Our enemy is no longer a bunch of dudes with their faces covered wearing sandals hiding IED’s in glad trash bags for a regular patrol, we have made enemies with the 2nd greatest fighting force in the world, Russia.  We’ve not faced an enemy like this since World War II and yet since World War II the training for our military has been reduced to levels I would equate to Boy Scout Summer Camp in the 1990’s.

In recent years, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the readiness of the United States military, with concerns raised about the impact of certain changes in disciplinary practices and the increasing emphasis on sensitivity and inclusivity within the armed forces. Critics argue that these changes have led to a softer military, potentially compromising its ability to perform in combat situations. While it’s important to prioritize respect and inclusivity, it’s also essential to assess how these changes may be affecting military readiness.

One significant shift in military culture has been the removal of harsh disciplinary practices, such as the infamous “shark attacks,” where new recruits were subjected to intense and intimidating experiences during their initial training. For those that have never experienced it, imagine getting off a bus with 500 other recruits, and 20 drill sergeants descending on you yelling, screaming, and pointing out your inadequacies to the entire group while putting you on the ground to do pushups.  It is humiliating and stressful, but ultimately, you learn you are just as vulnerable as anyone else – you are not invincible.

Our enemies will do much worse and this kind of training is preparation for the worst day of our lives – an artificially stressful environment that teaches us how to cope with that stress and make well-founded decisions and rely on our training.  Imagine being in the middle of a firefight and someone screaming at the top of their lungs, “I’m hit!” while another screams, “Out of ammo!  Toss me a mag!”  If you’ve never been in a stressful situation before, the presentation of such a simple decision as “treat your battle buddy” or “toss a mag” can be a life or death situation for your entire unit that you alone might very well screw up.  Of course, you toss the mag first, and shout, “Cover me” while you pull your battle to cover to perform first aid but our soldiers these days would not be able to make such a calculated decision under the stress of that situation.

A forward observer with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division uses Integrated Tactical Network components during a live-fire exercise at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, in January. Developed and fielded through middle-tier acquisition, the system provides commercial components and network transport capabilities to lower echelons within the Army’s tactical network. (U.S. Army photo by Justin Eimers, PEO C3T Public Affairs)

But we’ve not only swung from a state of preparing soldiers for the fundamental stress of war by removing shark attacks and even banning Drill Sergeants from yelling or “name calling”, but we’ve also gone as far as to guarantee their comfort in combat training by allowing creature comforts such as a smartphone which can be used to access contraband, communicate with family, and provide other distractions that a soldier-in-training should not be subjected to.  As I said in the opening, combat training is more akin to Boy Scout Summer camp in the early 1990’s, in fact, I would argue that some mechanisms of the Boy Scouts (Order of the Arrow) is far more difficult and stressful.

Today, the situation worsens with the new inclusivity goals, allowing soldiers to both report misgendering as well as “coping time” during training when someone is misgendered.  These decisions for training boggle the mind – as in, who thought it would be a good idea to turn the military into a bunch of snowflakes?  I believe, and I pray I’m wrong, that it would be far more likely that soldiers curl into the fetal position and sob from being misgendered by the enemy rather than return fire.

I don’t know of a better, kinder way to say it: The enemy does not care about your feelings and that will be another weakness that will be exploited to the maximum.   We are not ready for a war with Russia.  The comparison of the militaries is like the Incans vs Conquistadores, and we’re not Spanish and the Incans were adept in brutality.  I don’t believe Americans realize just how catastrophic this impending war will be.

I hope everyone is prepared to speak Russian.