Milling (military training exercise)

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Milling is a tough training exercise in Britain's airborne forces, used to pick recruits for the elite Parachute Regiment. It’s one of eight hard events done over four days. Recruits are paired by weight, wear head guards, mouth guards, and 18-ounce gloves, and form a square ring watched by an officer and two non‑commissioned officers. Two trainees punch each other for one minute with no stopping, ducking, blocking, or targeting anything but the head. If someone is knocked down or bleeds, the clock pauses while staff wipe the blood and the round restarts. The winner is the most aggressive and willing to press the attack, not the one who lands the most hits. The bouts are filmed and DVDs can be bought as souvenirs.

The exercise is meant to test courage, determination, and the ability to perform under stress in combat. An instructor in 2014 called milling the course’s flagship event and its most important part, saying it teaches recruits to deliver maximum violence and to act under fire. Briefings stress that soldiers must move toward danger and engage the enemy even when under pressure. In 2020, a former commander called for banning milling due to head-trauma risks, though he faced online backlash. The Army says there have been no medical discharges linked to milling in the previous five years (as of 2017), and a civilian doctor supervising sessions supports the safety measures.

Regarding gender, after the 2016 decision to open infantry roles to women, reports in 2017 said female applicants would be assessed the same as men and could take part in milling against similarly sized male recruits.