Tgace
Grandmaster
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I found this interesting (to me at least) speech given by General Kevin P. Byrnes. In it he mentions the importance of the "Warrior Ethos" in the success of our fighting forces. I find it interesting that the most "advanced" military in the world (regarding equipment, techniques and tactics) finds that something as intangable as ethos is necessary. What connections can we make with our own training??
http://www-tradoc.army.mil/Speeches.htm
http://www-tradoc.army.mil/Speeches.htm
*IET= Initial Entry Training (Basic)Warrior Ethos: I think the chief [Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker] talked to you about that. [The four tenets of Warrior Ethos are] mission first, refuse to accept defeat, never quit, never leave a fallen comrade behind. We allowed our Army to get too focused technically as we trained our Soldiers. Culturally we did not allow our other-than-combat organizations to focus on "Soldier first." They were too busy maintaining equipment, repairing equipment, maintaining high technical skills that were so perishable. And then we didnt get them out to the field, we didnt give them the rifle qualification twice a year, we didnt give them the things they needed to be able to fight when called upon. We knew that, and we were working that a couple of years ago. Then the 507th Maintenance Company got into contact and had some problems with weapons cleanliness and internal discipline because the weapons werent clean. The Soldiers didnt make sure it was being done properly, the noncommissioned officers didnt reinforce it, and we lost Soldiers. (We) just (need to) reinforce that need, so weve embraced this Warrior Ethos. Were looking at IET. Were going to put a lot more rigor in IET in terms of weapons qualification, physical fitness, etc. And were going to produce a much better qualified Soldier at the end of it.