Army basic training, lame for years, finally poised to toughen

OPINION:

The Army is reportedly mulling a toughening of basic training standards so recruits are better equipped to face the rigors of combat.

This is a good idea — an about time idea, in fact.

It’s not just that the Army has suffered a sort of weakening in combat mission under the eight years of the previous administration and all the then-pushed progressive policies. It’s that the Army’s training has been a bit on the lame-o side for a lot longer.

Back in the 1990s, female recruits, at least at Fort Dix, New Jersey, were given free passes on the obstacle course because of weak upper-body strength, and on the weighted backpack multi-mile marches because of flagging fitness levels. That’s poor combat training policy in itself.

Now fast-forward to all the training degradations the military suffered under Barack Obama — who regarded the branches of America’s fighting ranks as more sources of social experimentation than combat preparation — and it’s hardly surprising the discipline and fitness of the Army soldier-in-training has grown more lax. That’s before even adding in the couch-potato physiques of a PlayStation-playing generation.

So to counter, the Army’s considering an extension of Basic Combat Training by two weeks.

“[W]e are considering several initiatives, from a new physical fitness regime to reforming and extending basic training, in order to ensure our young men and women are prepared for the rigors of high-intensity combat,” said Secretary of the Army Mark Esper at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium in Alabama, Fox News reported.

The emphasis on any change will reportedly be on boosting discipline.

Good.

The military is not a place for transgender-sensitivity training. It’s not a tool to press women’s equality in areas where equality does not naturally exist — by the lowering of physical fitness standards, for example. And it’s not a playland for affirmative-action zealots who care more about skin color than national security. That was Obama’s military; now we have the era of President Donald Trump.

Time to adjust.

The military is America’s defense, short and simple. And any training and policy changes that further this mission, even if it means letting go of the social-engineering programs, are welcome, necessary and — after eight progressive years of Obama — long, very long overdue.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.