Nearly five years ago, the Army moved away from the practice of several drill sergeants surrounding trainees and yelling at them to establish dominance at the start of basic training — a practice known as a “shark attack.”

Now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is looking into having the Army bring “shark attacks” back, a defense official confirmed to Task & Purpose. As of Wednesday, Hegseth had not issued any formal direction to the service on the matter.

Just the News first reported on Tuesday that Hegseth was considering allowing Army drill sergeants to swarm on trainees and shout in their faces again. Hegseth then shared the story on X along with a message that read “100.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Kinglsey Wilson also shared the story on X and wrote, “Make BASIC Great Again!”

An Army

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