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A few months back I was conducting a check on Sergeants Time training and was watching Soldiers applying a tourniquet. The training event was supposed to simulate an amputated leg. As I watched, the one soldier would just lay there and the other would place the tourniquet on the others leg. No sense of urgency, no sense of purpose. I looked around and the majority of the crowd were slick sleeve privates, never deployed and the instructor didn't seem like they had ever actually seen an amputation.
So I decided to amp it up a bit and show the soldiers how it was supposed to be done. I grabbed the injured soldiers leg ( a female) and violently pushed it to the side placing my knee on the left side of the groin area to simulate pinching the artery and applied the tourniquet very quickly. They needed to know it had to be done quickly.
Anyhow later that day the commander pulled me into her office and proceeded to say " Ski, I know your old school ( never a good way to start a conversation with me) and I appreciate you wanting to ensure quality training but the way you pushed that soldiers legs apart and knelt in her groin could be misconstrued as unwelcomed sexual contact".
Needless to say the rest of the conversation did not go as she expected. My point is are we too worried about the wrong stuff? Are we so worried about the Soldiers feeling or the impression someone might get that we are willing to sacrifice training?
Yes I am "old school" and damn proud of it, but it was the old school ways that allowed me to survive two wars. I will not sacrifice quality training just to avoid offending someone's sensitive nature.
So I decided to amp it up a bit and show the soldiers how it was supposed to be done. I grabbed the injured soldiers leg ( a female) and violently pushed it to the side placing my knee on the left side of the groin area to simulate pinching the artery and applied the tourniquet very quickly. They needed to know it had to be done quickly.
Anyhow later that day the commander pulled me into her office and proceeded to say " Ski, I know your old school ( never a good way to start a conversation with me) and I appreciate you wanting to ensure quality training but the way you pushed that soldiers legs apart and knelt in her groin could be misconstrued as unwelcomed sexual contact".
Needless to say the rest of the conversation did not go as she expected. My point is are we too worried about the wrong stuff? Are we so worried about the Soldiers feeling or the impression someone might get that we are willing to sacrifice training?
Yes I am "old school" and damn proud of it, but it was the old school ways that allowed me to survive two wars. I will not sacrifice quality training just to avoid offending someone's sensitive nature.
Training
Standards
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
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What's wrong with you? It's just a job, just collecting a pay check.
I am sure that are some of the thoughts from a small group of the Soldiers.
Sounds like it is time to change the conditions. Full battle rattle time ruck time on patrol with some artilley simulators and artifical wounds, let's make it real....
I am sure that are some of the thoughts from a small group of the Soldiers.
Sounds like it is time to change the conditions. Full battle rattle time ruck time on patrol with some artilley simulators and artifical wounds, let's make it real....
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SFC (Join to see)
Oh your absolutely right, there are many that want maximum pay for minimum effort. When I was a recruiter people would actually come in and ask for jobs that were indoors, out of the elements, not physical. I would tell them McDonalds was down the road.
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I agree 100%, society has gotten so soft and worried about being politically correct it is horriable. SFC Ski if your old school, I must be a dinosaur! But I was always brought up it is better to "Bleed in pease, Than die in war" so if someone gets the feelings hurt, because you are training to the standard, than they are probably in the wrong occupation. We do not work at Wal Mart or McD's, we prepare for combat and it does not matter your gender, a bullet or IED does not care if you male or female! Keep enforcing the standard, noone can touch you as long as you train everyone the same.
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SFC Grudzinski, I wonder how much of this has to do with the attitude and mentality of the unit conducting the training. I too have seen that kind of "lackadasical" training conducted before and it just doesn't cut it. Before we deployed to Afghanistan, the BN medics gave us an outstanding class on the use of touniquets and we were locked on because of the upcoming deployment. The practical exercises were excellent with one of the medics playing the victim. As soon as the Soldier knelt down next to him the medic starts thrashing around, grabs him and starts screaming "OH GOD! OH IT F***ING HURTS! I'M GONNA DIE! HELP ME!" It took the Soldier (and everyone else) by surprise, but eventually he got the tourniquet on. That is the way the training should be done in my opinion. Good lesson learned and we didn't have any unwelcomed sexual contact issues. Everone understood what was at stake and I think that makes a big difference.
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SFC (Join to see)
Realism is the point, your exactly right. I dont know anyone that will just lay there with a leg missing while you take your time. Sometimes scaring the hel out of soldiers drives it home better.
Take for example MP's that go to a pistol range and just shoot targets, yeah it meets the requirements but not the realism. Now throw in the cover or darkness and the strobe of emergency lights while you try to shoot, much harder.
Take for example MP's that go to a pistol range and just shoot targets, yeah it meets the requirements but not the realism. Now throw in the cover or darkness and the strobe of emergency lights while you try to shoot, much harder.
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CPT (Join to see)
Yes! We did exactly that for a stress shoot following BRM. It was a big eye opener for some of the Soldiers. I had one Soldier who did great under ideal conditions but horrible with the lights flashing on and off. It reminds me of that scene from the movie Glory where a Soldier is great at shooting bottles with no pressure, but when the Colonel keeps yelling at him to go faster and fires his pistol next to him, the Soldier is shaking and can barely load his rifle. "Train them properly, Major." is what the Colonel said. The same still holds true today.
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