The post's leadership gathered together last week at the Fort Jackson Basic Combat Training Forum to recommend changes to better train Soldiers, or what Fort Jackson's commander called, "improving our foxholes."
Maj. Gen. Pete Johnson, Fort Jackson commanding general said the forum is a "great opportunity" to gain a long term outlook on basic training and to continually make improvements.
"When we wake up every day, the culture has to be, 'How do we improve the foxholes?'" he said opening the forum. "There's no sitting on your laurels; you are always evaluating the enemy … and saying, 'What can we do to make our organization better?'"
One goal of the forum is to create an "environment where it's OK to shake the tree a little bit … it's OK to look at what we are doing and taking a different avenue of approach," he added. He emphasized, however, the necessity to share different ideas with other training units so there wouldn't be "11 separate" ways of training.
Over the course of two days, unit commanders and senior non-commissioned officers attending the forum split up into eight working groups to narrow down the focus on key functional areas such as strategy, shooting, moving, communication, survival, discipline, fitness/performance optimization, and cadre development.
At the end of each day the working groups made recommendations to post leadership about possible changes. No permanent changes to basic training have yet to be decided.
"As of right now, the groups are only making recommendations to the CG," said Capt. Ryan Lowe, an action officer with the post's operations section. "Nothing will change just yet. The groups will continue to meet up until November when they hope to have final approval from the Center of Initial Military Training/TRADOC to change the core map for BCT."
A Training Strategy Working Group will meet in September before the CIMT Leader's Forum Sept. 18-22 and the CIMT BCT Workshop Oct. 30- Nov. 3.
"Some minor adjustments to the map have already been made, and some battalions have started using that new/updated version, however, only for (After Action Review) purposes to help adjust the final version to be presented to CIMT and TRADOC later this year," Lowe said. "For now, the CG is still making adjustments and no changes will occur until he signs off on them."
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