The Germans trained in such a manner that you obeyed orders. If you got no orders, individual action was discouraged. We saw the results in the war. When the chain of command got knocked out the soldiers kind of floundered until it was re-established from the top down.
The Americans trained in such a manner that you obeyed orders but if no orders came, you were taught to use your own head and proceed with the mission. In WW II we saw in many cases holes formed in the chain of command as officers and NCOs were killed. But due to the training, the lower ranks moved up filling in the holes and the fighting continued.
So which training was harder? The German. Germans were just as smart as Americans but they still had the "ruling class" and "ruled class" mentality due to their history and that is the reason they trained as they did. They just did not give any credit that the lowly troop had a brain. Americans on the other hand had the view it was only a matter of luck that one person was an officer and another enlisted. So they trained in such a manner that recognized the fact enlisted troops were not morons. It is a whole lot easier in training if those doing the training recognize you got a brain.
(One thing you have to remember is by the time the USA got troops into the war in the spring of 1942, the Germans had been fighting for 3+ years. They had the best training you could get, actual battle experience. The first encounters between the US Army and the Germans were not so good for the Americans.)
