For your information:

Army to Start 10-Week Boot Camp in Fall
Stars and Stripes | Lisa Burgess | July 01, 2008
ARLINGTON, Va.

-- The Army will extend boot camp from nine to 10 weeks for all recruits beginning Oct. 1, an official at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command confirmed Monday.

Last October, TRADOC leaders said that they would add an extra week to boot camp in the fall of 2008, following a pilot program involving five of the Army's basic training facilities, TRADOC spokesman Harvey Perritt said Monday.

Army officials started the 10-week Basic Combat Training pilot course on Nov. 2, marking the first time boot camp had been lengthened since the program went from eight weeks to nine in 1998.

Army leaders did not use the additional week to add to boot camp's already-packed training regimen, TRADOC commander Gen. William S. Wallace said when announcing the program in October at Fort Monroe, Va.

View the new Army 10 week schedule.

"Over my dead body will we add any tasks to basic training," he said.

Instead, Wallace said, the extra week is for drill sergeants to review, re-train, and retest skills and material with individual recruits, so they can thoroughly master required tasks before moving to Advanced Individual Training, or AIT.

The pilot ran through mid-March, at which point all Army boot camps went back to nine weeks for the rest of fiscal 2008.

The Army didn't immediately go into the 10-week program, Wallace said, because the service trains its peak influx of recruits in the spring and summer. The boot camp and related AIT "surge" schedules were already fixed around the nine-week timing, he said.

"We couldn't get around [the surge], in terms of scheduling," Wallace said.



http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,170900,00.html

Hi IronErik,

My younger son (an SPC/18x) just completed basic/AIT and is just starting ABN School. He was in one of the 'pilot' units (ft. Benning)... even though my older son (a SSG, 82nd ABN, 3rd BCT) teased him ("did they give you guys 'milk and cookies' yet?") he felt the training they rec'd was extremely productive, focused on really relevant skills, and excellent preparation for deployments and/or future training. Sure, they still got smoked, and mess hall is still silent/eating in line, etc... but I am really impressed with how the DIs conducted their training.

mm

Forgot to add: thank you very much for your service!

mm

Mortarmom;

It's good to hear that Basic Training is changing to meet the war time needs of the Army. I first went through in 1985, again in 1993, and did Drill Sergeant time from 1998-2000. I've seen lots of changes over the years, and Basic Training continues to produce tough, motivated, entry level soldiers.

I went through basic at Ft Jackson back in March '78 and it was only for 7 weeks.