"Senior commanders at every installation have the flexibility to implement what is needed to best protect the health of the force, and again, they’re working with the local communities," the Army surgeon general said.
An initiation developed during the Army’s draft years to intimidate trainees has been replaced by a new event intended to emphasize teamwork and trust.
“For some of these kids, I’m older than their grandparents,” Gould said. “I went through [Marine Corps boot camp] in 1978. It’s a whole different world.”