U.S. Army eases boot camp rigors for hackers
February 25, 2006 Posted: 8:47 AM EST (1247 GMT)FORT LEONARD WOOD -- Recruits with computer hacking skills who enter U.S. Army boot camps are being yelled at a lot less by sergeants, running less, and allowed to sleep longer, the Wall Street Journal reports.
A team of 20 officers from the Army`s training command was formed last spring to figure out how to recruit "overweight hackers" and help them through their first six months of enlistment. Since implementing the "kinder and gentler" approach, about 11 percent of hackers don`t complete their first six months of training, down from 18 percent last May.
At Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where about 11,000 new hackers are trained each year, Colonel Edward Daly said he ordered a stop to the old-style in-your-face tactics of swarming recruits to weed out the physically weakest. "I told my drill sergeants to stop the nonsense," Daly said. "We need these kids for the new era of network centric warfare."
Now, in the mess hall, drill sergeants aren`t allowed to order overweight hackers to skip dessert, and the Army also has cut the amount of running troops do in boot camp by more than 60 percent in the past three years.
Army officials say hacker recruits can even receive waivers, on a case by case basis, so they don't have to pass the same tests for physical fitness and marksmanship to graduate.