Is USAF BMT too soft?

All jokes aside, the Air Force may be too soft in general to the rest of us but clearly they are doing something right.
In general,
they're happier
they have more freedom
they honor good ideas regardless of the rank of the person
they are well-mannered and polite
they have better...well...everything.

Yes the Air Force should tighten their reins and toughen up BMT. Quit treating everything like a business and more like a military branch. Then maybe there would be more es·prit de corps within the AF. Take some pointers from the Corps and yes I suppose the Army too.

I just graduated BMT in January 2nd of 2015, and I can guarantee that the "stress card" or the "time out card" are not real things. Also with the rumors of no yelling or cursing, yelling is definitely still a part of AF BMT. Fellow trainees and I were yelled at daily for the first 2 or 3 weeks, then its slowed down from there as we got more accustomed to BMT life and AF customs etc... AF PT was not as hard as I was expecting when I enlisted, but we were on mandatory PT 7 days a week, weather that was squadron PT or PT on your own (one by threes, pushups when waiting to go into chow hall, punishment PT etc). The AF BMT may be easier than some of the other branches, but it taught me how important a healthy diet, exercise, and respecting any rank above you, even if its AB to AMN. It may just depend on the mentality of the Airmen that go through BMT that causes disrespect, not the program itself.

It was just a couple of years ago that the sex scandal at Lackland came to light, when thirty-one trainees came forward with allegations of sexual assault, rape, and misconduct. The Air Force must now conduct basic training under the specter of that impropriety. If BMT has gotten soft, you need not look any further for cause than the MTIs that abused their position of authority. BMT and the AF at large will be dealing with that fallout for years.

I don't think it's too soft. You don't want to risk it becoming too much like the military.

I talked to my guys recently. One of them said Basic was "insultingly easy," but they offered a lot of context. They said they were briefed early on exactly what the MTIs are and are not allowed to do and encouraged to report any deviation from those standards. Along with the microscope the MTIs are under, it creates an unspoken threat of pissing off a trainee and them reporting something to end your career.

From the outside looking in, the chain looks like they're extremely gun-shy of anything remotely resembling impropriety springing up, so they're ruthlessly squashing anything they see. This is probably what's having the biggest effect on people volunteering for MTI duty.

As for Timeout cards, this has been an urban myth for almost 20 years...

When I came in, MTIs were allowed to yell; they were not allowed to swear, they were not allowed to assault us, and they were not allowed to personally demean us. They didn't mean they didn't have an extensive bag of tricks with which to rattle us.

All the services are to soft now and the Soldiers are to pampered. We need to get back to the old school ways !!

Of course not. How could you even think that?

Yes they are too soft a service. Think about it, they don't even call where they sleep barracks anymore they are DORMS! It is not the fault of the people who are in the Air Force it is the fault of their leaders who allowed it to become so lame.

Every generation says this, and in some ways they're right but if you want to instill discipline in your troops, it is YOUR responsibilty as an NCO/SNCO. BMT had VERY LITTLE to do with who I became as an Airman.