Army Basic Training, Iraq Casualties, and Women Soldiers
Jim Dunnigan makes two points about tough basic training: it helps save lives, and feminism weakens it:
Basic training in the U.S. Army has gone through lots of changes in the last two decades. In the 1990s, training was diluted to appease politicians who insisted on men and women going through “boot camp” together. The girls couldn’t keep up with the boys when it came to the physical part of the training, so the training was toned down to the point where it was ineffective. But for the combat troops, who still trained in all-male units (no women were allowed in combat units), “basic” was still as challenging and intense as it needed to be. When September 11, 2001 came around, the issue was still being debated in Congress. Things didn’t really change until 2003, when the results of the lukewarm basic training for non-combat troops was seen as the main cause of some of these troops getting killed in combat. All of a sudden, basic got more intense.