Sunday, August 19, 2007

Der Volkssturm ... revisited

[Welcome to RCP readers.]

I wrote last week about the breaking of the U.S. Army, comparing it to the Volkssturm (disclaimer: the U.S. Army has a long way to fall before it becomes the Volkssturm, but the road there is certainly being paved now) of the desperate days of the German Army at the end of WW2. More indication of that:

FORT MONROE, Va. -- The US Army, struggling to cope with stepped-up operations and extended deployments of its soldiers to Iraq, has shortened the duration of several of its bedrock training courses so that troops can return to fighting units on the front lines more quickly, according to senior training officials.

One training course that is considered the "first step" in educating newly minted sergeants -- the noncommissioned officers considered the backbone of Army units -- has been cut in half to 15 days. Meanwhile, an intensive program designed to prepare young officers for advanced leadership has been compressed from eight months to less than five months so that the Army can fill positions in constant demand from commanders in the Middle East.

...


Smell that? It's desperation.

By the way, I been through NCO Leadership School and what I learned there was helpful not only in the military but throughout my life since.

I lifted this from Wiki last week:

... Typically, members of the Volkssturm received only the most basic of military training. This included brief indoctrination training, and then training on the use of basic weapons such as the Karabiner 98k rifle and Panzerfaust ...


Great thanks to Susie Madrak for the link.

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