海角大神

James Dalman remembers his days at Army infantry boot camp nearly 25 years ago with impressive clarity.

There was the night privates in their bunks were doing impressions of their drill sergeant, and he overheard them.

He marched the new recruits outside and 鈥渟moked us鈥� for 3 1/2 hours. 鈥淗e was yelling something like, 鈥楬umor leads to communism, communism leads to evil.鈥� We were like, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 he talking about?鈥� Was he joking? I still don鈥檛 know.鈥澛�

There was the time, too, the drill sergeant convinced recruits they were due an evening of relaxation, with a big spaghetti dinner and movies. 鈥淲e ate and ate, then he took us outside and PT鈥檇 us鈥� 鈥� physical training in military parlance 鈥� 鈥渦ntil everyone threw up. He got into a little trouble for that,鈥� Mr. Dalman recalls, reflecting, 鈥淚t was a little bit abusive.鈥澛�

Mr. Dalman鈥檚 experience inspired him to post online tips for new recruits, alerting them to the fabled 鈥渟hark attack,鈥� in which 鈥渟ometimes half a dozen drill sergeants will gang up on you and be absolutely relentless. Some people will cry.鈥澛�

鈥淒O NOT make eye contact,鈥� he implores. 鈥淕et used to staring off a thousand miles into the distance. This is your safe spot!鈥�

Today, the shark attack is no more. The Army鈥檚 storied Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, announced in September that it was ending the attacks, a move military officials say had been in the works for some time 鈥� but was hastened along by the inadvisability of yelling in people鈥檚 faces during a pandemic.聽

This recognition is one of several shifts in strategic thinking about how to more effectively prepare soldiers for combat that the Army has put on display in recent months, including promoting 鈥渘aps to restore wakefulness,鈥� in a newly updated fitness training manual that also encourages journaling and reflecting on the 鈥渋nterconnectedness of all things and people.鈥澛�

Derided by some critics as evidence that the military has gone soft, defense officials say these moves mark a recognition that wars have changed 鈥� and so have the troops fighting them. The military鈥檚 new measures will actually build stronger soldiers, they add, and better prepare them for the intellectual and moral challenges they now face.聽

鈥淧eople with Smokey the Bear hats yelling at you 鈥� none of the things in the shark attack are setting an example of anything you鈥檇 ever want to instill in terms of leadership. It鈥檚 the opposite of what you鈥檙e trying to instill,鈥� says retired Gen. David Barno, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and co-author with Nora Bensahel of 鈥淎daptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime.鈥�

In a video announcing the change, Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Fortenberry explained, 鈥淭he cornerstones of the event were to establish dominance and authority using intimidation and fear. Drill sergeants were charged with assessing the trainees鈥� ability to handle stress, singling out perceived undesirables by enveloping them in a manner that emulated a shark attack,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his activity, however, does not instill the spirit of the infantry. It betrays the innate trust between teammates 鈥� and worse, betrays the crucial bond of trust with our leaders."

Training for today鈥檚 wars

Historically, it was generally agreed that 鈥渁ll a soldier had to do was march straight and shoot a rifle,鈥� says Richard Lacquement, research professor and former dean of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College. Today鈥檚 troops routinely use computers, radios, and drones at remote outposts that require them to be more technologically adept and make quick decisions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an evolution of our expectation for enlisted personnel, how much we rely on them today to be intellectually capable and morally fit.鈥澛�

The morally fit piece has come into sharp relief after nearly 20 years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where troops in combat have been more spread out, placing 鈥渁 lot more reliance on the individual to act in a way that鈥檚 consistent with our values,鈥� Mr. Lacquement says. The question becomes, 鈥淐an I trust them to do the right thing? And it鈥檚 harder to trust them if they don鈥檛 trust you.鈥澛�

The new basic training model aims to build that confidence with training exercises that will emphasize 鈥渂elief in one鈥檚 self, belief in your teammates, and a belief in the leaders with whom they serve,鈥� Command Sgt. Major Fortenberry said.

Instead of barking at new recruits scrambling off buses, for example, drill sergeants will formally introduce themselves and quiz soldiers on facts they鈥檙e expected to memorize about the infantry. It鈥檚 part of an effort, he explained, to help new soldiers 鈥渞ealize this journey in the infantry is one that we鈥檒l never take alone, and it is defined by leaders鈥� willingness to share in the hardship.鈥�

This has long been the approach to the education of officers, if not enlisted service members. When he was a plebe at West Point in 1980, Mr. Lacquement and his fellow students were expected to memorize word-for-word Maj. Gen. John Schofield鈥檚 1879 address to the military academy: 鈥淭he discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army,鈥� he warned the Corps of Cadets. 鈥淚t is possible to impart instruction and to give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey.鈥�

鈥淭hat made perfect sense to me as a cadet,鈥� Mr. Lacquement says. 鈥淭hey were tough on us, they critiqued us, but no one ever laid a hand on me. The stress came from trying to perform up to their expectation.鈥� It is perhaps past time that the officer model of training is carried over into the enlisted ranks as well, he adds.

A new kind of drill sergeant

The new basic training model builds on a belief that has become increasingly pronounced in the post-Vietnam era, when the thinking was that while draftees had to be coerced, volunteers needed to be persuaded. The stereotypical 鈥淔ull Metal Jacket鈥� drill sergeants were working with conscripts who were unwilling to be in the military from the beginning, notes General Barno. In the modern Army, 鈥淩ecruits have gone through a lot of wickets just to show up on the first day of basic training,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Army has worked hard to get these folks in there. You want them to succeed.鈥�

For Sgt. 1st Class Cynthia Velarde, picking up the new recruits on their first day of basic training was her favorite part of the job. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e the first NCO [noncommissioned officer] that those soldiers will see. You have the potential to leave a lasting impression on them for the rest of their careers,鈥� she says. 鈥淏y the last day, maybe the kid who could barely pick up a bag or barely do a pushup or never fired a weapon is confident to do that, or the ones who wanted to come in the Army and be pushed, physically pushed, are out there rucking for 10 miles.鈥澛�

She recalls eating in the mess hall when one former trainee approached her just to say that she had been his senior drill sergeant years earlier. 鈥淗e was standing at parade rest. You run into these kids and they give you the customs and courtesies that we teach them over and over for weeks. The way you carry yourself 鈥� they don鈥檛 forget it.鈥澛�

That said, the new changes don鈥檛 preclude the occasional lambasting, particularly when lives are on the line. 鈥淒oes leadership mean we have to yell at people? No,鈥� Sergeant Velarde says, pausing. 鈥淚 mean, sometimes you do have to yell at them. You do. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 demeaning if you yell at an individual when you鈥檝e told them five times that maybe you need to point your muzzle in a safe direction. There鈥檚 going to be yelling after that.鈥�