How 'bout a thread here for adding any fresh news about Gordon in General...

I dropped my son off there for the first time last weekend. The facilities were much nicer than I expected from reading on boards. Some improvements seem to have been happening since a new commander was installed in July.

Anyone have any info or explanations about this, what diff it might make, and how it will work... It seems starting this past Friday that there will only be regular sergeants and no drill sergeants. Why and what gives?

My guess for no more drill sergeants would be because they don't have enough to fill the ranks. So the Army has to make cutbacks in certain areas and the first on the chopping block is AIT locations. I remember reading on here recently that there was something like one drill sergeant to every couple hundred soldiers at Fort Gordon or something similar to that figure. I feel this is a big mistake. The drill sergeants need to stay with the recruits through AIT to keep that sense of fear and intimidation instilled into them. But the Army is heading in a new direction and there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I can do something if an undisciplined soldier reports to my unit, hem their a$$ up!

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Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:
My guess for no more drill sergeants would be because they don't have enough to fill the ranks. So the Army has to make cutbacks in certain areas and the first on the chopping block is AIT locations. I remember reading on here recently that there was something like one drill sergeant to every couple hundred soldiers at Fort Gordon or something similar to that figure. I feel this is a big mistake. The drill sergeants need to stay with the recruits through AIT to keep that sense of fear and intimidation instilled into them. But the Army is heading in a new direction and there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I can do something if an undisciplined soldier reports to my unit, hem their a$$ up!

i disagree i beleive the army is the only branch that has thier Basic training instructors in AIT, makes us look like we cant take our own soldiers seriously, i think the DSgTS need to be all in the BCT leave AIT strictly as school, all the other branches do i dont see why the Army doesnt do also, to be honest it looks silly having di walk everywhere with you like alil child to school back and forth every day....also the dsgts need to stop treating ait students like they are lil kids.

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Originally posted by ARMY2006:

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Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:
My guess for no more drill sergeants would be because they don't have enough to fill the ranks. So the Army has to make cutbacks in certain areas and the first on the chopping block is AIT locations. I remember reading on here recently that there was something like one drill sergeant to every couple hundred soldiers at Fort Gordon or something similar to that figure. I feel this is a big mistake. The drill sergeants need to stay with the recruits through AIT to keep that sense of fear and intimidation instilled into them. But the Army is heading in a new direction and there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I can do something if an undisciplined soldier reports to my unit, hem their a$$ up!

i disagree i beleive the army is the only branch that has thier Basic training instructors in AIT, makes us look like we cant take our own soldiers seriously, i think the DSgTS need to be all in the BCT leave AIT strictly as school, all the other branches do i dont see why the Army doesnt do also, to be honest it looks silly having di walk everywhere with you like alil child to school back and forth every day....also the dsgts need to stop treating ait students like they are lil kids.

It's the few that spoil the bunch. When I was at Fort Gordon reclassing last year it was a complete mess. All the soldiers roaming around freely without any organization or structure. It was about this time that the brigade commander enacted this new policy where drill sergeants no longer had to march soldiers to and from school. Whenever school was let out the whole swarm flocked to the DFAC. It's about tradition and keeping the sense of discipline instilled in these soldiers while THEY ARE STILL UNDERGOING TRAINING. It's not college, it is a military institution.

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Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:

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Originally posted by ARMY2006:

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Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:
My guess for no more drill sergeants would be because they don't have enough to fill the ranks. So the Army has to make cutbacks in certain areas and the first on the chopping block is AIT locations. I remember reading on here recently that there was something like one drill sergeant to every couple hundred soldiers at Fort Gordon or something similar to that figure. I feel this is a big mistake. The drill sergeants need to stay with the recruits through AIT to keep that sense of fear and intimidation instilled into them. But the Army is heading in a new direction and there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I can do something if an undisciplined soldier reports to my unit, hem their a$$ up!

i disagree i beleive the army is the only branch that has thier Basic training instructors in AIT, makes us look like we cant take our own soldiers seriously, i think the DSgTS need to be all in the BCT leave AIT strictly as school, all the other branches do i dont see why the Army doesnt do also, to be honest it looks silly having di walk everywhere with you like alil child to school back and forth every day....also the dsgts need to stop treating ait students like they are lil kids.

It's the few that spoil the bunch. When I was at Fort Gordon reclassing last year it was a complete mess. All the soldiers roaming around freely without any organization or structure. It was about this time that the brigade commander enacted this new policy where drill sergeants no longer had to march soldiers to and from school. Whenever school was let out the whole swarm flocked to the DFAC. It's about tradition and keeping the sense of discipline instilled in these soldiers while THEY ARE STILL UNDERGOING TRAINING. It's not college, it is a military institution.

well its AIT unfortunatel the Army treats thier soldier like they are still in basic, also there are bad ones everywhere, NCOs and Os included all branches of the military.... Army needs to learn from the other branches that aIT is a advanced school, it should teaching with professionalism. also if groups of soldiers are acting like crap then its reflective on the leadership....

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Originally posted by ARMY2006:

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Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:

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Originally posted by ARMY2006:

quote:

Originally posted by BeaufordBuddy:
My guess for no more drill sergeants would be because they don't have enough to fill the ranks. So the Army has to make cutbacks in certain areas and the first on the chopping block is AIT locations. I remember reading on here recently that there was something like one drill sergeant to every couple hundred soldiers at Fort Gordon or something similar to that figure. I feel this is a big mistake. The drill sergeants need to stay with the recruits through AIT to keep that sense of fear and intimidation instilled into them. But the Army is heading in a new direction and there's nothing that I can do about it. However, I can do something if an undisciplined soldier reports to my unit, hem their a$$ up!

i disagree i beleive the army is the only branch that has thier Basic training instructors in AIT, makes us look like we cant take our own soldiers seriously, i think the DSgTS need to be all in the BCT leave AIT strictly as school, all the other branches do i dont see why the Army doesnt do also, to be honest it looks silly having di walk everywhere with you like alil child to school back and forth every day....also the dsgts need to stop treating ait students like they are lil kids.

It's the few that spoil the bunch. When I was at Fort Gordon reclassing last year it was a complete mess. All the soldiers roaming around freely without any organization or structure. It was about this time that the brigade commander enacted this new policy where drill sergeants no longer had to march soldiers to and from school. Whenever school was let out the whole swarm flocked to the DFAC. It's about tradition and keeping the sense of discipline instilled in these soldiers while THEY ARE STILL UNDERGOING TRAINING. It's not college, it is a military institution.

well its AIT unfortunatel the Army treats thier soldier like they are still in basic, also there are bad ones everywhere, NCOs and Os included all branches of the military.... Army needs to learn from the other branches that aIT is a advanced school, it should teaching with professionalism. also if groups of soldiers are acting like crap then its reflective on the leadership....

You're right, it is reflected on the leadership, or the lack of leadership thereof. There was one drill sergeant per every hundred or so soldiers.

IET (or MOS-I) Soldiers in AIT need a very structured environment. They are still in a soldierization process. Nine weeks in BCT is not enough time to turn every recruit into a Soldier. Yes, there are some that can handle the responsibility of privileges that they get in AIT, but there are some, as BeaufordBuddy pointed out, that spoil the bunch.

AIT in Fort Gordon is in NO way like BCT.

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Originally posted by pfont77:
IET (or MOS-I) Soldiers in AIT need a very structured environment. They are still in a soldierization process. Nine weeks in BCT is not enough time to turn every recruit into a Soldier. Yes, there are some that can handle the responsibility of privileges that they get in AIT, but there are some, as BeaufordBuddy pointed out, that spoil the bunch.

AIT in Fort Gordon is in NO way like BCT.

No ones never said ait is like BCT norit should not be, the Army especially Tradoc doesnt know how to train soldiers..well in BCT and transitioning to AIT, AIT should be focus on the MOS(no Drill Sgts needed) BCT needs more DSgts its beenyrs since i went to training but when i went to BCT we had 2 dsgts for 1 40man platoon then your sr drill sgt was over all the platoons....go figure he they get enough stress. if the Army can ratio DS- soldier/trainee to about 1:5-10 then you will see better results. in the marine corps you have like 5 DIs per platoon and each platoon gets a sr dI, BCT needs to beat least 10-12 weeks..... Not only the dsgts but other instructors need better training on how to train soldiers, they need learn how not to look down an stop rely on the book or look at the book when giving instruction, thy need to learn bearing so the intial recruit would know the dsgt means business.... consistancy is key... also the BCTs need to be uniform no Osut style format, get rid of that crap. osut makes worser soldier in the overal aspect cause they are their longer than usual and the focus is mixed up .. once soldier grad bCT and on to AIT that soldir willhave a better appreciation of being a soldier.... also more uniform wear classes is needed 50% of the army looks like crap in field and dress uniforms.

First you say:

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well its AIT unfortunatel the Army treats thier soldier like they are still in basic

Then you say:

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No ones never said ait is like BCT norit should not be

I don't care if your viewpoint is different from mine, just don't contradict yourself.

It really shouldn't matter who is telling the AIT students what to do (Drill Sergeants vs. regular NCOs). What we do as NCOs, regardless of our headgear, is enforce the policy made by civilians and senior Officers. We can only enforce what policies tell us to enforce. So if the policy says "stress the Soldier," then thats what we will do. If it says "be nice to the Soldier" then thats what we do. The latter is what TRADOC policy more or less is.

Soldiers can learn their MOS just fine if they are stressed. This is not college. Hundreds thousands of Soldiers have made it though AIT in stressed enviornments in the past. I understand that the Army needs to and should evolve with the times, but we cannot continue to see the lack of discipline that the Army is struggling with today.

I just reclassed there over the summer, and I think that the "quality" of soldiers coming in today need more discipline. I saw a lot of things I couldn't believe. These are soldiers getting ready to go to a combat zone and more than half of them can't get the small things required.

I think a good mix of Drills and NCOs would be good. I saw way too many times where soldiers wouldn't listen to NCOs that were reclassing and with them, and would just listen to the DS.

Also, I don't know what is going on in basic anymore. Soldiers are getting to AIT and are failing miserably at the APFT, and other essential soldier skills that BCT is supposed to teach them. Then they come down to their duty stations and are just jacked-up from the get-go.

I'm not saying it's all of them, but a vast majority of them are nowhere close to where they should be. Too much handholding and TRADOC is making it harder and harder for the Drills to do their job of breaking down the civilian and transforming them into Soldiers.

Just my .02

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mhjson:
I just reclassed there over the summer, and I think that the "quality" of soldiers coming in today need more discipline. I saw a lot of things I couldn't believe. These are soldiers getting ready to go to a combat zone and more than half of them can't get the small things required. ------- Thats always been the army, thats what happen when put drill sgts in AIT when they need to be in BCT.

I think a good mix of Drills and NCOs would be good. I saw way too many times where soldiers wouldn't listen to NCOs that were reclassing and with them, and would just listen to the DS.
---- i think no DS is needed Just cadre that specialised in thier MOS and care about training soldiers to do well at thier jobs., More DS are needed to present a better disciplined soldier in BCT so by the time they get to AIT there wont be too many problems.

Also, I don't know what is going on in basic anymore. Soldiers are getting to AIT and are failing miserably at the APFT, and other essential soldier skills that BCT is supposed to teach them. Then they come down to their duty stations and are just jacked-up from the get-go.
-----that one i would blame on the leadership not holding the standard and just lettin folks get by..

I'm not saying it's all of them, but a vast majority of them are nowhere close to where they should be. Too much handholding and TRADOC is making it harder and harder for the Drills to do their job of breaking down the civilian and transforming them into Soldiers.

agreed soldier transformation starts and should set off from BCT. longer BCT so soldier are better on attention to detail and even NCOs especially DS can do thier missions.

One of the post mentioned that AIT is an advanced school, I disagree wholeheartly. AIT is a basic school and the basic trainees need to be monitored and continually trained in the ways of the Army. BCT is just the beginning of bringing a recruit into the folds of the military and especially the army.

You need accountibility and the new recruit does not have the instilled in him or her yet!

I know this is an old thread but I'm bored and would like to comment. I just got out of the Navy and I'm currently slotted to go to Ft. Gordon in mid April. While Basic training is designed to break down and build back up, AIT (or when I was in the Navy 'A' School) is in fact an extension of Basic. You are given certain liberties whenever you transfer to a new command, but unlike high school, you aren't let free to roam and do whatever you want. I also agree that it's the 1% that screws it up for everybody and some of the punishments aren't fair but that's life so deal with it. Military life is the easiest life you can deal with.