The Army No Longer Offers Warrior Transition Course

Three service members, one in the Navy, one in the Air Force and one in the Coast Guard, want to cross over into the Army.

The three want more excitement, like kicking doors down and doing mounted and dismounted patrols. In their minds, that's better than being cooped up in a ship at sea, or in a Forward Operating Base during the whole deployment.

But one big worry crosses their minds. Will they repeat basic training?

A search of eHow's articles raises their hopes. One of their articles, on attending Warrior Transition Course, gives them the basic scoop.

They learn that since they're prior service, they'll attend Warrior Transition Course at Fort Knox, KY. They'll have 4 weeks of hard training.

All they have to do is go to the Recruiters office to see if they have to attend Warrior Transition Course. If they have to, the recruiter schedules their training. The eHow article explains what to expect while going through the course. The author directs them to a couple websites to get more information.

Good to go? Yes, as of the time that this eHow article was written.

However; when I went to Warrior Transition Course in 2009, that eHow article was mostly inaccurate.

As of 2009, Warrior Transition Course could only be found at Fort Sill, OK.

The eHow article left out the fact that one would have at least 4 days of in-processing at 95th AG. Depending on seating availability, Soldiers waited at 95th AG for at least a week. Some had to wait two or more weeks before shipping out to Warrior Transition Course.

The eHow article also left out the fact that Non Commissioned Officers had to attend Warrior Transition Course Phase II. So, after the rest of the Soldiers shipped out to AIT, the NCOs stayed behind for an extra week of instruction.

Non Commissioned Officers generally attended Warrior Transition Course for 6 weeks. Everybody else attended Warrior Transition Course for 5 weeks. That's if everything went well.

These were the minimums.

If you failed a critical test, after given ample opportunity to retest, you didn't graduate with the rest of your battle buddies. They kept you around to watch the graduation; then shipped you to "Fox Battery." You stayed there until you passed the evolution you failed.

If you fail to pass those graduation milestones, while at Fox Battery, you faced separation from the Army.

If you got injured, you got sent to "Fox Battery," to recover. For many, this meant being recycled into the next Warrior Transition Course Class. This increased their time at Warrior Transition Course.

Nowhere in the eHow article's "Tips and Warnings" sections did it warn that the above could happen.

The eHow article emphasized that you had to have at least three years of military service to qualify for Warrior Transition Course. As of the Army Regulation in effect in 2009, AR601-210, you only needed 180 days of active duty to qualify.

The advice about talking to the recruiters wasn't always the best one either. I helped a poster, on a Warrior Transition Course related forum; get Warrior Transition Course in his contract. His recruiter was about to send him to Basic Combat Training.

So, where does that leave our three friends?

That eHow article leaves them in a position to receive a major disappointment at the recruiter's office.

Warrior Transition Course is no longer offered.

If you're not a prior Marine or Soldier, and you've never attended Warrior Transition Course, or Basic Combat Training, expect to start over along with the newest Private.

There are some exceptions, but it's up to the Army to give them.

This is true as of the time of this posting. The outdated eHow article is still active as of this writing.

If you're interested in joining the Army, refer to their latest AR 601-210. That's the Army Regulation covering active and reserve enlistments.