I heard on CBC radio there's some controversy about military training described as torture.

I couldn't help thinking it sounded like just about every movie ever made that featured military training. The Hill, maybe Heartbreak Ridge and definitely An Officer and a Gentleman. There always seemed to be a sadistic drill sergeant.

In the movies and TV land such 'training' was supposed to help with survival and not break under torture. Countless 'heroes' (Jack Bauer, Nick Brody, Harry Palmer) survived captivity thanks to such training.

Of course the real world is different.

Is the report a surprise? Anyone have any relevant experience/knowledge?

I can only comment on movies too. GI Jane and American Sniper instantly spring to mind (oh and Forrest Gump)


I always think that I wouldnt put up with that working environment myself, but then I would also sing like a canary at the mere discussion of torture.

I was in the Air Force reserves for a couple of years in my late teens/early 20s. The training was disciplined, but not torture. Respect for more senior ranks was ingrained in us from the first day of training and anything else was not tolerated. I actually really enjoyed my time, but I can see how others might find it tortuous.

It sounds from your comment that you didnt experience anything like what was mentioned in the article. Whats in there sounds brutal and goes beyond the running in the hills with a backpack singing after a full supper, or doing pushups as ocean waves hit you (movie training)

Nope, nothing like what was in the article. I'm not saying it never happened, but I never saw anything resembling that in my short stint. If it's true what was written, it's really sickening and I do hope that the soldiers who suffered get some justice.

Not for Canada but the older brother of one of my sons friends was one of the Deepcut army "suicides" - though how you can shoot yourself 3 times in the chest and twice in the stomach with a rifle is a bit of a puzzle to me (and to one or two investigators). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ing-alert.html

I dated a young man who was in the territorial army in the UK back in the 70's, both he and his brother were assigned to the SAS regiment. According to him, waterboarding and extreme interrogations were often used during the 2 week annual war games camp. How true this is, I don't know.

I attended, and passed, the escape and evasion course run by the British Army. It appears that the article was focussing on something similar.

Attendance on such a course is voluntary. Anyone can leave at any time. Of course, doing so means that you will fail the course.

P Company, the Marines course, selection, probation, sniper training, are all of a similar nature. They are intended to be difficult to complete and no one is forced to continue on them if they don't want to. Just ask Prince Edward.

I have little sympathy for anyone that volunteers for the course and then complains about the treatment they receive on the course. As Lofty Wiseman once said, "Death is nature's way of telling you you've failed selection."

Health and safety may be a relevant consideration for office jobs. However, if one expects one's military to be able to cope with the extremes of combat, health and safety, to a large extent, cannot be applied as it would in an office environment.

I have undergone waterboarding, stress positions, ritual humiliation, white noise, sleep deprivation, etc. I was able to quit whenever I wanted to.

On selection and probation, none of the staff provide any form of encouragement at all. If you are unable to motivate yourself to do something without having someone screaming in your ear, you will fail the course.

Our elderly friends both did training with the British Army (Wartime) they were put through stress tests for upto 10 days (both went on to do undercover/clandestine Ops). One used his code word to get out and the other to this day has never given her word up. It drives her husband mad not knowing what her word is and now she has limited speech, it will be forever her secret!

I do believe if you are going to be potentially put into situations where torture is a likely outcome, knowledge of what to possibly expect and how you will deal with it is more beneficial than going in cold, I also believe that in some instances people can take things too far in training situations and cause more harm than necessary.

Yes, but has law school hazing gone too far?

I am x RAF, basic training was in the 80's

Yes it was tough, clean clean and more clean, bull night was every night, shoes had to be like mirrors and bed packs had to be perfect

No torture tho, not like the article says. Just hard work, well for a 17 year old it was hard work :@)

My son was in the TA for a couple of years while he was at University. Nothing like the real thing, of course. But he made one interesting point to me at the time: he said "I can see why some people like the army, Dad. You don't have to think. The army does all your thinking for you." Sounded a bit like prison, to me - or slavery, perhaps. Was it a fair comment?

I think it's a bit simplistic, they indoctrinate soldiers to have some ingrained responses the same way pilots are trained to automatically respond to situations in flight, but they want thinking soldiers, better equipped to respond in an unfamiliar situation. In a lifestyle sense it only rings true for those who want it to; they feed you, clothe you, educate you, and some like that, but for many that education is used to launch a second career after service.

For the Army yeh, that's why we called them "Grunts" lol