Foxholes and Dogtags

The Only Constant Is Change

I had been thinking quite a bit lately, especially during Drill Sergeant School, how much the army has changed since I have come into it. In fact, there have been a lot of changes in the last few years, especially in Basic Combat Training.

To start. . .

2000	2007
The Black Beret was the sign of a ranger	Everybody wears a black beret unless they are a basic trainee, Ranger, Special Forces, or belong in an Airborne Unit. Oh, and Drill Sergeants.
The PT Uniform consisted of grey cotton and sweats.	The PT Uniform is 'improved' with reflective print that still requires the use of a reflective vest.
There was the Battle Dress Uniform with the camouflage print that we have all come to know and associate with the military.	The Army Combat Uniform, with a lot of velcro and a digital print which the Marines think we stole the idea from them.
Be All You Can Be	Army Strong (and lest we forget Army of One)
Black Combat Boots, and the military tradition of the Spit Shine	Brown 'Desert' Combat Boots, and a huge dive in the Stock Shares of Kiwi
Qualification with the rifle consisted of 20 rounds from the Foxhole and 20 rounds from the Prone Unsupported	Qualification has nixed the Foxhole completely, now we fire 20 from the prone supported, 10 from Prone Unsupported, and 10 from the Kneeling position
Full battle Rattle meant an LCE and a Kevlar, and a rucksack which was sometimes optional.	Full Battle Rattle includes Body Armor (IBA or Flaq vest), which is nice when you are getting shot at, but otherwise sucks.
BCT Physical Training consisted of a series of exercises taken from FM21-20 PT Manual which included whatever the Drill Sergeant could think up	BCT Physical training is a carefully structured program known as SPT that is to be followed strictly (but sometimes isn't)
We were at Peace, except for Kosovo	We are at war, and still in Kosovo.
In BCT, we saw our weapons when we went to the range or if we were cleaning them.	In BCT, the private has their weapon with them at all times, unless they are going to sick call or the Latrine.
Kitchen Police was a loathed part of BCT	KP is nixed from the schedule (this is a good thing!)
The machine gun was an M60	The Machine Gun is an M240B
The K-pot was a Kevlar Helmet.	Phasing in the Army Combat Helmet (ACH)
MOUT training was a skill felt needed by Combat Arms units	MOUT is considered a common task necessary to be known by all soldiers
LOMAH (location of misses and hits) consisted of soldiers behind a shelter downrange raising and lowering targets so that the soldiers firing could see them.	LOMAH is computerized and much more efficient.

Ok, I know there is more then that but as I was brainstorming that was some of the things I came up with, and of course, there continues to be change. And I think there will continue to be more and more change.

Change can be good! But sometimes the army's mantra is "f it ain't broke, fix it til it is!" Can be annoying sometimes.

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