How much training does a professional soldier need?

[storealex]

Ok, so in your eyes, how long should a soldier have been in the army, before he can be send to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and participate in situations involving combat?

Poll is coming.

 

[Swedishguy]

Get them dressed, give 'em a rifle and some grenades, and fly 'em to Iraq and the centre of the conflict.

 

[ArneHD]

Ok, so in your eyes, how long should a soldier have been in the army, before he can be send to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and participate in situations involving combat?

Poll is coming.

Depends on role, if role is to sneak into a super secret and highly guarded compound with nothing more than a pistol and a knife, in order to disable the super secret armageddon weapon, draftee will probably do.

If role is to DEFEND said compound, a few years of intense training and superior weaponry are the norm. Also, must leave medkits lying around.



Joke aside, it DOES depend on role and unfortunatly, I have absolutely NO IDEA how long it takes to train a policeman or soldier.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Well my brother required over 6 months of training, but that was to become involved in Chemical Warfare, not a regular rifleman.

 

[brennan]

The more training the better. Professional armies never stop training their troops, nor should they.

 

[Riffraff]

bout half a year should do for your average grunt, maybe double the time for fancy stuff like inner city combat etc..

 

[brennan]

When did you feel 'combat ready' Storealex?

 

[Panda]

Haven't been to Iraq so I don't know when one is prepared. But I would say, that starting from scratch, including all sort of culture- and location specific training, a year for the crappy, dangerous assignments, and more for specialists like gunship pilots.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I wonder how much alike training and real combat is to schooling and work...

When I graduated I found I was poorly prepared for real company stuff and had to relearn many things. Likewise I wonder how much of real combat you can prepare yourself for.

Can't answer the poll since I couldn't say really, but I suspect 2 years ... or more. Figuring since it is a very dangerous asignment you'd have to be prepared (but again, that's where my earlier question comes in)

 

[ummmm........]

Less than six months.

 

[El_Machinae]

Six months if you expect them to merely fight. Of course, continuing education is what soldiers really need.
We should be teaching our soldiers the local languages, too, and then give payraises to those who excel.

 

[Raisin Bran]

It depends on how fast a soldier can stop thinking by himself and listen blindly to orders.

 

[Adebisi]

The thread starter did not specify what army and how important the war is, but I guess for most situations, about six months.

 

[MobBoss]

Being a professional soldier, I would say 6 months or slightly more or less depending up the job skill.

However, training like that only covers the basics of your job skill. Your actual training as a team and an individual never really stops.

The basics dont give you experience either. And IMHO it is experience that makes you a professional.

 

[Perfection]

Exactly 29 weeks 5 days 3 hours 12 minutes and 13 seconds says this subject matter expert.

 

[JollyRoger]

If you are an American soldier, 6 months. If you are an Iraqi soldier, for as long as Bush is willing to stay the course.

 

[ArneHD]

Being a professional soldier, I would say 6 months or slightly more or less depending up the job skill.

However, training like that only covers the basics of your job skill. Your actual training as a team and an individual never really stops.

The basics dont give you experience either. And IMHO it is experience that makes you a professional.

Is that in total? I.E. from some random person in the street to professional soldier? Or does it assume some prior training?

I ask because I have no idea how the american military training system works, and only a scetchy idea on who any other training system works.

 

[IglooDame]

Is that in total? I.E. from some random person in the street to professional soldier? Or does it assume some prior training?

I ask because I have no idea how the american military training system works, and only a scetchy idea on who any other training system works.

Six months of training makes you a professional soldier in the same way that a week of training makes you a professional retail food service provider. Which is to say, you're qualified at the most basic level, but still have a variety of advancement, specialization, and experience to go through before you'll get any respect amongst your peers.

 

[MobBoss]

Is that in total? I.E. from some random person in the street to professional soldier? Or does it assume some prior training?

I ask because I have no idea how the american military training system works, and only a scetchy idea on who any other training system works.

That is from off the street to being assigned to a unit. New recruits in the US Army have two phases to their initial training. Basic Training - which is boot camp and teachs soldiers how to march, shoot and the minimums about how the Army works. Basic Training is usually around 9 weeks long for the Army. Advanced Individual Training (AIT) is usually a longer course than basic and is where the soldier receives specific job skill related training. Some schools are much longer than others, for example many of the intel language schools can be a year or more in length. However, most are usually 12-14 weeks long.

After those two phases a soldier is assigned to his first permanent duty station and is place in a unit. Their training does not stop there though, but actually continues so that they can become an integral part of that unit and act as a unit. So, team building training along with more individual training is done all throughout a soldiers career. Just like any professional they are continually learning different methods and improving their skills as they gain experience.

 

[CenturionV]

I'd say 3-6 months. Then all soldier should immediatly be shipped to the most intense combat area for frontline duty for at least the same time (or more)

Your new troops get either veteran or die before you waste to much time on there training.

I don't see why you should waste lots of training on troops without field experience.