Has the US government modified their doctrine and training to compensate for the current use of the military?

Question

Back when I was taking training for the army in the early 90's, much of the "threat" training involved Soviet tactics. Obviously, in the last 10 years, the military has been used more in peacekeeping type ops and situations like Iraq. I'm not advocating anything for or against the current military deployments. If this is what the military will be doing the next few decades, is our current administration changing the way they are organized, trained, equipped? It is a challenging task to take an armored unit who is trained to fight a large column of T-72's rolling across western Europe and put them into urban combat avoiding streetside bombs.

Answer 1

The training you had was abandoned long ago. Joint Doctrine currently refers to something called Full Spectrum Operations which inclues those "peacetime" actions the military gets called to do, and ranges it up through operations progressively more aggressive until finally reaching Major Combat Operations. The military must plan, equip and train for the worst case scenarios, but are also trained up on counterinsurgency, peacekeeping, etc. Granted, the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind.

Answer 2

I can tell you what I have seen and read. The Marines took over a Mt. training area that was a long abandoned Guard or Reserve site in the Sierra. I have been past it twice in the last couple of years and it looks like it goes full time now.

In regards to what I have read there was an article in the last 2 weeks about a new urban training city. Don't remember where and it's not important.

Having a civilian background in both corporate tech training and project management I know how long it can take to plan/fund/bid/build.

Answer 3

Yes all branches are adjusting to the new training. Unfortunately just like every other war, people have to die before we have to find new and better ways of doing it. An OIF I vet would notice a large difference in the way we fight now in the current OIF. It changes monthly. It is hard to keep up with the changes, but it does keep the enemy on their toes as it does us.

Answer 4

There's a new field manual on counterinsurgency operatons which also lends itself well to the task of rooting out terrrorist cells. I believe it's FM 24-3. Interestingly enough, one of the authors is General Petraus who is commanded the forces in Iraq.
There are general grade and flag grade officers at each of the unified and specified commands, as well as the Pentagon, whose task is transformation. That started under DOD Secretary Rumsfeld well before the attack on
America.

Answer 5

Simple answer...yes we have. The training of our soldiers has changed starting in BCT, PLDC (WLC), BNCOC, and ANCOC. The doctrine has slowly been changing too (see previous posts). The days of the legacy Divisions are gone and the "brigades" are constructed to fight as BCT's able to sustain themselves instead of deploying as a whole division. The Army has adapted to fight as a lighter, more mobile force as a whole.

Answer 6

Yea I guess. I think the military should create an Urban Combat division

Answer 7

What ever happened to "Adapt and Overcome"?