and adaptability at all levels.
This, in turn, has led the training community to become less concerned with processes than the outcome of training.
“What we’re focusing on is what we want our soldiers to be at the end of their initial military training,” Freakley said.
“We sometimes get overly focused on goals — passing a PT test, qualifying with a weapon, learning Army values and being a good follower in basic training.
“Is that what we want,” Freakley asked, “or do we want soldiers who not only know Army values, but internalize them; who are proud to be a member of a team, and whose pride motivates the team to a higher performance level?”
Freakley said trainers who are process-focused “check the box” when their soldiers perform a skill, such as donning the protective mask, but never go back and revisit that learning experience.
“If you are outcome-focused, you want to know that soldiers, over time and various conditions, really understand their tasks, live the Army values and truly accept being a member of a team,” said Freakley, a former commander of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan and the Army Infantry Center.
“There are a lot of ways to achieve goals, and if we stay process-centered, we will never be better than mediocre,” said Col. Craig Currey, of the Basic Combat Training Directorate at Fort Jackson, S.C.
Freakley said the standard for success under Outcome-Based Training is for the drill sergeant and company commander to look at a soldier and ask themselves whether they would feel comfortable taking that individual into combat.
“If the answer is yes, then you have done your job,” he said.
“If the answer is no, then we have to determine if the soldier is trainable.
“If, the answer is still no, then we probably need to separate him or her from the Army,” Freakley said.
However, if the soldier is trainable, training officials might want to reassign the soldier to a company behind his current company so he will have additional time to learn skills required for graduation.
So far, the Outcome-Based Training has been used at Fort Jackson and Fort Benning, Ga. Freakley has asked the commandants of other training centers to assimilate the concept into their programs.
The training center at Fort Jackson has been a major player in the development of Outcome-Based Training, as it serves as a kind of think tank and testing ground for all aspects of basic training.
As such, it also has played a central role in the development of three other programs that will profoundly change the way the Army trains new soldiers. Those are:
Blended Reception
A new program piloted at Fort Jackson, Blended Reception significantly reduces the time a soldier spends on in-processing before beginning training under the tutelage of a drill sergeant.
“The youth of today are a very active and stimulated group, and yet we bring them to a reception battalion so they can stand in line all day waiting to be fitted with a pair of boots,” Freakley said.
Blended Reception brings the drill sergeant to the reception battalion so that when soldiers are not involved with in-processing, they can be introduced to training tasks by the same person who will be their supervisor, teacher and coach for the next nine to 10 weeks.
“If you are not getting your boots fitted, then maybe you are learning how to wear the uniform, and who better to teach that than your drill sergeant,” Freakley said.
Under the standard reception model, recruits typically spend four to 10 days on in-processing before they even meet their drill sergeant.
Under the Fort Jackson model, training begins one, two or three days after a recruit arrives at the installation.
Currey said Fort Jackson has been working with this concept for two years, and it is not a plan to eliminate reception battalions or cut costs, but rather a system that allows for the immersion of new soldiers into the Army “by their primary trainer on Day 1.”
“The Army can get additional days for training out of this, and I have directed other training centers and schools to look at it,” Freakley said.
Marksmanship training
There is nothing so basic to soldiering as a rifle, and the Army is preparing to change the way it trains soldiers to use that weapon.
Noting that the Army has not made substantive changes to rifle training for decades, Freakley said that under a new regimen developed by marksmanship experts at Fort Benning, “we want soldiers to understand the why and how-to of their weapon.”
The changes in training begin with theory, with drill sergeants showing soldiers how their rifles work, why the flight of a bullet differs from line of sight out to distances of 500 meters, and how to deal with mechanical malfunctions such as jams.
“We want the soldier to be adaptive and know how to employ their weapon in all situations,” Freakley said.
“We will teach them to shoot in multiple positions because in combat you will not find a foxhole filled with sandbags as you maneuver down the street.”
Freakley said the Army has not made any changes in qualification requirements (at least 23 hits out of 40 shots), “but that is where we’re going with this,” he said.
“Right now, we are focused on teaching soldiers about their weapon and how to zero and employ the weapon properly.
“From there, we will go to new qualification requirements, and how to perform as the member of a buddy team, and then a team so that the soldier is learning to shoot in the context of other soldiers,” he said.
“I have asked the training center commandants to apply this where they can now, but we have to make this system adaptable to all three components — the active, Guard and Reserve.”
Physical fitness
A draft revision of the Army’s primary physical fitness manual has been developed by the Physical Fitness School at Fort Jackson and is being staffed within Training and Doctrine Command.
“The current manual (FM 21-20) has been a good manual, but it really was designed toward supporting the physical fitness test,” Freakley said.
The revised manual (FM 3.22.20) focuses on physical fitness for the rigors of combat and is very much in line with the concept of Outcome-Based Training, he said.
“It has on-ground and off-ground exercises, as well as combatives,” Freakley said.
“It focuses on strength, movement and conditioning, and it addresses the preservation of strength and the ability to withstand the rigors of combat with some extra capability to continue the fight.”
The new manual eventually will trigger the fielding of a new PT test, but that will not be anytime soon, Freakley said.
That is because the proposed changes have to complete staffing within TRADOC before being sent to the Pentagon for review by the Army G-3 and eventually the chief of staff.
“I expect that will occur within less than a year,” he said.
New training strategy
The major objective of outcome-based training is to transform civilian volunteers into soldiers who immediately can contribute to mission accomplishment in their first unit of assignment.
Drill sergeants and other training officials strive to produce soldiers who are:
• Proud team members who possess the character and commitment to live Army values and the warrior ethos.
• Confident, adaptable, mentally agile and accountable for their own actions.
• Physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally ready to fight as a ground combatant.
• Masters of critical combat skills and proficient in basic soldiering skills in all environments.
• Self-disciplined, willing and adaptive thinkers, capable of solving problems commensurate with position and experience.
