Bayonet Training To Be Discontinued For US Army Recruits

New Army recruits train on the bayonet course at Fort Knox in 2004. The Army has opted to discontinue bayonet assaults from its basic training curriculum. Newscom/File

One Less Skill For Soldiers To Master At Boot Camp: Bayonet Training -- Christian Science Monitor

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling opted to discontinue bayonet training for Army recruits. After all, the last US bayonet charge was in 1951. But in the weeks since that decision, Hertling has had some pushback.

When a US Army general made the decision recently to remove bayonet assaults from the array of skills soldiers must learn during basic training, it seemed like a no-brainer.

US troops hadn’t launched a bayonet charge since 1951 during the Korean War. And new soldiers preparing for an increasingly violent war in Afghanistan already need to learn far more skills than the 10 weeks of basic training allows, says Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, head of initial entry training and the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command.

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My Comment: I guess they only cram so much information in 10 weeks of training .... and bayonet training is at the bottom of the list.