Recruit Training

[sgtgunn]

I'm interested in learning more about the ways different nations conduct thier ground forces recruit (basic) training programs and the level of traning recruits are provided prior to being assigned to a "deployable" unit.

The US Army currenlty coducts a 10 week Basic Combat Training (BCT) course for all new Soldiers. BCT is conducted at 4 training locations (Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Jackson, SC;Ft. Leonardwood, MO; and Ft. Sill, OK - Ft. Knox no longer conducts BCT). BCT is coed - men and women train together @ the squad & platoon level, but have seperate sleeping an bathing facilities (with the exception of combat arms training battalions, which are currenlty male only).

BCT is broken into 3 phases. Phase I focuses on "Soldierzation" - learning the basics about team work, confidence building, drill & ceremonies, physical fitness, how the Army is organized, the Army Values & Warrior Ethos, etc. Phase II the emphasis switches to basic combat skills - rifle marksmanship, Warrior Tasks & Battle Drills, first aid, combatives, rappel tower, confidence course etc. Phase III includes final Physical Fitness Test, additional weapons training (M2 .50 cal, M249, M240B, M203, Hand Grenades, AT-4) and field training exercises. BCT concludes with final 120 hour FTX (continuous ops) and 15km foot march. During the FTX trainees are assigned various leadership positions (TL, SL, PL) and are required to accomplish various simulated wartime missions. Soldiers in BCT are generally "locked down" with no "free time" or privleges - with the exception of the use of cell phones for a few minutes on Sunday (instead of lining up at the pay phones in the past), and a graduation weekend pass. Soldiers at BCT typically sleep in large "open bays" with bunks and wall lockers, and have little to no personal space or privacy.

After BCT, Soldiers attend Advanced Individual Training schools based on thier Military Occupational Specialies. AIT teachs the Soldiers thier specific jobs in the Army. AIT can vary in length from 6 weeks (truck driver) to 40+ weeks (EOD, linguist, radar repair). AIT is conducted a ~ dozen locations around the US and in some cases in conjuction with other branches of the service. Soldiers at AIT have more freedom and prvileges than Soldiers at BCT. Typically the longer the AIT the more freedom Soldiers get. Housing is typically 2-3 man rooms, and Soldiers can earn weekend passes after the first few weeks of training.

Soldiers in certain MOS (infantry, armor, artillery, military police, combat engineers) attend One Station Unit Training instead of BCT and AIT. OSUT is simply BCT combined with the appropriate AIT - exmaple - 11B Infantryman attend 16 week OSUT at Ft. Benning, GA instead of seperate BCT and AIT. Soldiers at OSUT stay in the same group from start to finish, and BCT standards apply throughout the entire training cycle.

After completion of OSUT/AIT Soldiers assigned to Airborne units attend Airborne school at Ft. Benning, GA then go thier unit. Infantry Soldiers who enlist for the Airborne Ranger option attend Airborne School and then the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP). Soldiers that complete RIP are assigned to a Ranger Battalion and will be sent to Ranger School at some point by thier unit.

Army Reservists and National Guardsman attend the same BCT & AIT training as the Active Army Soldiers. BCT training cycles can often be composed of 1/3-1/2 Guardsmen and Reservists. Guard and Reserve Soldiers return home after graduating AIT/OSUT and begin monthly training drills with thier units.

I'd be interested to learn the process of other countries recruit training!

Adrian

 

[Pathfinder-X]

Basic training in Canada is made up of two parts, Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) and Soldier Qualification (SQ). Since I only went through the reserves, I cannot speak for regular members.

The BMQ was conducted locally in the regimental drill hall and lasted two months, during which we learned how to drill, service the standard C7 rifle, map reading, navigation, did some physical training ect, universal stuff. Normally it would be shorter, but seeing we only went on Thursdays and Weekends, it took a few more weeks to finish. I like to point out that we never actually went outside the drill hall for the land navigation "training", which is quite funny to me.

Once BMQ was finished, I waited two weeks before heading to Chilliwack for SQ. In essence, you learn how to handle grenades, C6, C9, Gustav 84mm recoilless. This is the stage where you qualify for your Personal Weapons Test (PWT). There are 3 levels, and gets progressively harder but almost everyone qualified for PWT3 (I like to mention that PWT3 is not actually required for many jobs in the CF, but do it anway for the heck of it). During this time we actually went out in the field and practiced some maneovures and marches. It was 20 days in duration, which worked out well for me since I was on summer break at the time.

It should not be very physically demanding if you are in reasonable shape. Once BMQ and SQ are completed, you have finished your basic land reservist training for the CF. There are alot more involved than what I've described, but that was the basics of it. Next step would be advanced individual training, depending on your trade. For me it was the Basic Infantry Qualification (BIQ). Now my info might be a little out of date, since that was almost eight years ago.