Basic and individual training for replacements (the main training type that was focused on after 1943 when most combat units had deployed overseas) varied in length during WWII. Prior to Pearl Harbor, it was 12 to 13 weeks long, being cut to eight weeks immediately after the attack. The length was restored to 13 weeks until March 1943, when a three-day period comprising a twenty-mile march, squad and platoon exercises, and instruction on field discipline. On June 11, 1943, an extra week comprising more field exercises, especially at night, was approved. Two more weeks of marches and small-unit exercises were added in July 1943, and the training stayed at 17 weeks long until December 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge; this emergency curtailed training to 15 weeks with soldiers more than 24 hours' distant from the training camps by rail to be shipped to and from their furloughs by air. The 17-week training cycle was restored after V-E Day, with several courses which focused on Japanese fighting tactics added beginning in April 1945 in anticipation of the invasion of Japan.
The training cycle first focused on indoctrination into military life, and then training the soldiers on their individual specialties.
Per Mobilization Training Program 7-3 of December 9, 1943, used by both replacement training centers and divisions, the following courses were to be taught during the 17-week basic and individual training period. From May to July 1944, the program was revised; the MTP from November 4, 1944 is shown for comparison;
| Course | Hours (1943) | Hours (1944) |
|---|---|---|
| Organization of the army | 2 | Eliminated |
| Organization of the battalion and regiment | -- | 2 |
| Military courtesy and discipline | 5 | Combined with other training |
| Military sanitation and first aid | 3 | 3 |
| Equipment, clothing, tent pitching | 4 | Combined with other training |
| Interior guard | 4 | 4 |
| Chemical warfare | 6 | 6 |
| Combat and counter-intelligence | 5 | Eliminated |
| Prisoners of war, protection of military information, censorship | -- | 2 |
| Protection against carelessness | 2 | Combined with other training |
| Physical training | 36 | 36 |
| Dismounted drill | 20 | 20 |
| Map reading and land navigation | 8 | 8 |
| Inspections | 18 | 18 |
| Bayonet | 16 | 20 |
| Extended order drill | 6 | 8 |
| Marches | 24 | 28 |
| Antitank and antipersonnel mines and booby traps | 8 | 18 |
| Hand grenades | 8 | 12 |
| Operation of patrols | 40 | 48 |
| Tactics of the rifle squad and platoon | 82 | 94 |
| Tactical training of the individual soldier, including | 20 | 31 |
| Concealment and camouflage | 4 | ? |
| Hasty fortifications | 4 | ? |
| Scouts, observers, and messengers | 8 | ? |
| Practice and qualification | 4 | ? |
| Battle courses (mental conditioning) | 10 | 12 |
| Automatic rifle, including | 36 | 48 |
| Mechanical training | 8 | ? |
| Firing at field targets | 8 | ? |
| Practice and qualification | 20 | ? |
| Aircraft recognition | 4 | Eliminated |
| Company tactical training | 44 | Eliminated |
| Light machine gun | 48 | 62 |
| Mortar, 60-mm | 42 | 60 |
| Rifle marksmanship | 126 | 103 |
Included in the training of machine gunners and mortarmen, in addition to the above;
| Course | Hours (1943) | Hours (1944) |
|---|---|---|
| Tactics of the light machine gun squad and section | 34 | 20 |
| Tactics of the 60-mm mortar squad and section | 34 | 20 |
Sources:
The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, by Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley, and William R. Keast
Training of the American Soldier During World War I and World War II, a thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial requirement for the degree Master of Military Art and Science, by Major Robert K. Spickelmier