How Army Jungle Soldiers Are Training For A Possible War With China | Boot Camp | Insider Business 

"I joined the army so i could go to war" most American thing ever said!

Let's just take a moment to appreciate the cameraman going through the jungle with them. What an absolute unit.

I was a Marine in Vietnam from oct 67 to nov 68, most of it in the mountainous jungles of I Corps. No training, no tests, no pass or fail. We just gutted it out and pulled each through weeks of monsoon rains, infrequent resupply because of the canopy and low ceiling for choppers. It’s true that 50% of the jungle is trying to kill you even before enemy contact. We were thirsty, starving and filthy, living like animals and thinking like them, too. Jungle schools like this would have been helpful but in the end it’s Semper Fi… do or die.

Dude 23 is hilarious. Switched on, but at the same time funny and fully capable of performing. Perfect soldier right there

My father fought in Vietnam and he said the most terrifying thing he experienced was when the jungle was quiet.

1st Sergeant Fletcher (#23) was my Basic Training instructor in 2010. He gave me one of the best compliments I've ever received in my life. I was the Platoon Guide, and we were on the 12-mile Ruck march at the end of training. I was running up and down our line motivating everyone in my platoon for the entire 12 miles. I had blood oozing out the back of my boots from blisters, and I had been assigned the M249, so I had the heavier weapon and the boxes of ammo as well. It was a challenge, but I honestly had such a great time. SSG Fletcher at the time pulled me aside during the ruck and said "Greene, I wish you had gone Infantry, we would benefit from motivators like you." I never did go Infantry, and I never followed up with my Drill Sergeant. But seeing him here, now, so accomplished and close to retiring, and still so highly motivating. And with everyone in the comments praising his attitude, comradery, and motivation; it just makes me feel even better to have that moment where he wanted me to be like him.

As a Filipino soldier who operated in the jungles of Mindanao Philippines for almost 10 years, I highly respect our American brothers in arms. We experienced working with American soldiers in fighting terrorists Abu Sayyaf Group (Dawlah Islamiya) in the province of Sulu, all I can say is they are professionals. Jungle warfare is literal "unforgiving". You need physical strength, positive attitude, grit, and high Adversity quotient. It is either you let the jungle kills you or you will turn the jungle into your playground. Congrats to all participants of this training together with their professional instructors. Congrats to Business Insider for superb documentary. I would also like to mention specially 1st Sergeant Fletcher (#23), you are the symbol of modern proper American soldier. I wish you all the best in your career and family, and I'm hoping you influence the younger generations of Americans to love their country as you do.

This students were lucky to have someone like 1SG Fletcher join them. He knows so much and definitely knows how to keep the morale high.

23 is the kinda guy you want with you in a zombie apocalypse. Full of experience and knowledge, a morale booster in situations of absolute despair, and a leader that can help get a group to situate itself properly in a chaotic situation

Ive got a feeling that ranger saved a lot of kids from failing and saved the morale with all of his jokes 😂

I am a former 25 ID (light) soldier serving in Hawaii from 1989-1993. They didn't have Jungle School there back then but they did have Air Assault School, PLDC and RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program) which gave me a very close and personal tour of East Range and it''s many gulches and dead-ends., When I went to Ranger School, land nav was a breeze and the 25ID RIP program had the best Ranger School graduation rate for first time graduates than any other division in the US Army. I went with 11 others from 25 ID to Ft. Benning in the winter and 10 of the 12 of us passed first time through. I recognize, even to this day, many trails, fields and other places including the tunnel which they didn't show. These Schools gave me knowledge that I still utilize to this day. Especially those crazy knots. haha By the way, I was not infantry, I was military intelligence. Rangers lead the way-

First Sergeant Fletcher is a fantastic leader . I truly hope the next generation follows in his footsteps . You need men like him on the battlefield he is like a beacon of light in the darkest places

Props to 25 for obviously getting outside his comfort zone, and leading by example. He stays humble and thats imprtant.

Props to 56. It’s not easy to say yes when everything in your body, but your heart, is telling to to say no.

People like number 6, are the kind of people I enjoy talking to, and being around. They are great people!

Excellent documentary! Although this course is not as long as it was in the 80's, this course appears to be very similar. I graduated from the jungle operations training center at Ft. Sherman Panama in August 1985. My son is with the 25th ID and went on that deployment to the Philippines earlier this year. I hope he will also go to the jungle warfare school, and make it a family tradition.

people failing on day 2 are still 99.99% better than me. Thank you for your service

46:15 23 jokingly yelling "CONTACT!" at some nearby gunfire had me dying 🤣 you can definitely tell he was someone who was great at making others feel comfortable in difficult situations through his comic relief

I like documentaries like this. All of the ones made seem to be of kids in basic training. These are real soldiers, the kind you actually go to war with. For me, basic training was easy but, going through a second time at age 35, it was most difficult dealing with the immaturity and the things we were taught I knew we'd only do in basic. Even for the most seasoned Soldiers among us, this type of training looks very challenging.

From Colombia. I should’ve gone to any war with 23, back 55 years ago ,in my 20s.I wish good luck to them all back in the jungle.

23 was living a whole movie with his comments. That man is the mvp

Number 23 is the type of guy you need in a serious situation. Great leader, hardworking, lots of experience, and a morale booster.

My dad was US Army Infantry in Vietnam. He lived in the jungle and the mountains for two years. He said it was simultaneously the scariest but also most beautiful place. He sat on a snake so large, he thought it was a log. He kept a pet tarantula in a Coca Cola can. He said after basic he had a short course in advanced weaponry and then they were dropped off in the jungle to sink or swim. He said they sprayed Agent Orange on top of them and it was like it was raining Agent Orange. They told em that they sweat so much that it’ll roll right off them. Amazing how things have changed, I’m glad these guys get to at least train before ever having to go muck out there like dad.

#56 Army Strong is something you earn with blood sweat and tears. Never give up 💪🏻

I always love it when Students are allowed to joke with the instructors as long as everything is kept to a professional standard and everyone knows the line

I absolutely love number 25, he clearly didn't have what it took from the start but that did not stop him from having the most absolute best outlook on every situation, an overwhelmingly optimistic guy and I got big respect for that alone

This is quite the experience. You have to love misery. Embrace the pain. Soak up every bit of knowledge the instructors give. To me, the most difficult part was the water test. ~ #12, 2015

23 is an absolute chad

The 10 bucks for 2 hot dogs and some chips was the hardest test to endure. 8 more candidates dropped because they did not believe in carrying cash.

The people in this documentary are true characters. Would watch another series with 23 👌

It would be very helpful and insightful if they integrated Vietnam veterans who experienced Jungle combat first-hand. I could understand if most are riddled with intense PTSD, trauma, etc., but if they could find some that really wanted to lend some critical insight to these brave soldiers preparing for war, it would be very useful. Nothing beats experience

Girl at the end "my platoon came out, and my platoon sergeant had everyone gimme a lay, super sweet of him" 😂

Greetings from a retired Malaysian officer. We used to train you guys in jungle warfare from the Vietnam war onwards, and helped set up your jungle warfare school too. In fact, the last I heard, we were still rotating our jungle warfare school cadres to your Hawaii jungle warfare school to keep you guys up to scratch in jungle warfare. Unfortunately, it would seem that you guys still carry too much to go deep in the jungle. Malaysia's tropical jungle is rarely flat and is mainly hilly or mountainous, unlike Hawaii's island jungle. Different kind of jungle altogether. Your Vietnam veterans will know the difference. Anyway, the lighter, the better. Our load for a two weeks exercise was definitely less that what I see here. And we weren't even counting on any air resupply. We brought in what we needed and that was it. In the late 1990s, we had US Marines joining us for jungle warfare exercises. We were very impressed with their physiques as they all looked like bodybuilders, were very fit and their backpacks were very "impressive". Whilst we Malaysian soldiers were all scrawny and wiry with small backpacks. However, on the first day of the exercises, we found that they were not keeping up with us, and lagging far behind. By the second day, we have had enough and told them to junk all their stuff to be picked up and bring only food, ammo, and communications. Even then, they could barely keep up with us. We used to joke with them, that they had the right muscles for flat ground but the wrong muscles for hilly, mountainous jungle terrain. Also, the US MREs were not calorific enough compared to Malaysian MREs as you can imagine we burned up calories like mad. We used to bring some of our MREs back home with us, and after eating a few packs, you would put on weight fast! Oh, and we had an advantage in tracking down Western soldiers. For some reason or another, they used to wash very little, whilst we would take every opportunity to find a stream or river to wash up. In primary jungle, the air is very clear and sweet. You can smell anything strong easily. We used to joke that we could smell if any Western soldiers were nearby or had passed by recently. They didn't believe us when we told them that :) Have to give a mention to the best jungle warfare unit during the Vietnam War, Malaysia's Senoi Praaq Special Forces. The Senoi Praaq is a Malaysian special forces unit originally created in 1956 by the British colonial authorities to fight communism during the Malayan Emergency. They were recruited from the indigenous aborigines of Peninsular Malaysia. The unit began as a creature of British Military Intelligence and fought in the deep jungle as Special Air Service (SAS) protégés, eventually replacing the latter upon Malaysian independence from the British in 1957. The British 22 SAS bestowed the maroon beret on the unit in recognition of their services to them, which they still wear to this day.The extraordinary jungle survival and tracking skills of these aborigines were legendary and the British feared that the Communist Terrorists would gain an advantage if these skills were utilised against the British. Before the Senoi Praaq were deployed into an area, conventional units would withdraw, allowing the Senoi Praaq complete, unrestricted freedom of movement in the operational area. The jungle skills, stealth, endurance, and fighting skills of the Senoi Praaq made them feared adversaries of the communists in Malaya. The unit attained a respectable body count and legends arose of incidents when the Senoi Praaq would count up 10 kills in a single, swift engagement. The Senoi Praaq Squadrons achieved a casualty ratio of 16:1for killed, wounded or surrendered (better than the SAS or Gurkhas at that time). Though the Senoi Praaq troopers were given a choice of weapons, they reportedly enjoyed scoring kills using their traditional weapons - the blowpipe with cyanide-tipped darts being a favourite. They particularly enjoyed a leisurely hunt that would take a few days, stalking their prey as if they were tracking game. The Senoi Praaq quickly established a ruthless reputation among the communist forces who took great pains to avoid the Senoi Praaq. Though they had access to air and artillery support, these were rarely used. Instead, the Senoi Praaq preferred more intimate tactics. Lt Col Noone, the founder of the Senoi Praaq, along with a group of Senoi Praaq members were sent to An Khe, Vietnam early 1963 at the request of South Vietnam President Diem to train the indigenous groups there. They were asked to train them on counter-insurgency operations as had been successfully carried out in Malaya while fighting the communists during the Emergency. They were also responsible for forming the Montagnard Scouts team under the CIA-led MSP (Mountain Scout Programme) in co-operation with BRIAM (British Advisory Mission). The CIA called them the "Whispering Death" for their mode of operation and used to them to carry out covert missions in Laos. The Saigon government were so impressed by them that they wanted them to be under their direct control. However, they faced hostility from regular South Vietnamese forces, especially their special forces. Due to this intense animosity between the Vietnamese Special Forces and Noone’s team, Noone requested for his team’s removal from Vietnam. The Senoi Praaq team withdrew at the end of 1963 when Malaysia's Confrontation with Indonesia began. At around the same time President Diem was assassinated by a CIA supported military coup.

23 is super chill and hilarious for someone who's been in Syria and Iraq. Goes to show the power of humor and morale. Absolute legend.

“rank does not matter here, the jungle treats everyone the same.” one of the deepest statements of the episode…

This was really educational to watch. It really felt you were there with the soldiers in training. Getting to know them and working together

I earned my jungle patch at JOTC Fort Sherman Panama in Jan/Feb 1986 with the 101st Airborne. Loved every bit of that training and cherish my Balboa patch. MRE does NOT mean meals ready to eat, it means meals refusing to exit!

I really like the ranger attitude. Really shows the resilience and confidence under stressful times. Makes me want to be a ranger too

Former 25th ID soldier familiar with East Range here. Way to go capturing the essence of it all. Fantastic production.

Thank you Vietnam veterans who rebuilt jungle warfare conventional wisdom. And the specialists and experts who also continued the training and development.

23 would be one cool ass FSG. I’m sure he saved a lot of soldiers from giving up, and just helping them drive through the training.

23 is like out of a movie. So much respect for that man and he is a true soldier

The production quality and editing in this is insanely good 👍

This documentary should be used in army recruitment videos it was brilliant

#25 despite failing the course, and the brief time he was in front of the camera, showed what a leader he was. That's the kind of person I want leading me into battle. He can return to his men proud, and they'll understand why if they see this. Having said that, I'm a Brit, and it never fails to amaze me seeing the US military training systems. The sheer number of specialised courses, the toughness of them, the character every entrant shows, the sheer scale of the US military and it's ability, it's insane. I have no doubt that many units of the British Military hold a better skill level in CERTAIN things, but we cannot compete with the quantity of US soldiers and the qualit of training they ALL receive. Our Royal Marines would all pass this course, this stuff is part of their regular training, but these are US Army personnel, not specialised commandos, it's insane, we may have a few thousand commandos who can compete in this, but the US Army will have tens of thousands of soldiers who can compete in this, and that's disregarding their special forces, which we count our Royal Marine Commandos as. Very grateful we have the US as our closest ally, what an incredibly powerful country.

Ltc. is speaking like a true officer lol I'm just glad to be out here with the boys, in the dirt!

"Peace is a good thing, but I joined the military to go to war, so. . ." You go dude!

That #5 LTC is a serious badass and a real leader to take this challenge and all the other leaders that go through this challenge. Makes me want to do this even more!

the contact part was funny and scary at the same time. 23 was instantly jumped into action for it due to his experience and humour. ironic

This is one of the best documentary. I really felt like I was there with them.

Only 10 mins in and I was rooting for 25😢. Seems like a good guy. Hope he got a second chance some other time or if not then I hope he had better success in his other military endeavors.

Damn this was one of the better done documentaries of Army training. They did a great job of showing how hard this school is. What they don't mention however is that even those that fail still go back to their unit with a ton of great training and experience. I'm tool old to re-enlist now, but damn, it makes me miss being in the Army and that fantastic feeling you get after doing a really tough school or doing any tough, but realistic training.

23 is a whole character fr. love em

I graduated from the Army Jungle Expert course in March, 1975. Ft. Sherman, Panama Canal Zone. A Lot of Humping!! 😊😊

During my time in the Army 2013-2022, I’ve always enjoyed training with people like 23. It’s awesome having people around who can bring up the morale when everyone is trying to embrace the suck lol

This is so cool seeing the 82nd Airborne come up in this video. My grandpa George was in the 82nd Airborne doing jumps in the mid 1950's. He was always so proud of his service right up until the day he passed just a month or so ago, and even after so many decades it was still such an impactful and important thing to him. I wish I could've showed him this video, he would've loved it. He spoke very highly of his time in the Army. It's so interesting to me to think about how despite the fact that it's all different people now, by several generations, this is still the same division that he was a part of, and was a part of him. Thank you all for your service.

This brought back memories of Army cadets Singleton Australia late 70s even the helicopter parts ! No GPS though. 303 rifles and a Brengun. But no where near as much gear as these guys had was over 4 days and no trails. Was one of the best times i ever had

Respect to all the senior leaders . Salute!

Respect to all who have completed jungle training, I served as an British Army Commando, . I attended jungle instructors course in 1986…….. Around 4 weeks in Borneo Sarawak, most of that time in the ‘boonies!’ Did lots of difficult courses while serving, but jungle warfare, let along the instructor’s course. The Jungle just drains all your energy, fast, you spend 80% of your time running on empty. I now live in N Thailand, been here 16 years so far….. I live in the country and love being in the jungle, I spend a lot of my time hiking and MTB in it.

Interesting to note that most of the ones who failed were officers and most that passed were enlisted.

Just keep grinding......the understatement of all time. Remember this kids.

Used to go camping in the Mililani training area when I was a kid in the ‘80s. We routinely found almost-full boxes of belted 7.62 blanks, the occasional inert painted blue MK2 practice grenade, and stripper clipped 5.56 blanks. Ahhh the ‘80s. What a time.

Respect to these people, enduring all hard tests and overcome it. Gotta love #23 for being him. Great leader and motivator.

This is way better recruiting material than what Big Army is pushing! People want to see shit like this!

David Goggins probably saved this video and includes the routines in his morning jog 😅😅😅😂😂😂

Number 23 is seriously cracking me up! What a legend

What amazes me is the super high moral kept throughout the course. It’s pretty awesome to see

I was in the Marines back in early 80's and we had jungle warfare training in Korea. HOLY CRAP. I have to say that I have no idea what kind of training is being done any longer but after watching this video, I am very pleased to see that this is something that is still important. The war is going to be in a jungle somewhere, guaranteed. Our training was long and very hard in the Marines. But it is very good to see there are 23's in our military still. Hard chargers are what is needed to keep America home of the free. SEMPER FI TO ALL.

You can tell a lot of these soldiers interviewed have not spent a lot of time in TRADOC. Most of the tasks asked of them were basic soldier skills. It's easy to lose those skills when not practicing them on a regular basis. 1SG Fletcher's infantry background really shows through his proficiency and attitude regarding the tasks.

19:40 as an Aussie enlisted veteran with as much experience as #5. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the type of leader the western coalition needs. Hats off to this man as an officer. 👏

Man I can only hear my dad telling me that a marine will never quit. He is dedicated to Corp and will retry again. I respect these guys for giving their all and understanding their limits.

number 23 isa true soldier. Thank you, all of you for yer service!

This was really great to watch

A documentary length video?? What a treat!

I was a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam 1968-1969. Hard year. Lost too many good Marines killed and wounded. We operated in different types of terrain that included sandy pine forests near the coast, rice paddies, elephant grass, jungle, and the mountains. It was physically and mentally exhausting. It was stinking hot in the dry season and it rained constantly during the monsoon season. I was a company commander in Hawaii 1975-1976. Hawaii didn't have a jungle course in those days, rather it was OJT taking the company on training exercises on both Oahu and the Big Island. I can confirm that the terrain really sucked in both places, especially keeping control of a rifle company. I did nearly freeze to death at the Army's Arctic Warfare Course at Ft Greely, Alaska in 1977 while I was the 1st Marine Brigade G-4 Operations Officer because one of our contingency plans was in the event of another Korean War. The commanding general wanted me to advise him as to how to prepare for that mission in the event we had to deploy to Korea during the winter. So he sent me to the Arctic Warfare Course. I also spent two years in Latin America supporting a host nation's counter-insurgency effort. I wasn't as dangerous as Vietnam, but it was dangerous work. It was a designated combat zone and so I received combat pay and fitness reports. The country also had some serious terrain challenges. Retired after 21 years. Greatest honor in my life was leading Marines, especially in combat.

I loved this course when training for army airborne ranger i served 20yrs 84-04

Craziest thing is that they made them pay for hot dogs after all that

Don't Let 23 Retire. He has the mindset to win a War. He'll be a Good Asset on our side. Doubt he'll do anything else.

To #25: Your hard work and sacrifice will not only be known by the men you lead, but by everyone who watched you on this documentary. Even though you didn’t complete the course, you still showed exemplary leadership skills by stepping up and entering the J course

Thank you to everyone of you in our nation's military! Let's hope both sides see reason and stop this war before it starts.

i hadn't served in us army (though in nato military), nor any jungle course, but for some reason this video hit nostalgia for me

23 the type of guy to save your life with a single advice. Love guys like him

23 is the guy in the military movies that passes away and the end of the film so its a pure tear jerker

Shout out to park! I love that motivation to show he loves his country by serving it!

10:47 I really like that part, it shows the soldiers will "Just too tired" "it's okay" "no it's not. I just failed"

Training is always a double edged sword, unless you are an on point soldier who pushes your limits. Training is knowledge, I always enjoyed it

Hats off to those women who passed the test. You are all tough. Wow. Amazing👏👏

Insider working overtime to give us bangers🔥

#25 was there for such a short time yet he had one of the biggest impact on my emotions. A real leader!

Bro, number 23 is the most dedicated soldier I've ever seen

This documentary was extremely well done 🔥

Lmao #23 is my old MSG. Funny part he's not even acting, that's just his personality. He will fight for you anytime though 🤙.

MY FAVORITE #23 MOMENTS AKA 1ST SGT STEWART FLETCHER WHY'D YOU JOIN 0:40 STRAIGHT TO DESSERT 9:36 LAND NAV INTRO 14:23 17:29 STAY IN YOUR LANE RAIN FIRE 19:52 HE IS PLATOON 20:12 HEMSWORTH MONEY 24:30 MORALE BOOSTER 27:34 LEVITY REASONING 28:15 23 "FALLS" 29:01 LAND NAV TEST RESULT 36:58 VITAMIN D ABSORBTION 40:00 BOILED CHICKEN 42:05 FAMILY IMPACT 43:11 BIG JUNGLE FAMILY 44:18 1942 ZEPPLIN/CHINA SPY BALLOON 45:43 CONTACT! 46:18 FINAL ROPE TEST 47:48 CULEX PEP TALK 49:52 PLATOON QUOTE 53:14 NOTEBOOK OFF FALLEN ENEMY 54:26 CONTACT ELIMINATION 55:21 SLOPPY JOES, EXTRA SLOPPY 1:06:41 MTN DEW DIABEETUS 1:07:09 BACK TO WORK 1:09:21 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE & ADD ANYTHING I'VE MISSED

At this point the business part of this channel should be on a different channel and this should become Military Insider, these documentaries are outstanding and y'all have it down to a science. Truly amazing to capture the emotions, tension, and still a bit of the fun in the air.

Its awesome to see the officers in with the NCO's!!!!! Learning the dirt equals learning the shirt!!!! Go Army!!!! GO TO ALL Armed Forces!!!! My son is in the Navy aboard the Laboon protecting us all at this moment!!!! God Bless All of you for what you do day in and day out!!!!

Yall need to appreciate this peace we cause they both sides see prepping for each other this a war that will decide who really is a superpower or end the superpowers

I like how nobody acknowledged NO.59. He was cool and leveled throughout the whole thing. He made me keep my cool while he was injured. And I wasn’t even there. 😅

I did Jungle Operations training in Panama in 93’ then after Air Assault, Airborne and Ranger school, I did Jungle training in Panama again in 95’. After multiple deployments, I finished my time in Hawaii. The best thing I ever did was continually do school’s majority of my time in the service. I also did a rotation in NTC in California and 5 JRTC rotations during my time in.

I like 5’s attitude. Senior officer in a billet where he has no business being there, but still volunteered to go to gain a better knowledge of his job.

Veteran USAF Security Forces here, respect to y’all that participated in the course.