CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, April 29, 2024

by William Hamilton, J.D., Ph.D.

The Rise and Fall of Adventure Training

In the early 1960s, in West Germany, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment introduced yours truly to Adventure Training.

The objective of Adventure Training is to discover -- in peacetime -- which NCOs have the "right stuff" to lead in combat and might even be "officer material." I became an Adventure Training advocate...

Here’s a typical scenario: Out of the blue, Squad Leader Jones is told, "You have one week to get your squad to the top of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain, photograph your squad on the summit, and get back here for debriefing As long as you break no West German laws or Army regulations, accomplish your mission however you wish. Your only support is a 2.5 ton truck and driver. Your week starts now!" Nota bene: the absence of bureaucracy.

The physically challenging way to reach the summit of the Zugspitze is to follow the Partnach Gorge uphill and then climb along the narrow ridgeline that separates Germany from Austria. Fortunately, 10,000-fool falls down into Austria are rare.

While Adventure Training prefers an element of risk-exercise, one squad leader simply pooled his squad’s German money, bought them tickets on the cog railroad/cable car combo that goes to the hotel/ restaurant near the summit.

After some beer, they walked over to the summit, took photos, and rode the cable car/cog train combo back down to Garmisch.

During debriefing, the squad leader gave an honest account of how he accomplished the mission while, at the same time, giving his men a week of R and R in Garmisch. Clearly, he was Air Force Officer material.

But, usually short on money or just wanting the challenge, most squads climbed up through the Partnach Gorge.

If the mission is accomplished successfully, that is a good sign the Army has a NCO who probably has the "right stuff." But if the NCO fails by not taking along enough rations, taking the wrong or inadequate equipment, getting lost (no GPS back then), not making the summit, etc. the exercise is still a success because the Army learns that particular leader does not exhibit the "right stuff."

Unfortunately, it is difficult for some commanders to see the occasional Adventure Training "Failure" as a "Success." They fail to understand the peacetime need to know which leaders might fail in combat.

Over the years, several Army journals published my articles urging the U.S. Army to officially adopt Adventure Training. Consequently, in the summer of 1971, I was summoned to the Pentagon to help write the new Modern Volunteer Army’s Doctrine for Adventure Training.

Returning to Europe, my troops were, at last, "officially" climbing the Zugspitze, skiing in the Alps, white-water rafting, etc. We tasked one lieutenant to rubber-raft his platoon across the English Channel. He talked a C-130 crew into flying his platoon to the English side, where they unpacked their rubber rafts, and started paddling for France. Brilliant.

Today’s DEI Army has a "Warrior Adventure Quest Program," consisting of five bureaucratic layers of prep-training and approvals designed to insure that no one "fails." In fact, it reads more like Hitler’s "Strength through Joy Vacation Program" than real Adventure Training. More’s the pity.

©2024. William Hamilton.

Email: drwm.hamilton@gmail.com