Mark Sumner was awesome this past week, covering Ukraine through the weekend, on his days off, giving me space to spend precious time with my son Ari at Fort Benning, Georgia between his graduation from infantry advanced training, and entering the Ranger school pipeline—one of the hardest schools in the entire U.S. military, the black and gold Ranger tab one of its most prestigious honors.
Seeing Ari spend months on his training already, it was something seeing what Russia is doing to its countrymen during its partial general mobilization this past week:
In the U.S. Army, every soldier gets 10 weeks of basic combat training, then moves to advanced individual training. For infantry, my son was in school 22 weeks, almost six months, to get him to a modicum of proficiency as an infantryman. To hear him say it, even that is rudimentary knowledge at best. While his platoon worked on basic infantry skills like ambushes, reacting to ambush, assaults, and other squad- and platoon-level tasks, he joked about what a mess they still were, despite several weeks of working on it.
For the army, that's fine, because soldiers are expected to continue that education at their assigned unit under the guidance of experienced non-commissioned officers (NCOs, otherwise known as sergeants). So whether it’s an extra 12 weeks for advanced infantry training (post-basic training), or an extra 24 weeks for an Abrams tank mechanic, or an extra 53 weeks as Patriot air defense system repairer, that is just basic-level knowledge. Think of college laying foundation, but learning your actual career at your job.
Let’s take a look at the most basic Infantry unit, the rifle squad, to get an idea of how much support a brand new infantryman gets:
Rifle squad, from a demonstration at my son’s infantry school graduation
That Rifle Squad has nine soldiers. Three of them are NCOs. An E-5 sergeant has around 4-5 years of experience. In some cases, a really high speed soldier might make it in 3. But that requires things like, well, Ranger school. Regardless, we’re looking at 3-5 years of experience to lead just three soldiers. That E-6 commanding eight soldiers? Seven is the minimum time in service, but will usually take a year or two longer.
So in this nine-soldier squad, you’re looking at NCOs with at least 13 years combined years of experience, and more likely 15-20 (since they’ll stay in those slots and ranks for years). A brand new infantryman walks into a system that will take that basic knowledge learned in his or her initial training, and refine it over years of repetitive drilling and practicing.
Amazingly, Russia never had NCOs. Well, they have something they call “NCOs,” but they are a shell of the system seen in NATO armies. Russian officers have died at astronomical rates. That’s why we’re seeing 60-year-old retired officers being mobilized. They’re severely lacking in soldiers with leadership capabilities. And even those, like the ones already dying in Ukraine, lack the NATO-standard ability to adjust and adapt orders to best carry out a given mission. Those NCOs in that Rifle Squad have wide latitude in carrying out the orders from their officers. It’s called “battlefield initiative,” and Ukraine has been training it for the past eight years.
Now Russia is sending thousands of new conscripts straight to the front line with nothing but the most rudimentary training. They originally claimed these mobilized souls would get two weeks training, but even that was too optimistic. Why waste time “training” these new soldiers if they are merely meant as human speed bumps to advancing Ukrainian forces?
This is a good thread by retired Gen. Mark Hertling saying much the same as I did above, but with some added color:
This thread is also excellent:
The carnage will be massive. It’ll be like the Battle of Stalingrad scene in the movie Enemy at the Gates.
YouTube Video
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Ari is in the Ranger school pipeline. If you are curious to learn what that’s about, this is an excellent article. This is a quick primer:
YouTube Video
And if you want a full-on documentary about the school, this one appears dated, but Ranger school hasn’t changed much since. Ranger students still have to survive 2-5 months of the school on severe sleep and food deprivation (most students “recycle” one of more of the three phases of the school, redoing parts until they meet the stringent requirements). Pushed to their physical limits, they learn to conduct the necessary squad- and platoon-level tasks by muscle memory, through instinct.
-----------
This is a step up from the arson that we’ve seen in conscription offices all war. Likely won’t be the last.
Click here to donate to help those escaping Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Seeing Ari spend months on his training already, it was something seeing what Russia is doing to its countrymen during its partial general mobilization this past week:
In the U.S. Army, every soldier gets 10 weeks of basic combat training, then moves to advanced individual training. For infantry, my son was in school 22 weeks, almost six months, to get him to a modicum of proficiency as an infantryman. To hear him say it, even that is rudimentary knowledge at best. While his platoon worked on basic infantry skills like ambushes, reacting to ambush, assaults, and other squad- and platoon-level tasks, he joked about what a mess they still were, despite several weeks of working on it.
For the army, that's fine, because soldiers are expected to continue that education at their assigned unit under the guidance of experienced non-commissioned officers (NCOs, otherwise known as sergeants). So whether it’s an extra 12 weeks for advanced infantry training (post-basic training), or an extra 24 weeks for an Abrams tank mechanic, or an extra 53 weeks as Patriot air defense system repairer, that is just basic-level knowledge. Think of college laying foundation, but learning your actual career at your job.
Let’s take a look at the most basic Infantry unit, the rifle squad, to get an idea of how much support a brand new infantryman gets:
- Squad Leader (E-6, Staff Sergeant)
- Alpha Team Leader (E-5, Sergeant)
- Grenadier (M4 rifle with attached grenade launcher)
- Automatic rifleman (machine gun)
- Rifleman
- Brave Team Leader (E-5, Sergeant)
- Grenadier (M4 rifle with attached grenade launcher)
- Automatic rifleman (machine gun)
- Rifleman
Rifle squad, from a demonstration at my son’s infantry school graduation
That Rifle Squad has nine soldiers. Three of them are NCOs. An E-5 sergeant has around 4-5 years of experience. In some cases, a really high speed soldier might make it in 3. But that requires things like, well, Ranger school. Regardless, we’re looking at 3-5 years of experience to lead just three soldiers. That E-6 commanding eight soldiers? Seven is the minimum time in service, but will usually take a year or two longer.
So in this nine-soldier squad, you’re looking at NCOs with at least 13 years combined years of experience, and more likely 15-20 (since they’ll stay in those slots and ranks for years). A brand new infantryman walks into a system that will take that basic knowledge learned in his or her initial training, and refine it over years of repetitive drilling and practicing.
Amazingly, Russia never had NCOs. Well, they have something they call “NCOs,” but they are a shell of the system seen in NATO armies. Russian officers have died at astronomical rates. That’s why we’re seeing 60-year-old retired officers being mobilized. They’re severely lacking in soldiers with leadership capabilities. And even those, like the ones already dying in Ukraine, lack the NATO-standard ability to adjust and adapt orders to best carry out a given mission. Those NCOs in that Rifle Squad have wide latitude in carrying out the orders from their officers. It’s called “battlefield initiative,” and Ukraine has been training it for the past eight years.
Now Russia is sending thousands of new conscripts straight to the front line with nothing but the most rudimentary training. They originally claimed these mobilized souls would get two weeks training, but even that was too optimistic. Why waste time “training” these new soldiers if they are merely meant as human speed bumps to advancing Ukrainian forces?
This is a good thread by retired Gen. Mark Hertling saying much the same as I did above, but with some added color:
This thread is also excellent:
The carnage will be massive. It’ll be like the Battle of Stalingrad scene in the movie Enemy at the Gates.
YouTube Video
-----------
Ari is in the Ranger school pipeline. If you are curious to learn what that’s about, this is an excellent article. This is a quick primer:
YouTube Video
And if you want a full-on documentary about the school, this one appears dated, but Ranger school hasn’t changed much since. Ranger students still have to survive 2-5 months of the school on severe sleep and food deprivation (most students “recycle” one of more of the three phases of the school, redoing parts until they meet the stringent requirements). Pushed to their physical limits, they learn to conduct the necessary squad- and platoon-level tasks by muscle memory, through instinct.
-----------
This is a step up from the arson that we’ve seen in conscription offices all war. Likely won’t be the last.
Click here to donate to help those escaping Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.