{"id":38334,"date":"2018-03-15T16:42:09","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T16:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/15\/so-long-platoon-sergeants-army-begins-turning-ait-instructors-into-drill-sergeants\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:13:12","slug":"so-long-platoon-sergeants-army-begins-turning-ait-instructors-into-drill-sergeants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/15\/so-long-platoon-sergeants-army-begins-turning-ait-instructors-into-drill-sergeants\/","title":{"rendered":"So long, platoon sergeants! Army begins turning AIT instructors into drill sergeants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the decision to do away with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2017\/11\/28\/its-official-the-army-is-bringing-drill-sergeants-back-to-ait\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">advanced individual training platoon sergeant<\/a>, the Army began remaking those instructors into<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2017\/10\/18\/tradoc-csm-bring-drill-sergeants-back-to-ait\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\"> drill sergeants<\/a> on Friday, according to a release from the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Army plans to transition <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2017\/12\/24\/new-in-2018-drill-sergeants-return-to-ait-plus-a-makeover-for-basic-training\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">600 platoon sergeants<\/a>, over seven 10-day courses, Stephanie Slater, a spokeswoman for the Center for Initial Military Training, told Army Times on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you see somebody walking around with a drill sergeant hat on, you understand that\u2019s the best of the best and you need to go ahead and shape up, because you know he\u2019s going to make an on-the-spot correction,\u201d Command Sgt. Maj. Edward W. Mitchell of CIMT said in the release.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-drill-sergeant-web.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Drill Sergeant Sgt. Dan Kernan keeps track of Best Warrior competitors during  the 2015 U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Fort Bragg, N.C. (Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That disconnect between drill and AIT platoon sergeants, who didn\u2019t have the distinctive head gear or special pay of the former, meant some trainees didn\u2019t have the same reverence for their instructors, according to senior leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn 14 weeks we have to transform them from their civilian ways \u2013 socialize them, is what I\u2019m trying to say \u2013 into our culture, our values, our way of doing things,\u201d Command Sgt. Maj. Dave Davenport if Training and Doctrine Command told Army Times in October. \u201cAnd that drill sergeant can really drive that behavior, that process.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Drill Sergeant Academy at Fort Jackson will hold one transition course a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To complete the switch, the Army is baking AIT instructor training into the existing DS curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe drill sergeant program of instruction is currently undergoing a revision to include responsibilities of drill sergeants in the AIT environment,\u201d Slater said.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That includes small updates to financial and administrative guidance, rifle marksmanship, land navigation, drill and ceremony and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threat response, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There will also be a general push to beef up drill sergeants\u2019 understanding of soldier fitness, by evaluating them on multiple techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis will result in drill sergeants who have a greater breadth of knowledge base and are more proficient at conducting physical fitness training in the AIT environment,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army plans to transition 600 platoon sergeants to drill sergeants, over seven 10-day courses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":74032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3301],"class_list":["post-38334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CQIWGXEASRHEZD4QZTRQO5KJAA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/15\/so-long-platoon-sergeants-army-begins-turning-ait-instructors-into-drill-sergeants\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>So long, platoon sergeants! Army begins turning AIT instructors into drill sergeants - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Army plans to transition 600 platoon sergeants to drill sergeants, over seven 10-day courses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So long, platoon sergeants! 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