Guess it's not surprising

[slick4591]

US Army Ditches Grenade Throwing Requirement Because Too Many Recruits Can't Throw Far Enough

 

[bball]

Kids today grow up throwing grenades every day... from their Xbox, PlayStation, etc.
That was disappointing to read. What point does it make to train them on it, when in real life situation, they may not possess the physical capability to throw it outside of its own blast radius? SMH. Drone warfare?

 

[ez14.]

Just googled it. A hand grenade weights about 1.25 oz more then a baseball!

 

[slick4591]

We used to call those kids "Rag Arm".

 

[greybeard]

But it isn't thrown like a baseball, and the headline is a bit misleading.

Recruits will still receive the same amount of training in these areas, Frost said. (grenade use and land navigation)

"Just because we took it off as a graduation requirement does not mean they won't be conducting hand grenade or land navigation training," Frost said. "They are going to learn all the technical aspects of the hand grenade, and they are going to learn tactical employment and they will throw a live hand grenade.

"With land navigation, it's the same thing they are still going to conduct land navigation training; they are still going to conduct the day course they are still going to conduct the night course."

I'm more concerned that US Army allowed the following to happen than I am about grenades or land nav:

The new program of instruction is the result of surveys taken from thousands of leaders who have observed a trend of new soldiers fresh out of training displaying a lack of obedience and poor work ethic as well as being careless with equipment, uniform and appearance, Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, commanding general of the U.S. Army Center of Initial Military Training, told defense reporters on Friday.

'A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT'
"What leaders have observed in general is they believe that there is too much of a sense of entitlement, questioning of lawful orders, not listening to instruction, too much of a buddy mentality with NCOs and officers and a lot of tardiness being late to formation and duties," Frost said. "These are trends that they see as increasing that they think are part of the discipline aspect that is missing and that they would like to see in the trainees that become soldiers that come to them as their first unit of assignment."

I don't know how it got that way, but it's completely unacceptable and the above flaws must be fixed!!!

Interesting, their "new" program of "Hammer, the Anvil and the Forge"

" Frost said, describing how the final Forge FTX is an homage to the Army's historic ties to Valley Forge.

"That is going to be a culminating FTX which is a graduation requirement. It will be an 81-hour field training exercise with about 40 miles of tactical road marching that is conducted through a series of tactical events and mini field training exercises."

Sounds an awful lot like what the Marines call The Crucible which has been in effect at the end of boot camp now for 21 years..it began in 1996. Fail Crucible, you aren't a Marine and won't graduate until you do pass.

The US Army has had an on and off again attachment to bayonets over the last couple of decades and I believe right now, it's an 'off' thing.

 

[KMURBAN]

Perhaps they should make them smaller and fill them with candy so no one gets hurt. :dunce:

 

[Bright Raven]

Perhaps they should make them smaller and fill them with candy so no one gets hurt. :dunce:

I like your ideas. It would make war a lot more fun, less destructive and inexpensive. Just got to make sure everyone plays by the same rules. Fill missiles with confetti and candy kisses.

 

[KMURBAN]

Lol, a ICBM filled with 300 tons of rainbow confetti. Just might scare them more than a big bang...

 

[jehosofat]

My daughter is in the Army, she told me back when she was ni basic training that the grenade throwing training was the scariest things she encountered. She said most recruits couldn't throw it far enough. Her years of softball served her well.