{"id":49664,"date":"2022-10-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/11\/the-armys-pre-boot-camp-boot-camp-is-likely-to-expand\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:50:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:50:48","slug":"the-armys-pre-boot-camp-boot-camp-is-likely-to-expand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2022\/10\/11\/the-armys-pre-boot-camp-boot-camp-is-likely-to-expand\/","title":{"rendered":"The Army\u2019s pre-boot camp boot camp is likely to expand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army is entering a new fiscal year with the active component likely understrength by about 10,000 soldiers amid a major recruiting crisis, but all hope isn\u2019t lost for service officials as its headline initiative to address the shortfall continues to enjoy early success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Future Soldier Preparatory Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, is intended to help expand the pool of recruits who have a chance to join the Army while simultaneously sticking to entry standards, senior leaders argue. It\u2019s currently a pilot program, but service officials have indicated that they are likely to expand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Times visited the course for two days in August<\/a> for a first-hand perspective on the service\u2019s most ambitious accessions experiment since the surge years of the Global War on Terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-week pre-basic training course offers two tracks for applicants who previously had too much body fat to join \u2014 up to 6% more than the standard for their respective age and gender \u2014 or whose scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test would have required them to have an approved waiver to enlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prep course students enlist on open contracts and receive full pay and allowances while they participate in the course. When they meet Army standards by either passing the AFQT or losing body fat, they renegotiate their contracts and move on to basic training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Col. Kent Solheim looks on as Future Soldier Prep Course trainees run intervals along a track at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on Aug. 23, 2022. Solheim, a combat wounded Green Beret, commands the 165th Infantry Brigade, which is overseeing the prep course. (Davis Winkie\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those who do not meet the standards after 90 days are discharged with an entry level separation that will allow them to someday rejoin if they continue progress towards the standards back in the civilian world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And according to updated data provided by Center for Initial Military Training spokesperson Lt. Col. Randy Ready in late September, the pilot program is showing promising results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spokesperson said approximately 75% of trainees across the course\u2019s two tracks graduate \u201cafter three weeks\u201d in the program. Ready indicated that around 874 trainees are currently participating in the program \u2014 649 in the academic track, and 225 in the fitness track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the service\u2019s personnel directorate, Lt. Col. Joseph Payton, told Army Times that as of Sept. 23, a total of 680 troops have graduated from the program and moved on to basic training. Of those graduates, 149 have completed the fitness program and 531 have completed the academic track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier data offers additional details. Fort Jackson spokesperson LA Sully told Army Times in August<\/a> that the earliest group to go through the academic track enjoyed an average AFQT score increase of 19.8 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AFQT is scored on a 1 to 99 scale that corresponds to a test taker\u2019s performance relative to their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an applicant gets a score of 41, for example, that means the individual scored better than 41% of test takers. But that scale wasn\u2019t calibrated for the crushing weight that the COVID-19 pandemic put on the American school system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A joint memo signed by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville in July said \u201cpreliminary data suggests remote schooling may have lowered overall [aptitude test] scores by as much as 9 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the program is working<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to officials involved with the effort, one of the key factors helping trainees succeed is a tempered training approach that departs from the classic \u201cbreak them down to build them back up\u201d attitude that drill sergeants bring to typical basic training cohorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those running the course \u2014 from the two Special Forces officers leading the battalion and brigade overseeing it to Army senior leaders \u2014 say that\u2019s on purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. Kent Solheim, who commands the 165th Infantry Brigade, explained that prep course cadre took intentional steps to reduce the \u201cintimidation factor\u201d with trainees and create an adult learning environment. Part of that environmental change meant trading in their classic brown campaign hats \u2014 common headgear for drill sergeants \u2014 and instead donning simple black caps similar to those worn by instructors at the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the academic track, trainees are studying the Basic Skills Education Program curriculum, which the service has long used to help already serving troops improve their test scores to increase their career opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Students in the Future Soldier Prep Course attend a class with Army-issued tablets loaded with course materials in August 2022 at Fort Jackson, S.C. (Davis Winkie\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A mix of Army civilians, contractors and uniformed instructors are teaching the courses while the Army works to secure more contractors to join the fledgling \u201ccampus environment\u201d in the 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry complex at Fort Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recruits hoping to shed fat or improve physical training test scores are put through a full-fledged fitness instruction program that goes beyond twice-daily PT sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Times watched a medical provider teach trainees about macronutrients and reviewed lesson plans meant to provide foundational instruction on building a healthy lifestyle for body and mind \u2014 such as drills meant to teach proper running form and one-on-one coaching sessions with nutritionists and dietitians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials explained the concept is based around existing mechanisms for reconditioning basic training troops after injuries, as well as the broader Holistic Health and Fitness program that the service is implementing<\/a> across the active duty force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An answer for recruiting woes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Senior Army officials have stated they see the prep course as the service\u2019s most promising initiative to address recruiting shortfalls that may be driven by a sudden collapse in the percentage of young Americans who meet requirements to join the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Hendrex, the top enlisted soldier for Army Training and Doctrine Command, said publicly in September that the number of applicants who walk into recruiting stations \u2014 approximately 110,000 \u2014 hasn\u2019t dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s changed is how many are eligible to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained, around 40% of walk-in applicants were disqualified within 48 hours of inquiring with a recruiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then? That instant disqualification number has ballooned to 70% of applicants, largely due to legal marijuana use, a drop in AFQT scores and the worsening childhood obesity epidemic, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prep course is targeted to help those on the margins who are struggling with mild obesity or who may have had a bad AFQT score after their final two years of schooling were disrupted by COVID-19. If implemented at scale, senior leaders hope, they can cut down on that instant disqualification rate and offer a new path for young Americans to meet the Army\u2019s standards and enlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senior enlisted soldier in the Army\u2019s personnel directorate, Sgt. Maj. Mark Clark, told Army Times in a phone interview that prep course applicants can\u2019t have any disqualifying conditions beyond their fitness or test score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have any medical or any types of criminal backgrounds that will prevent them from joining,\u201d he explained, adding that the course \u201cgives them an opportunity to still serve their country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark framed the initiative as the service recognizing \u201cthe societal changes that have happened as a result of COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s unlikely that the trends that sparked the prep course will reverse, service officials are still working to determine how much they want to expand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late August, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville indicated the Army intends to increase the number of slots for the course at Fort Jackson and \u201ccould see\u201d it expand to other training installations. But no decision has been announced as of yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Times editor-at-large Todd South contributed to this report<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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