Statistics blog

You know that feeling when you get some money and you know you can buy whatever you want? It's an awesome feeling right? But what if you went overboard? Well that's exactly what the Government has done with the military. We all know that the United States has a bunch of I owe you's, she loves borrowing and spending money! But it has changed. Spending in the United States (which still accounted for 37% of total global military spending in 2013) has gone down in recent years. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) measures annual military spending for most of the world's armed countries, guess who came out on top! According to SIPRI, the United States spent $618 billion on its military last year,that is literally 3 times its $171 billion budget. Not only is the U.S. going overboard on its budget, it's first on the list! According to SIPRI.


 The $619 billion military expenditure in the U.S. nearly outpaced the combined spending of every other country on this list in 2013. USA Today stated "Reduction in military expenditures was due to a greater emphasis on fiscal austerity and the winding down of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, military expenditure fell nearly 6% in 2012, followed by a 7.8% reduction in 2013. Despite efforts to curtail the size of the military, the U.S. supplied nearly $6.2 billion in arms to foreign allies, a figure second only to Russia. The U.S. was also a large arms importer, bringing in $759 million worth of arms, among the higher rates worldwide". Not only the United States supplying more during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was also supplying weapons to close allies! I really do think that its a ridiculously large amount of money, but some questions remain. Does all this money spending give us the edge in warfare?

Frohlich, Thomas C. "Countries Spending the Most on the Military." USAtoday.com. Thomas C. Frohlich and Alexander Kent, 24/7 Wall St., 12 July 2014. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fmoney%2Fbusiness%2F2014%2F07%2F12%2Fcountries-spending-most-on-military%2F12491639%2F>.

Introduction Blog

Drop and give me 20! That is what your drill instructor will scream when you do something bad. He will get up in your grill and push your body to the limits at basic training. Has the army always been like this?  No, in fact at times it has been much, much worse.

During the Civil War, you voluntarily go on your own. You would literally grab anything you could use and go fight for your land or which ever side you were on (North or South). The American Continental Army was very poorly trained and on the other side was the very disciplined British Army, they still had trouble fighting against the Continental. Each Colony from the 13 colonies had its own militia of volunteer soldiers. Each had different uniforms and equipment depending where they came from. Of coarse, they had no training whatsoever and could only fire a musket. This has become more and more advance! Its crazy what the Recruits go through.


Each branch is very very different according to basic training.
Army

• 1-week indoctrination and 9 weeks at Basic Training, followed by Advanced Individual Training

Navy 

• 8 weeks Basic Training, followed by intermediate training, and Advanced Training for certain specialties

Air Force 

• 6 and a half-week long Basic Military Training Program (BMT), and Tech School for certain specialties

Marine Corps

• 12 weeks Basic Training, followed by Infantry or Combat Training, followed by MOS Training for certain Specialties

     I am a huge fan of fitness. I love to workout and stay in shape! That's another reason why I decided to join the Military, to see if my body has what it takes to be Marine. The Army also loves fitness.Not to long ago, the Military.com released an article stating that it was going to have big changes in its PT test, (i'll put the link of the article if you want to read it for yourself). "For the first time in more than 20 years, the Army is gearing up to change its fitness test for every Soldier. Gone is the simple pushup, sit up, and run routine, and in its place comes a battery of sprints, jumps and rows." That is the very first thing you read. It has been crazy how much the military has changed over the years, with the PT test being one of the very first things to change. Aside from your usual Push-up, sit up, and running tests, the Army is trying to get "new evaluation that simulates the kind of body crush Joes experience on deployment". I think that this a great idea! According to Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the Army's deputy commanding general for initial training, he states "The key difference is between 'readiness' and fitness, It's one thing to be fit it's quite another thing to be ready for the things we are being asked to do. And in our case, it's becoming a 'tactical athlete". Couldn't have said it any better! Big changes are expected to happen this coming fall, as the Army will be administering the new Army Physical Readiness Test and the ACRT to almost 10,000 Soldiers at nearly 10 Army commands, including Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Sill, Okla. Soldiers there will help Army fitness experts determine how best to structure the tests and how often to do them. Dang! The Army is almost turning into the Marine Basic Training field! Personally I think that if this does go into effect, Army soldiers will be pushed to their limits and they will absolutely be ready if anything comes up.
   
Article link
http://www.military.com/military-fitness/army-fitness-requirements/armys-big-pt-test-changes