Yes, drill sergeants may not be as harsh on us as they were 30 years ago or so, but insults are just one of the many methods drill sergeants use . The older generation may have been more physically prepared for military service due to less technology, so most people were out. You may not have had women in the military and most of you may be stuck with the thought that they still shouldn't be there because they aren't physically strong enough. What makes basic combat training more difficult is that you didn't have to work alongside women and you didn't have to do all your training putting your faith and trust in a wider variety of people, be they women or men, small or large . I won't force you to see the changes as this generation sees them, but if you have read all this then you can see that the military has not weakened, it has evolved to accept everyone and not judge anyone based on gender or race and seek to accept a wider variety of people. Basic combat training is still a program that produces the strongest men and women there are and if it got weaker we would not be the number one military force to be reckoned with on earth; If you think differently, try taking sides with the 1% of Americans who had the courage to raise this issue