Military Always Knows Best (or Not)

This post and a class taught by a non infantry instructor motivated this post by a veteran:

The attitude of the modern militia seems to be quantity over quality. Let me explain, but first, get out your red ass salve, this is gonna hurt!!

Quantity over quality is great for WalMart, but for a militia it is a recipe for disaster. I'm not only talking about the people, but also the training. By admitting anyone, fat, old, cripple, young, able, experienced and inexperienced and letting them train as if they're going to fight is absurd. By putting substandard(physically and untrained) folks in with those physically able and trained, you'll end up getting both killed. I know some will argue that the III% were all farmers and bankers, etc. They were led by military men, men experienced in combat and trained to endure the hardships of combat. The III% also had no choice, the Colonies were ruled by the Brits and had no standing Army. Now, with all of the combat vets from Nam to now, there is a plethora of men and experience to draw from.

Most vets don't want to join a militia because of some of the reasons stated above. I won't take a class on Infantry tactics from a civilian that has no real world experience. Think about it, a guy gives a room clearing(CQB) class, but has NEVER CLEARED A ROOM FOR REAL IN HIS LIFE!!!! Would you take that class? There are subtle(and not so subtle) nuances to room and bldg clearing that can't be picked up in a YOUTUBE video or a book. Quality people giving quality classes make everyone better. Training CORRECTLY every week beats training INCORRECTLY everyday.

If you have 100 members and train every week, but you train bad habits in repetition, you will fail. I would rather have 25 members training in the fundamentals every week because they will become GREAT at what they do.

This picture was attached to it:

Well, as one who has trained with combat vets and other trainers, let me delve into this a bit further. While most vets who would teach these things may well know how to do them the Military way, there are some other issues here.

1. Many vets are not good teachers. It's ok, many non vets are not good teachers, either.  Folks like this lack lesson plans, lack direction, and lack a big picture view that allows them to only train what is needed, and discard what is irrelevant. Furthermore, the lack of big picture disallows the instructor here to focus on the most important skills most, and relegate less important skills to discussion or other dissemination. 

2. Just like non vets, some vets do not "play well with others." Meaning they may know their stuff. They may even be able to teach it. But they are always being anti-social to the detriment of the students.  For some reason, the patriot movement seems to see a higher percentage of these than the general population.  Maybe because some patriots will put up with it in an effort to learn from the vet.

3. Some vets get very jealous of anyone else teaching their stuff. Doesn't matter if it's being taught correctly. This is akin to the martial arts masters of old hiding their knowledge from students for varying reasons. 

4. The military way is not always the right way.

Here's a list of a few things Military folks agree make no sense.  However, when put to the test, Military tactics and techniques are not necessarily the best. They are certainly never the only way.  And as much as you are taught to believe in yourself and your team in the military... it can be hard to adjust to the fact that someone else might know more.  Particularly a civilian.