Recruit training is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel. It may be common to all recruits, officers being selected on the basis of competency shown during recruit training, or for the enlisted ranks only. Officer trainees undergo more detailed programs, which may either precede or follow the common recruit training, taking place either in an officer training academy (which may also offer a civilian degree program simultaneously), or in special classes at a civilian university.
The process of transforming civilians into soldiers, sailors, coast guardsmen, marines or airmen has been described by military historian Gwynne Dyer as a form of conditioning in which inductees are encouraged to partially submerge their individuality for the good of their unit. Dyer argues that this conditioning is essential for military function because combat requires people to endure stress and perform actions which are simply not present in normal life.
The nature and extent of this conditioning varies from one military service, and one nation, to another. Some systems of training, such as recruit training for the United States Marine Corps, seek to totally break down the individual and remold that person to the desired behavior. Other systems attempt to change the individual to suit the organization, whilst retaining key elements of the recruit's personality. The differences between the two approaches are often subtle.
Standard uniforms are issued and recruits typically have their hair cut or shaved in order to meet grooming standards and make their appearance as uniform as possible. The haircut is one method intended to increase cohesion. Recruits are generally given a service number. A significant part of basic training is psychological. The reasoning seems to be that if a recruit cannot be relied upon to obey orders and follow instructions in routine matters—be they folding one's clothing, standing to attention, paying proper attention to hygiene—it is unlikely that he or she will be reliable in a combat situation, where there may be a strong urge to disobey orders or flee. The recruit who cannot work as part of a team (the unit) and comply with the routine tasks of basic training, therefore, is more likely to place him/herself, comrades, and the mission in jeopardy. The training regularly includes physical fitness, and instruction in military courtesy, tradition, history, and uniform care and wear.
Resocialization
Main article: resocializationResocialization is a sociological concept dealing with the process of mentally and emotionally "re-training" a person so that he or she can operate in an environment other than that which he or she is accustomed to. Resocialization into a total institution involves a complete change of personality. Key examples include the process of resocializing new recruits into the military so that they can operate as soldiers (or, in other words, as members of a cohesive unit) and the reverse process, in which those who have become accustomed to such roles return to society after military discharge.
Recruits are typically instructed in "drill": to stand, march, and respond to orders in an unquestioning manner. Historically, drills are derived from 18th-century military tactics in which soldiers in a fire line performed precise and coordinated movements to load and fire muskets. Although these particular tactics are now obsolete for the most part, drilling performs a psychological function by inculcating the response to commands and training the recruit to act unhesitatingly in the face of real combat situations. Learning drill commands also enables the modern infantry soldier to maintain proper position relative to his peers and thus maintain the shape of his or her formation (arrowhead, line abreast, etc) whilst moving over uneven terrain. Drill can also serve a role in leadership training. Combat situations include not only commands to engage and put one's life in danger, but also commands to disengage when military necessity so demands. This conditioning, which ideally results in instant response to commands, is essential for military function, because without it, a military unit would likely disintegrate under the stress of combat and degenerate into a mere armed mob. According to Finnish Army regulations, the close-order drill serves four functions:
- is essential for the esprit de corps and cohesion for battlefield conditions
- gets the recruits used to instinctive obedience and following the orders
- enables large units to be marched and moved in an orderly manner
- creates the basis for action in the battlefield
A criticism of drill is that it is a fairly inefficient method of training, based on behavioristic method, which does not enable the subjects to learn anything by heuristics, and can be used only to instill very simple and trivial things, like series of movements, therefore consuming resources from combat and weapons training.
Recruits are usually subjected to rigorous physical training, both to prepare for the demands of combat and to weed out the less able or insufficiently motivated. This also builds morale and provides a sense of accomplishment for the remaining recruits who have met the physical requirements.
Army and Marine recruits are nearly always trained in basic marksmanship with individually-assigned weapons, field maintenance of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, physical fitness training, first aid, and basic survival techniques. Navy and Coast Guard training usually focuses on water survival training, physical fitness, basic seamanship, and skills such as shipboard firefighting, basic engineering, and signals. Air force training usually includes physical fitness training, military and classroom instructions, as well as field training in basic marksmanship, first aid, and protective equipment usage.
Australia
Main article: Australian Army Recruit TrainingMost of the recruit training in the Australian Army is currently held at Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) at Kapooka, near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. Recruit training is 80 days long for members of the Australian Regular Army and 28 days long for members of the Australian Army Reserve. In basic training recruits are taught drill, weapons and workplace safety, basic equipment maintenance, marksmanship, fieldcraft, radio use and defensive/offensive operations.
Regional Force Surveillance Units
Training for recruits in the Regional Force Surveillance Units usually differs greatly from training in the rest of the Army. For instance, NORFORCE recruits attend an additional 2 week course at the Kangaroo Flats. Recruits from areas covered by the RFSUs often come from indigenous cultures radically different from that of the general Australian population, and as such many regular standards and methods of training are not as applicable in their case.
Royal Military College Duntroon
Recruit Training for Officers in the Australian Army (known as ICT - Initial Cadet Training) takes place at Royal Military College, Duntroon (RMC). The ICT is conducted for approximately 7 weeks after which staff cadets continue military instruction in skills such as weapons training, military history, leadership, strategic studies and other such skills at Section, Platoon and Company levels. Trainees at RMC hold the rank of Staff Cadet and, if successful in completing the course are commissioned as Lieutenants. The overall full-time Officer Training course at RMC is 18 months long.
Canada
Centralized recruit training in the Canadian Army did not exist until 1940, and until the creation of Basic Training Centres across Canada, recruit training had been done by individual units or depots.
The Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force were unified into one service, the Canadian Forces in 1968. The Canadian Forces Training System, a unified system for all the services, was devised and remains in place today. Most non-commissioned CF recruits in the Regular Force (full time) are trained at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School at St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Regular Force officers complete their Basic Officer Training and Initial Assessment Phases at CFLRS as well, before moving on to Second Language Training and their occupational training. After basic training, personnel are trained in the speciality of their "environment". Members of the Maritime Branch undergo a five week sea environment training course and members of the Land Forces Command undergo a 20 day Soldier Qualification course.
Reservists, particularly the Army Reserve, may conduct basic and trades training part-time, generally alternating weekends. Due to increased integration of the Regular and Reserve Force, many reservists attend courses hosted by the Regular Force. Members of the Army Reserves complete an 8 week BMQ/SQ course (Basic Military Qualification and Soldier Qualification) during the summer. The Naval and Air Reserve jointly conduct BMQ for its recruits at the Naval Reserve Training Division Borden equivalent to Regular Force BMQ, at Canadian Forces Base Borden. The Navy trains its personnel in seamanship, firefighting, damage control and other skills after BMQ, in the Naval Environmental Training Program (NETP) in either Esquimalt or Halifax.
Denmark
The Danish Army conducts the HBU (Hærens Basisuddannelse, Army Basic
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