Page "Recruit training" Paragraph 5

Recruits are typically instructed in " drill ": to stand, march, and respond to orders.

Historically, drills are derived from 18th-century military tactics in which soldiers in a fire line performed precise and coordinated movements to load and fire muskets.

Although these particular tactics are now obsolete for the most part, drilling trains response to commands, assisting in training the recruit to act unhesitatingly in the face of real combat situations.

All militaries in the modern world have learned a service member must think and choose what is right on behalf of his team members and his nation, and often these are critical decisions.

Drill also enables the modern infantry soldier to maintain proper position relative to his peers and thus maintain the shape of his or her formation ( arrowhead, line abreast, etc.

) while moving over uneven terrain, or in the dark of night.

Drill serves a role in leadership training.

Combat situations include not only commands to engage and put one's life in danger, but also commands to disengage when military necessity so demands.

Drill conditions the soldier ideally to instant response to commands, is essential for military function, because without it, a military unit would likely disintegrate under the stress of combat and degenerate into a mere armed mob.

According to Finnish Army regulations, the close-order drill serves four functions: