Letter: Military not going soft; training has changed

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 2:05 a.m.

Why is it so easy now? It seems the public asks this question often, and for good reason. The public sees too many movies of bloody hand-to-hand combat, and they think that is what war is like. War has changed in the last 15 years. It is no longer bloody hand-to-hand combat, it's more like a video game. War is so technologically advanced that long gone are the beaches of Normandy or the recon patrols of Vietnam.

In today's war, an Apache helicopter with infrared vision can find the enemy in the dense jungle or open desert faster and less costly than a foot patrol can. That same helicopter can do the work of 1,000 or more infantry troops.

This all reflects on why boot camps are easier now. The time of just having a heartbeat to get into the military is ancient history. Gone is the need for a massive ground combat force. Today, placement exams are given to perspective recruits who meet the minimum education level of a GED.

Today's military is looking for the brighter high school graduates to fill positions. People with computer and technological experience are, as in any job, in high demand. These same prospective recruits are not going to willingly enlist in the military and subject themselves to the stress, mental anguish and physical abuse that used to go hand-in-hand with old-school boot camp. They will take their much-desired skills elsewhere.

Anyone with two arms and two legs can shoot a rifle and fight a battle in the trenches. It takes a little more upstairs to uplink an orbiting satellite or do a navigational systems check on a $50 million jet. The American public should not worry that the military is getting too "soft." The old boot camp has not disappeared, it has just been moved to a later date in training and given a new name, "Ground Combat Skills." This school is the same as the old-school boot camp, mentally and physically tough.

The military is more prepared now than it ever has been to handle any conflict, anywhere at any time.

Greg L. Anderson