Tactical Training In The Army

In the senior year of high school many students find themselves stressing over the decision of what they want to be when they grow up. There are a lot of choices that have to be made prior to graduation in order to have a well thought out plan; unfortunately, there is an abundance of pressure thrown upon high school seniors to have those life choices well thought out and made up. The most accepted way of doing things is for the student to go to college, get a degree, and become a competitor in the real world work force. The problem with this is that when these students are only seventeen to eighteen years old and are being asked to make a decision on a career when the mind is not even close to being fully developed, it leads to a change in …show more content…
Only a few people know what that entails. A common misconception is that boot camp is all about marching and getting yelled at. Although these things do take place while at basic training, they are meant for a much greater purpose: to form strong individuals that excel in teamwork and are willing to push their personal limits as far as they can reach. Basic training is divided among three phases: red phase, white phase, and blue phase. During the red phase, when the recruits arrive they will go through general orientation, receive haircuts and be issued a military uniform. When that is done they will begin “Basic Tactical Training, followed by Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical defense, landmine defense, and repelling down Confidence Tower” (Phase 1-Red). During this time, they will also learn about the seven Army core values, the heritage of the Army, and take the Army Physical Fitness Test to have a baseline score to use at the end to see where they started at. After the Red Phase comes the White Phase in which they learn to march, handle their rifles, practice exercises based on different scenarios, and make it through the confidence obstacle course. The last phase is called the Blue phase, where the soldiers learn to handle U.S. machinery and weapons, master field training exercises, and a 15 kilometer tactical foot march. If the recruit makes it all the way through the three phases they will graduate from basic training. Once they are graduated from basic training they will move on to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) which is basically a technical school. Advanced Individual Training can last from eight weeks to two years. Where basic training teaches how to be a solder, advanced individual training specializes in teaches ones specific MOS. Lengths of Advanced Individual Training depend on the MOS, some are longer than others some are