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Actually, one of the great weaknesses of our generally brief (about 2 day) Res F exercises (regardless of level of the PTA or EXCON) is that we tend to teach our soldiers how to live in the field for, well, 2 days. The TRAINING is generally (not always, but generally) good, dynamic, interesting and challenging. Having participated in many, many exercises, however, I've noticed that it's the "ancillary" stuff that we tend to fall down on. Frankly, anyone can live in the field for two days without shaving, washing, changing their socks or sleeping. Unfortunately, these are the very things that are often glossed over, or even omitted altogether, because they require time that's always in critically short supply. Exacerbating this is the fact that your average 18 or 19 year old isn't necessarily all that well-versed, or even motivated, in looking after him/herself (I have two sons, 19 and 21...between them and their friends, it's amazing how disgusting they can allow themselves to become--and that's in a home setting, with clean clothes and showers readily at hand). The result is soldiers who become casualties on longer exercises, starting on day 3 or 4, because of exhaustion, rashes, blisters, etc.
What's worse is that their chain of command ALLOWS this to happen; when I was a young 2Lt and commanding a platoon, I was (very firmly) taught by the RSM that I was responsible for those soldiers, so I'd better lean heavily on my Pl WO (who'd also been taught by the RSM) and let him ride herd on my young soldiers. Every morning, the WO had the troops shave, wash down appropriate body parts, change socks, comb hair, brush teeth, etc. I'd then inspect them, even if it meant crawling from trench to trench to check them out. I also did foot inspections; I haven't seen one of those done in ages (I pulled them when I was a CO; although the first time, the soldiers looked at the "old man" like he'd grown a 3rd eye when he said he wanted to look at their feet, the concept did catch back on. Not sure if it's still in the unit's lexicon, however). Every exercise, no matter how long, should be treated as though it's a slice of a much longer ex or op, so all of that "boring routine" of washing, changing clothes, etc. should be done properly, every time.
What's worse is that their chain of command ALLOWS this to happen; when I was a young 2Lt and commanding a platoon, I was (very firmly) taught by the RSM that I was responsible for those soldiers, so I'd better lean heavily on my Pl WO (who'd also been taught by the RSM) and let him ride herd on my young soldiers. Every morning, the WO had the troops shave, wash down appropriate body parts, change socks, comb hair, brush teeth, etc. I'd then inspect them, even if it meant crawling from trench to trench to check them out. I also did foot inspections; I haven't seen one of those done in ages (I pulled them when I was a CO; although the first time, the soldiers looked at the "old man" like he'd grown a 3rd eye when he said he wanted to look at their feet, the concept did catch back on. Not sure if it's still in the unit's lexicon, however). Every exercise, no matter how long, should be treated as though it's a slice of a much longer ex or op, so all of that "boring routine" of washing, changing clothes, etc. should be done properly, every time.