42? Join the Army

[Sandman]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7058853

I gotta hand it to the guy... at his age, there's no way in hell I'd put up with boot camp again.

[rpm]

There's no way I would survive boot again. Just bury me on the PT grinder.

[Mickey1992]

I hope he is smart enough to keep a journal.  He could make good money with a book some day I am sure.

[rpm]

Naa, it will be a movie starring Dennis Quaid.

[bj229r]

Casey Sheehan's best friend died in Iraq the same week as he...THAT kid's father took a slightly different tack than Cindy-- he enlisted in the (Oregon?) national guard at age 45, got into a combat-type role, and managed to get himself deployed to Iraq at age FORTY-SIX, to exact revenge. THAT guy has balls. (I think he's a gunner on a humvee)--And his wife is 100% behind him

[bzek74]

Bootcamp now isnt like it was 12 years ago, and 12 years ago it was nothing like ten years before. I about died when I told a cherry they put in my squad what to do and he whipped out a "stress card". That stress card turned out to be a ticket of sweeping a parking lot in the rain on a saturday. Marines are about the only ones that maintain the standards through and through. They have even softend up a lil.

[Maverick]

WTF is a stress card?

[Booz]

Well,  it's one way to get dental coverage.

[VOR]

I've heard all about these stress cards, but never actually SEEN one in 13 years. I've only heard the stories, and the stories keep propogating.

[culero]

Originally posted by Maverick
WTF is a stress card?

According to SNOPES its a myth

[Viking]

If it's a myth the why would Bzek74 say what he said?

[tedrbr]

Stress Cards are not a myth, but I don't think they are in use under the new training guidelines..... ie, no more shouting all the time at the recruit (unless there is a real good reason), and so forth.  I don't think it was ever Army-wide either.... some places saw them, some don't.... don't think they lasted long, or were as wide spread use as some would have you believe.

Standards for all forces going to face a drop, again.  State of the Union: The adding 97,000 new soldiers in 5 years?  Best we could hope for, recently, with looser standards (though they will never admit to lowing standards) and ever higher sign-up bonuses has been to "grow the force" (by retention and enlistments) roughly 10,000 soldiers a year, or a little less....

Now they want to boost the force 20K in end strength per year for 5 years?  Disneyland on the Potomac is dreaming big time.  Didn't anyone give the White House realistic growth numbers, or what it would take to accomplish?

"If you are fat, dumb, blind, club-footed, toothless, suffer from narcolepsy, no habla, or haven't been actively a terrorist or gay for the past three years...... Uncle Sam Wants You!  Sign Up Today!  


Maybe we'll go back to Press Gangs.  Or this will be the New Guest-Worker Program.... Guest-What...You in Da ARMY now!


And to answer Maverick, a Stress Card was given to recruits (1 per training cycle, per week, per day.....this part varies ALOT) so that if the poor snot-nosed recruit was feeling "stressed out" and some big, meanie of a DI started in on him, he could pull it out, and the Drill would have to leave him be for a while (day, 1/2 day, that training period.....whatever....these also varied....).  
That's the story, and the story told so often for so long, it's a very warped story by this point..... but is generally now a "saying" that would incorporate all the lesser standards and changes to which military trainees are held when coming up through the system.  usually in a derogatory manner, from us old salts who remember very different training methods used on us.  

Seemed like someone's pet project that got circulated among some training bases.

[culero]

Not only does Snopes (READ ME!!!) say its a myth, the US Department of Defense website confirms Snopes' account of the origin of the myth in this ARTICLE (CLICK ME!):

Here's another LINK - CLICK ME from the US DOD:

The Navy issues a card to every new recruit that includes information about whom to contact "if things pile up." The committees recognizes the importance of informing new recruits about support services upon their arrival at basic training. But concerns were raised by Navy trainers about Navy recruits who raise their cards while being disciplined as a way of signaling a time-out.

The committee recommends that the Navy review its "stress" card policy and eliminate the use of these cards by recruits as a means of ending a disciplining or training session.

So, as far as I can tell, one branch only (never the Army or Marines, just the Navy) decided to give new recruits a tool that pointed them in the right direction for help if they felt too stressed.

[VOR]

Originally posted by Viking
If it's a myth the why would Bzek74 say what he said?

It makes for a cool story?

[Gunslinger]

I can't speak for the other services but I can honestly say the Air Force's programs arent getting easier, they are in fact getting harder.  For example, they just gave us a new tool to use on trainees by the name of "squat thrusts".  Before such an exercise wasn't on the "approved list" and therefor strictly verboden but now to instructor's delite and the trainee's horror it is highly effective at ridding of "rolling of the eyes" and such.  

The USAF is still waiting on funding but there are plans to actually make basic military training longer by 2 weeks.