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Why do ‘Shark treatment’ (or shock treatment as it was once known) on those attending Army Basic Training? Why scream at new recruits getting off a bus? Why have them crawl through sawdust pits or do pushups in the snow in the middle of the night? The U.S. Army recently decided to end the practice “towards a kinder, gentler start.” But that s a wrong-headed approach. For starters, trainees are not soldiers; there are four tests each individual must pass in order to earn that title. Each trainee must qualify (achieve a minimum score) with a rifle. The M-16 rifle was in use when I enlisted. Today, it is the M-4 rifle. They must pass an Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT or simply, PT test) which has changed a number of times over the years. (When I enlisted in 1974, there were five APFT events. Each event had to be passed with a minimum of 60 points: Pushups, Sit Ups, Horizontal Ladder, One-Mile Run, and the Dodge, Run, and Jump.)

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