Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
but it is criminally stupid and can easily be remedied by dumping the 1914 training mentality prevalent in most Armies.Not true in my experience. but the bulk can be properly and acceptably trained by a good trainer. That entails the units sustaining that training to retain the cognitive and muscle skills. That last is the cause of many seeming failures of line units to perform (and a reason for 'elite' formations which are usually small due to their expense); they do not get adequate sustainment training because that's expensive. The key to 'good' units is better and more careful selection of ALL entrants for a professional peacetime force and acknowledgment that a war time force, bulked up, will have less exacting standards and must adjust slightly. Only slightly...
Bingo! This is also why I am not a fan of centralized schools that units send individuals to. Training the whole unit is going to have much better long term effects on a units ability to perform the mission then having any number of tabbed or badged individuals in it it.
Reed