Military education and training - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel

Armed forces

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...

in their respective roles.

Military education can be voluntary or compulsory duty. Before any person gets authorization to operate technical equipment or be on the battle field, they must take a medical and often a physical

Physical examination

Physical examination or clinical examination is the process by which a doctor investigates the body of a patient for signs of disease. It generally follows the taking of the medical history — an account of the symptoms as experienced by the patient...

test. If passed, they may begin primary training.

The primary training is recruit training

Recruit training

Recruit training, more commonly known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel, enlisted and officer...

. Recruit training attempts to teach the basic information and training in techniques necessary to be an effective service member.

To achieve this, service members are drilled physically, technically and psychologically. The drill instructor

Drill instructor

A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer or Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in the armed forces or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. In the U.S. armed forces, they are assigned the duty of indoctrinating new recruits entering the military into the customs and...

has the task of making the service members fit for military use.

After finishing basic training, many service members undergo advanced training more in line with their chosen or assigned specialties. In advanced training, military technology and equipment is often taught.

Many large countries have several military academies

Military academy

A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...

, one for each branch of the service, that offer college degrees in a variety of subjects, similar to other colleges. However, academy graduates usually rank as officers, and as such have many options besides civilian work in their major subject. Higher ranking officers also have further educational opportunities.

Resocialization

Resocialization is an important aspect of inducting a civilian into a military. Resocialization is a sociological

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

concept dealing with the process of mentally and emotionally "re-training" a person so they can operate in an environment other than what they are accustomed to.
Successful resocialization into a total institution involves changes to an individual's personality

Personality type

Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of individuals. Personality types are sometimes distinguished from personality traits, with the latter embodying a smaller grouping of behavioral tendencies. Types are sometimes said to involve qualitative differences...

.

Key examples include the process of resocializing new recruits into the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

so that they can operate as soldiers – or, in other words, as members of a cohesive unit. Another example is the reverse process, in which those who have become accustomed to such roles return to society after military discharge.

Resocialization from the life of a combat soldier to a civilian member of society is often difficult because of what that soldier saw and did in his military experience. In the transition from civilian to soldier, the individual is trained to solely follow the command of his superiors. In some cases commands would go against certain natural aversions (such as killing) of the individual based on one's moral and ethical principles.

A leading expert in military training methods, Grossman(2001) gives four types of training techniques used:

brutalization
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
role modeling

According to Grossman (2001), these techniques were meant to break down barriers to embrace a new set of norms and way of life (brutalization), condition them to pair killing with something more enjoyable and pleasurable (Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of conditioning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov...

), repeat the stimulus-response reaction to develop a reflex (Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...

), and finally the use of a role model of a superior to provide action by example.

While leaders effectively train their soldiers to accomplish the goal of battle preparedness, these techniques increase psychological trauma experienced in veterans post-combat. It is because of the evident psychological problems in post-combat situations (i.e. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that pose a threat to public safety because of the conditioning of the individual who might be made unstable because of his actions.

External links

ITIWSI International Security Training US military training facility
Reservist military training SaBRE

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Resocialization

See also

External links