US Army Basic Training: Getting High Speed, or Getting Common Sense?

W. Thomas Smith Jr., Soldiers for the Truth web page, 15 Sept 2005

Interview with new commander of US Army Recruit School at Fort Jackson. He apparently wants to have the troops become more like Special Forces by training them to have their weapons with them at all times, and to be aware of their environment all the time. Wow, what a concept ... (sarcasm check, over!)

"SMITH: And the question of rifles, General; why don't you have your soldiers begin handling weapons all the time. GEN. SCHWITTERS: We may go to that soon. Very simply, we are trying to introduce them to the techniques and the principles of being able to live with and operate with the weapon all the time. That's kind of novel." Interview (Updated 23 Sept 05)