Every once in a while, you find a little piece of good news that makes you think there might just be a glimmer of hope for a brighter future.
TR
KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS NEED TO READ TOO:
The Case for Reading History in Basic Training
https://medium.com/disruptive-though...o-4b5a4612cd1d
When you walk through the these barracks on a chilly November evening on Fort Benning, it's "Personal Time" as trainees do laundry and write letters home to mom or a young fiancé. But sitting on the floor, you'll also find a trainee starting Gates of Fire, while two rows down his Battle Buddy is half way through Starship Troopers. Two of the guys are just touching down in the Ia Drang, three are lost in the Bakara Market, while one is reliving that cold December of 1776. This isn't Officer Candidate School, it is Sand Hill: birthplace of the Infantryman. These are the nation's soon-to-be grunts: the knuckle-dragging, dirt-dwelling, trigger-pulling sons of America that are known for their discipline, motivation, and willingness to meet our enemies face-to-face. Sadly, the young Infantryman is not known for his desire to read books without pictures; but they do.
These young Infantrymen-to-be are in Basic Combat Training. It's not a new, softer, gentler Basic Training. In fact, their company has an Army Physical Fitness Test average well above the brigade's average, over half of them qualified "Expert" with their rifle, and not a single one of them scored below "Sharpshooter" (not bad for new Privates). They are reading, because they want to, because they were permitted to, and because they were encouraged to; but not because it is required. The only required reading in Basic Training is a map and a Skill Level 1 Tasks book. Religious reading materials are authorized, by regulation, but most Drill Sergeants prohibit anything else. (The Ranger Handbook doesn't count, because to most Infantrymen it equates to religious reading material.)
These young Basic Trainees are reading books off a reading list I developed for Infantry Basic Trainees. It's outside the graduation requirements or the lesson plan, and therefore it's not funded. I made the list anyhow, in hopes that these Trainees would leave Sand Hill just a little bit smarter than the rest of their peers. Because history books are not in the training requirements it was a challenge to find money; so I crowd-sourced it. After posting the reading list on our Attack Company Facebook page, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Parents, girlfriends, and other supporters sent in books almost overnight. Every evening since, walking through the barracks, I've found Trainees sitting quietly by their bunks reading history(it helps that we take away their "smart" phones).
(Cont. at link above)
Linear Mode
