[Batgirl]

Instead of leaping off the back of the truck, as they would in a typical exercise, or in actual combat, the privates waited about 10 seconds for someone to walk to the back of the truck and place a ladder on its rear bumper. They then climbed down the 5-foot drop, one at a time.

If this weren't true it would be funny. How on earth do they expect these Soldiers to be conditioned for the real tests they will face on the battlefield if they're being handled with kid gloves during their training? I have no operational experience but in my view this initiative is courting real trouble. You can't introduce civilian like practices into this type of training environment without negatively impacting the overall standard. Also how much further will this "softy, softly" approach be taken? If a recruit can't handle the most basic discipline without threatening to pack it in, do you really want that person on the team? I understand the recruiting challenges faced both in the US and also in the UK but the Army isn't the place for these social experiments in mollycoddling.

Some drill sergeants worry that the "kinder and gentler approach" -- as drill sergeants have dubbed the changes -- is producing softer soldiers. "If the privates can't handle the stress of a drill sergeant yelling at them, how will they handle the stress of bullets flying over their head?" asked Staff Sgt. Clayton Nagel as he watched his recruits file past him in the Fort Leonard Wood dining hall. "War is stressful. I think we overcorrected."

The senior ranks should pay more attention to what their SNCOs are saying.