Can an individual train himself to be a soldier without joining the Military ?

Question

My friend and I had a long debate as to weather or not an individual can ( with official books, videos and the internet) train himself to be the equivelant of a U.S. Military infentryman. He said its possible, I have my doughts partly because of all the teamwork involved. Any input is very welcome to help our debate, But anyone in or who have been in the Military please put your spoon in.

Answer 1

Not possible for two reasons...you need the yelling and constent bickering from a Drill Sergeant to train you to perfection. Drill Instructors are trained experts on how much your body can take or not take!

The second reason you were right about, is learning to work together as one unit...one person!! An Army of One remember...lol...that is what that meant!

Answer 2

I say no as well. The military also uses books to teach you the concepts of things, but they also put you in an environment and situations where you can apply those skills. This is true even in college. It is impossible to apply what you learned in a text book to real world situations.

A book, or other sources can only teach you what you need to know, if nothing else is involved. However, there will always be interference, emotions, and other things.

Answer 3

Yes, it is possible to the basic skills but you are not a soldier. You are a wannabe. Soldiers need discipline and teamwork. Soldiers do not choose their own mission, they carry out the orders of the commander in chief.

Answer 4

No, because he would not be able to function as a one man army, at anytime when he felt it getting to tough he can just walk away.

In the military other people are constantly evaluating your performance, you cant evaluate yourself, its to easy to lie to yourself and convince yourself of what a good performer you are.

Another point is that all units have slight variations in the way simple tasks are performed, when the "Self Trained Soldier" arrived at a unit he would have to quickly change his methods to theirs.

Answer 5

Assuming you have full access to weapons and other rather specific military equipment i would say you could.

Fitness,can easily be reached without military training......lots of professional athlete's about.

Medical training,map reading,navigation can all be learnt.

Proffesional Hunters are all highly skilled in fieldcraft, and camoflauge can be taught.

Hand to Hand,plenty of self defence places around.

Only sticking point would be weapons training and marksmenship.These are not solitary skills,a soldier fights as a team....i cant see how you could learn tactics/fireteams/fire and manoever solo.

Answer 6

No.

Someone can train himself or herself to be a fighter.

But being a soldier is about being part of a unit, working within a chain of command, working with people as part of a coherent team -- and that cannot be learned on your own.

Answer 7

You are correct. Teamwork is key. A soldier is nothing without his unit.

You can be disciplined, fit, strong and a great fighter though.

Answer 8

here's my spoon, NO, you need someone who was in the Military to teach you, he knows and understands how to get what is needed of you out of you..books can't do this, if u use a book, you will not know when to get aggressive or when to be this and that...i teach for free, but charge a small fee

Answer 9

very hard to do considering the infantry divisions train for it every dya and the technology for battle is constantly changing. plus you only get the experience from being in the field and intense training

Answer 10

Yes but who would be there to command you? You need at least one other person for martial arts and hand-to-hand combat training.

Who's going to spot your 500 yd mark when you try for sharpshooter or marksman?