Updating Tradition: Necessary Changes to Marine Corps Recruit Training

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Abstract : Warfare has never adapted to the traditions of a fighting force. Survival necessitates that forces adapt to the changes in warfare. In 1999, General Krulak added the concept of Strategic Corporal to the Marine lexicon. Seven years after the concept was introduced, outdated drill movements are still practiced. Field skills and tactical formations are neglected and the Crucible has lost its place as the culminating event of recruit training. The recruit depot impresses upon recruits that decision-making skills and critical thinking are subordinate to rote memorization. However, the modern battlefield requires mental as well as physical agility in all ranks. It is no longer enough for every Marine to be a rifleman. In Afghanistan and Iraq a new primary weapon, the rifleman's mind, has replaced the M16. To prepare Marines to fill the role of Strategic Corporal, recruit training must shift its focus from drill, re-evaluate and reposition the Crucible, and restructure small-unit l

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