The US Army is set to ‘upgrade’ soldier training to better complement the maneuvers required in a real honest-to-goodness battle: less bayonets and more brute force sprints.

The training update will mark the first major change in the Army’s training regimen ever since men and women began training together in 1980. The change pulls from battlefield experience gained from Afghanistan and Iraq, among others, and aims to ready soldiers more for the rigors required in an actual combat situation.

“We don’t run five miles in combat, but you run across the street every day,” exclaims Frank Palkoska, the head of the Army’s Fitness School in Fort Jackson. “I’m not training long-distance runners. I’m training warriors.”

Palkoska and Fort Jackson’s Fitness School had been working on the training regime change for several years.

“They have to understand hand-to-hand combat, to use something other than their weapon, a piece of wood, a knife, anything they can pick up,” according to 1st Sgt. Michael Todd, a veteran with seven Iraq and Afghanistan deployments under his belt.

The new training setup will focus more on core body power, agility and strength, letting go of the likes of long distance runs and bayonet drills in favor of core muscle development and zigzag sprints. The change also aims to further educate soldiers from a ‘more obese and sedentary generation’, claiming that the soldiers of today probably did not have sufficient physical education all throughout their school years, significantly affecting their bone and muscle strength.

“We just have to take the soldier who’s used to sitting on the couch playing video games and get them out there to do it,” shares Capt. Kenny Fleming, an Army veteran of 10 years.

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