Physical training is important for soldiers.
First Army pre-deployment training should provide realistic wartime readiness through physical and mental preparations, according to the First Army East website. Soldiers preparing for active duty must undergo rigorous training for up to a year before deployment. Cultural preparations include studying basic military orders and learning the history of the location where they'll be deployed.
Physical Tasks
Soldiers in pre-deployment training must complete an array of individual physical tasks to attain combat readiness. In addition to body conditioning, military trainees must meet marksmanship standards set by Army commanders, according to Global Security.
Age and gender determine the physical standards a soldier must meet during training. According to the U.S. Army basic training website, a male soldier ages 22 to 26 should condition his body to perform 75 push-ups without stopping. A female soldier of the same age should be able to complete 46 push-ups without stopping. All soldiers within this age range should work to perform 80 sit-ups before stopping.
Mental Tasks
Soldiers must learn general orders before deployment. These orders must be memorized and, when requested, repeated aloud. Three general orders are essential to pre-deployment training, according to the U.S. Army basic training website: guard everything at your post and quit only when relieved, obey special orders and perform all duties in a military manner, and report all violations to the commander of the relief. Learning the fundamentals of new languages also prepares soldiers to talk with foreign nationals.
Cultural Tasks
Soldiers must learn the cultural traits and customs of the region where they're being deployed. They must also contextualize combat missions by learning the history of foreign regions, conflicts and people. The U.S. Army provides a substantial list of books for soldiers to understand where they will be deployed. Hundreds of pages of materials, and dozens of books, are required reading up to six months before being deployed, according to the U.S. Army website. For example, tactical level book reading for troops being sent to Afghanistan include "Fundamentals of Company Level Counterinsurgency" by Dr. David KilKullen and "Afghanistan's Cave Complexes" by Mir Bahmanynar. Unit leaders are required to read "Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia," by Ahmed Rashid.
Tags: First Army, pre-deployment training, Tasks Soldiers, where they, according Army, Army basic
