WASHINGTON -- A new Army prep course gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. So far, 5,400 soldiers have made it through the prep course since it started in August at Fort Jackson, S.C.
That's an important boost since the Army fell dramatically short of its recruiting goals last year as the result of low unemployment and general wariness about military service. And at least one other military service, the Navy, took notice and is setting up a similar course.
For those who make it through the program, it can be life-changing. Daysia Holiday, 23, said many of her peers in her hometown of Baton Rouge didn't make it out of high school, with some "dead or in jail." Sitting outside the class building in her Army fatigues last summer, she talked about trying to pass the academic test for two years with no success.
She said she wanted to set an example, especially for her younger siblings. The prep course gave her a second chance. She raised her academic score by more than 20 points.
The course, she said, was like "basic training without the yelling." It also allowed her to bond with fellow students. "We helped each other out throughout basic training, so it was easy," she said. "All of us actually passed, so it was a good experience. And we all keep in touch."
Army leaders say the program -- it involves classroom instruction and training ranging from how to wear the uniform and properly make a bed to fitness and discipline -- gives recruits like Holiday an advantage.
"I think an interesting thing we've seen is that the kids coming out of that course, who go into basic, actually seem to have a little bit of a leg up," said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. "During basic training, certain young individuals who show a little bit more leadership skills than others get selected to have leadership positions. And what we're seeing is the kids coming out of the prep course are often the ones who are being chosen for that."
As of March 17, nearly 8,400 people had been admitted to the prep course and more than 5,400 had graduated and gone on to basic training. Army Lt. Col. Randy Ready, spokesman for the Army Center for Initial Military Training, said about 6% of those recruits don't make it through basic and advanced individual training, about the same attrition rate as for those who don't go through the prep course.
Ready said almost 4,000 of the graduates were in the academic track and about 1,400 were in the fitness track. Students in the academic program increased their test scores by an average of 19 points, he said.
"It has been largely very, very successful," said Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, head of Army Recruiting Command, adding that students who go through the prep course come out more prepared. "It instills a level of positively and confidence in those future soldiers."
Gen. James McConville, Army chief of staff, told a House committee on Tuesday that students in the program are improving their academic scores and losing 4% to 6% of their body fat.
"We're really giving them discipline," he said. "They're getting in shape. We're giving them a head start. So when going into initial military training, where they were at the lowest category, they're actually excelling and in some ways exceeding the standards -- becoming the student leaders."
Once in the program, recruits are tested every week. And every three weeks they can move into basic training if they pass the military's academic test -- the Armed Services Voluntary Aptitude Battery -- or if they meet the physical standards. If they don't pass or meet the standards after the first three weeks, they can stay on and keep testing for up to 90 days, but they have to leave the Army if they haven't succeeded by then.
FILE - Students enlisted in the new Army prep course work together in barracks at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)
FILE - Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James McConville left, listens to Daysia Holiday, a student in the Future Soldier Prep Course, right, at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. Aug. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)
FILE - Students in the new Army Prep Course sit at desks at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford, File)