Sep. 13 – The Commanding General of Training and Doctrine Command spoke about the training program that gives recruits who did not meet the standards to join the Army an opportunity to meet the minimum standard to join.
“They go to school for up to 90 days,” said General Gary Brito. “They learn how to sleep, how to take a test, to meet the standards of the Army that have not been lowered.”
During the Maneuver Warfighter Conference at Fort Moore, General Brito, and Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Harris, the most senior enlisted member of the Training and Doctrine Command, claimed no standards were lowered.
“We met them where they’re at and they meet our standard,” Harris said. “We did not lower a single standard to bring a single recruit into our Army.”
CSM Harris estimates the Army’s Future Soldier Prep Course has allowed “a division and a half” of soldiers to meet the minimum standard to join the Army since the program started.
August 4, 2024 -The Army reports a need to expand its basic training by adding more training companies after re-assigning basic training companies to give poor-performing recruits a second chance at becoming soldiers.
In 2022, the Army reassigned training companies at Fort Jackson to be used for the Future Soldier Prep Course.
The course gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards and move on to basic training.
The Army credits this course with getting them back on track to meet their recruiting goal this year.
The year the course was created, the Army fell short of its goal of recruiting 65,000 soldiers by almost 15,000.
The army now has 15 training companies assigned to the prep course at Fort Moore and Fort Jackson, according to the Associated Press.
Those training companies are expected to bring in nearly 20,000 recruits this budget year, which is roughly 36% of their goal of 55,000 new soldiers.
With the increase of soldiers needing a second chance at meeting the standards required to become a soldier, the Army says it needs to add more basic training companies than they currently have room for at Fort Moore and Fort Jackson.
Army Future Soldier Prep Course focuses on giving soldiers from the active army, reserves, and national guard an opportunity to improve in areas that have kept them from meeting the standard to attend basic combat training. Soldiers are given the opportunity to improve on fitness and education standards required to pass the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). Soldiers commonly spend 3 weeks at the Future Soldier Preparatory Course before meeting standards and shipping off to basic combat training. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Pfc. Ana-Grace Catoe, South Carolina National Guard)
The Army’s solution is creating two new training companies at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and two at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, according to Brig. Gen. Jenn Walkawicz, head of operations for the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command.
She said that finding additional space for basic training is a better option than moving the retraining prep course.
“We don’t want to mess with that because right now that formula’s working and it’s provided a lot of value for the Army,” Walkawicz said.
During the first year of the course, 3,206 students attended and 2,965 students of them moved on to basic combat training.
Students who needed academic help, increased their ASVAB scores by an average of 18.5 points and students needing fitness help lost an average of 1.7% of body fat per week, according to the Army.
“I spent a lot of time trying to get into the Army. This program helped me make it to this point,” said Pvt. Elysette Ortiz, after increasing her ASVAB score by 22 points while in the program.
Footage recorded by Jason Norris, in 2023, shows recruits struggling to complete physical training intended to get them in shape to meet the physical standards during basic training.
In 2023, only the Marine Corps and Space Force met their much lower recruiting goals.
During the first quarter of 2023, the Space Force had no issues with meeting their goal of 167 Guardians.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force all missed their recruitment targets by large margins.
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