Air Force Special Operations

The US Still Has a Lot of Tools to Use in Afghanistan According to the Top Special Operations Officer

Following the chaotic withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in August, the Taliban took over, but the terrorists of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS) remain. Although the Taliban steadfastly denied that al-Qaeda was in the country, that statement was not taken seriously. The Taliban and al-Qaeda always had a good relationship.

ISIS is another matter. ISIS and the Taliban are enemies. ISIS believes the Taliban are too concerned with just Afghanistan and not enough with global jihad. And that global jihad is still a concern with the United States. But how will Washington target the terrorists in Afghanistan without any troops or intelligence assets on the ground?

Members of the Pentagon insist that they can continue to track and target terrorists using “over the horizon” capabilities. That method is not only much harder but uncertain as demonstrated when a humanitarian worker was confused with an ISIS planner and targeted. He and several of his family members, including children, were killed in the attack.

The US Still Has a Lot of Tools

ISIS-K fighters pose for a propaganda photo, that was taken by their media arm. (File photo)

SOCOM Commander Army General Richard Clarke speaking at Halifax International Security Forum, in Canada on Friday said that the job of finding and hunting terrorists in Afghanistan has gotten appreciably harder. However, there are still tools in the toolbox, Clarke said.

“We built up amazing counterterrorism capabilities over the last 20 years,” he said. “Some of those capabilities can still be used in Afghanistan today,” General Clarke said.

Clarke advocates working with partner Afghans who remained in the country as well as regional allies. However, Afghans who worked with the U.S. and remained are in grave danger with the Taliban regardless. If they were even suspected of still working with the Americans, their lives would be worth little.

Asked specifically about over-the-horizon strikes, Clarke said, “It’s going to be harder. Anytime you have a physical presence on the ground, it stimulates the enemy forces — you see and sense, you’re with partner forces.”

“It is going to be harder. However … the unique capabilities that we’ve built with airborne unmanned aerial vehicles, presence with Afghan partners, the ability to talk with them and continue to work with allies — it’s going to be what we’re going to continue to do. While hard, we’ve done hard, and we can do hard, and we’re going to continue to persist.”

General Clarke was also asked if a joint U.S.-Taliban partnership fighting ISIS is in the works.

“I don’t see them as a partner — I’ll just be frank,” Clarke replied.

“I think we have an interest from the U.S. perspective that the ISIS threat that is in Afghanistan is disrupted, that it can’t roost [so that it could actually affect one of our nations. But I wouldn’t, as we look at the Taliban, I don’t think they’re an entity, today, that should be … a counterterrorism partner.”

“The most important thing for us in Afghanistan is to ensure we understand the intel picture of where [the] ISIS-K that exists there today actually is, and if it becomes such a threat that it could come back to the United States or could come to one of our allies and partners — we’ve built up capability,” he added. “We can go to where the enemy is. We’ve proven that time and time again with the counterterrorism forces that all of us have built up.”

Jawed Lundin, the former deputy foreign minister of Afghanistan, lambasted the over-the-horizon approach.

“This whole idea of over-the-horizon, surgical strikes, military response to potential threats, we just saw that for 20 years — for God’s sake, it doesn’t work,” Lundin said.

The U.S. needs to be “more clever” and work with locals who can oppose and begin a resistance to the Taliban, as well as some of the other foreign embassies which remain and have the intelligence capability needed, Lundin added.

Violent Extremist Is Still There

A former Afghan commando in combat against the Taliban. SOCOM hopes to utilize them in counter-terrorism operations. (DVIDS)

“The violent extremism that attacked us on 9/11 is still there. We can never forget that,” Clarke said.

“While al-Qaeda was largely decimated in Afghanistan and the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria was defeated, the threats still exist. In fact, in some ways, it has metastasized. It’s actually harder to track,” the general added.

“What we have to do is work with allies, and particularly indigenous partners from that region, to actually defeat that threat and try to contain it inside their borders, so that it doesn’t, in fact, grow,” he said. “So, we have gone to a more sustainable approach to the counter-VEO approach.”

Clarke added that the best way to defeat terrorism is to use all the available tools and not just the military.

“It doesn’t always have to be the warhead on the forehead to defeat this, but really, it has to be an entire government approach, and it has to be… ensuring allies and those partner nations are capable to [meet] the threat.”

US Green Berets Raid Son Tay Prison and Make History

By mid-November 1970, there were 450 known American POWs in Vietnam, and more than double that amount reported as missing in action. Reports were surfacing of brutal conditions, torture, and starvation of American POWs. Operation Ivory Coast was a daring rescue mission conducted by U.S. Army Green Berets, flown in by Air Force Commandos, to rescue the POWs at a small prisoner of war camp at Son Tay, 23 miles west of Hanoi. The raid was commanded by Colonel Arthur “Bull” Simons and 56 specially selected Green Berets who had trained for the mission.

The mission was deemed a failure. Unknown to the raiders, rains had flooded the Son Tay prison just prior to the raid, forcing the Vietnamese guards to move the POWs to another location. The prisoners who had been moved just a few miles down the road, watched the raid unfold.

However, the raid was viewed as a success by many in the U.S. military, as the Special Forces troops killed over 50 guards and took the compound while suffering two very minor casualties. And the Air Force was able to fly them in and out through one of the most heavily defended air spaces on earth at that time.

The POW Camp Is Identified

In May of 1970, the Pentagon learned of the camp when an SR-71 flying at 80,000 feet, streaked over it and took aerial photographs that showed at least 55 American POWs. However, 12,000 North Vietnamese troops were stationed just five miles away from the compound.

Planning began in earnest in early August. Simons, who was a legend and one of the most well-respected Special Forces officers, was named the commander of the raid force. Simons had taken part in the outstanding prisoner rescue during World War II with the 6th Ranger Bn. The Rangers rescued 500 POWs, who had survived the Bataan Death March, by raiding the Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines. The Japanese were planning on killing every one of the POWs when the Americans arrived at the camp and foiled their plans.

He would have to select the raiders from among the 6th and 7th Special Forces Groups at Ft. Bragg, NC. Word spread through the Green Berets at Ft. Bragg that something big was brewing and it was to be commanded by Simons. Over 500 packed the post theater to hear Simons make a pitch for volunteers for a very dangerous mission.

The training facility chosen for the raiders was Duke Field at Eglin AFB, Florida. USAF planners selected key Air Force commanders, who then picked personnel for their crews. Helicopter and A-1 Skyraider crews were put together from instructors at Eglin and personnel returned from combat tours in Southeast Asia. Two crews for C-130E(I) Combat Talons were assembled from squadrons in Germany and North Carolina.

The men were not briefed on their mission but were only told that it was hazardous.

A total of 219 men were selected: 103 Army and 116 Air Force personnel would serve as raiders, flight crew, support personnel, and planning. The Task Force was known as the “Joint Contingency Task Group” (JCTG).

The staff set up a plan to conduct a nighttime raid, the key point of which was clear weather and a quarter moon at 35 degrees above the horizon for optimum visibility during low-level flight. From these mission planning parameters, two mission “windows” were identified, 18–25 October and 18–25 November.

Training under Simons proceeded on Range C-2 at Eglin. Simons’s Son Tay raiders used an exact but crudely made replica of the prison compound for rehearsals that could be quickly assembled and taken down before any Russian satellite would fly over. The raiders also had a superbly detailed five-by-five-foot scale table model — codenamed “Barbara” after a USAF secretary, Barbara L. Strosnider, who worked very long days supporting planning for the raid — which was built by the CIA for familiarization.

The Air Force pilots flew over 1,050 hours in C-130 Combat Talon and HH-3 aircraft to practice their formations while using the Forward-Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR), to fully acquaint themselves with the mission.

The Special Forces side of the training began on September 9, before moving into night training on September 17, and joint training with aircrews on September 28, which included six rehearsals a day, three of them under night conditions. By October 6, 170 practice sessions of all or some phases of the mission had been performed on the mockup by the Special Forces operators, using live fire.

Son Tay prison mockup — “Barbara,” the mockup of the Son Tay prison built by the CIA. (U.S. Army)

The Ground Force Commander would be LTC Bud Syndor. The assault element leader, which would purposely crashland a helicopter in the prison compound, would be led by another SF legend CPT Richard “Dick” Meadows.

Meadows, who would be integral for the raid, was one of the best Special Operators that this country has ever produced. He enlisted in the Army when he was just 15 and fought as a paratrooper in Korea. By the age of 20, he was the youngest Master Sergeant in the Army. He joined Special Forces in 1953 and for the remainder of his career until 1977 would serve in either Special Forces or Ranger units.

During the Vietnam War, Meadows impressed General William Westmoreland so much during a briefing after an operation with MACSOGV that he was given a battlefield commission. He also helped Colonel Charles Beckwith form Delta Force. He was even recalled from retirement to assist in the Iran Hostage Rescue by posing as a European auto dealer on the ground in Tehran.

On November 6, the first full-scale dress rehearsal, using a UH-1H as the assault helicopter, was conducted at night. It included a 5.5-hour, 687 miles (1,106 km) flight of all aircraft, replicating the timing, speeds, altitudes, and turns in the mission plan. The rehearsal indicated that the UH-1 helicopter was unsuitable for this mission. The smaller passenger compartment resulted in leg cramps to the SF raiders that completely disrupted the timing of their assault. Simons and his raiders opted for the HH-3E. Two further full-night rehearsals and a total of 31 practice landings by the HH-3E in the courtyard of the mockup followed.

The primary October window was chosen, but President Nixon was out of Washington and couldn’t be briefed properly in time, so Henry Kissinger moved back the raid to the November time window. Unbeknownst to anyone, this one-month’s delay would doom the mission to failure.

The Air Force moved all of the pieces for the raid force to Thailand, the jump-off location for the raid, between November 10 and 18. Piecemeal deployment was chosen to not attract attention. There the force was whittled down from the 100 men who trained for the mission to the 56 that would be going — a heartbreaking affair for the 44 men who had to stay behind in Thailand.

The Raiding Force

The Special Forces were organized into three platoons: A 14-man assault group codenamed “Blueboy Element” led by Meadows, which would crashland within the prison compound. “Greenleaf” a 22-man support group, would provide immediate support for the assault team. And “Redwine” a 20-man security group to protect the prison area from any NVA reaction forces and provide backup support for either of the other two groups if needed. Simons (using the call sign “Axle”) accompanied the Greenleaf group, while the ground force commander, LTC Elliott P. “Bud” Sydnor, Jr. (“Wildroot”) was with the Redwine group.

The 56 raiders were heavily armed, carrying 48 CAR-15 carbines, two M16 rifles, four M79 grenade launchers, two shotguns, and four M60 machine guns. They carried 15 Claymore mines, 11 demolition charges, and 213 hand grenades. They also had a mix of wire and bolt cutters, axes, chainsaws, crowbars, ropes, bullhorns, lights, and other equipment. The ground force was also equipped for voice communications with 58 UHF-AM and 34 VHF-FM radios, including a survival radio for each individual soldier.

Five hours before takeoff, Simons finally addressed the men to what their actual mission was. “We are going to rescue 70 POWs from a camp called Son Tay. This is something American prisoners have a right to expect from their fellow soldiers. The camp is located 23 miles west of Hanoi.”

It was said that the troops stood and cheered. Simons put his own indelible mark on the operation with his final instructions.

“You are to let nothing, nothing interfere with the operation. We’re here to rescue prisoners not take prisoners. And if we walk into a trap, don’t dream about walking out of Vietnam unless you’ve got wings on your feet. It is 100 miles to Laos… I want to keep this force together. We will back up to the Song Con River and by Christ let them come across the goddamn open ground. We’ll make them pay for every foot across the sonuvabitch.”

Infiltration Into North Vietnam and Arrival at Son Tay

The raid force began taking off at 2200 hours from airfields in Thailand and South Vietnam. The formation flew across the Plain of Jars in Laos before turning northeast. The Air Force meticulously planned 12 separate legs of the flight plan in order to keep the vulnerable helicopters undetected by North Vietnamese radar. The force was aided by diversionary bombing missions going on in the area.

Banana 1, the helicopter purposely crashlanded at the Son Tay prison camp. (U.S. Army)

The assault force arrived at Son Tay at 0219 hours. The helicopter that was to crashland in the compound was to encounter trees thought to be 40-feet tall. In actuality, they were close to 150-feet. However, the pilot chopped through them like a huge lawnmower and the aircraft thudded into the ground. One man, an Air Force crew chief, suffered a broken ankle when a fire extinguisher broke free and smashed into his leg.

Meadows used a bullhorn and announced, “We’re American. Keep your heads down. We’re Americans. We’ll be in your cells in a minute.” Meadows’s group cut down many of the compound’s guards, including several trying to escape through the east wall. But as his men methodically advanced through the compound, they found no prisoners in the cells.

The Support Element landed in the wrong compound, which was known as the Secondary School. It found that it contained 100-200 Chinese soldiers who were there as advisors for some new missile defense weapons that were being emplaced. After a brief but intense firefight, the Special Forces troops using a mixture of automatic fire and grenades, the Chinese were eliminated.

The Security Element (“Redwine”) approached the south wall and Syndor, using the helicopter’s miniguns, wiped out the guard towers, while landing inside the compound. There they blew a utility pole and set up a roadblock, 100 meters from the LZ. They then encountered guards who were quickly trying to react to the raid. The raiders cut down several of them.

Simons leaped into a trench as the fighting raged on around him. A second later, an enemy soldier, roused from his sleep and wearing only his underwear, jumped in beside Simons not realizing what was happening. Simons emptied his .357 revolver into the soldier’s chest killing him.

Meadows radioed to Syndor, “Negative items.” No POWs were present. The assault force was preparing to leave when one of the members decided to leave the Vietnamese a message on who was responsible for the raid. MSG Joe Lupyak took a Green Beret with a 5th SFG flash and nailed it to the compound’s flagpole. The message was, “we can come within 20 miles of Hanoi and we’ll be back.”

The extraction helicopters began arriving at 0239 hrs. The last aircraft departed at 0245. The entire raid had taken just 27 minutes. The formation had cleared North Vietnamese airspace by 0315 and had arrived back in Thailand by 0438 hrs.

Intelligence Failure/Mission Failure

The lack of good intelligence hampered the operation from the start. It was later learned that due to the flooding of the river, the prisoners had been moved to a place they named “Camp Faith” that was about 15 miles closer to Hanoi. The area’s heavy rains had obscured the U.S. satellites from picking that up.

However, as the raiders flew back to Thailand crushed by the fact that they didn’t rescue any of the POWs, they didn’t realize that the impact of the raid would be a tremendous morale boost for the prisoners. The prisoners had watched the raid unfold from their new camp at Dong Hoi and knew right away that they had not been forgotten.

The North Vietnamese realized that had the operation been successful, the sight of the prisoners in their current emaciated state would have been disastrous. Resultantly, food and medical care improved for the prisoners and the Vietnamese consolidated the POWs and for the first time. Many of them were surprised to learn that instead of solitary confinement, they were housed together.

The Son Tay Raid Personnel

Support Element

COL Arthur D Simons, CPT Eric J Nelson, CPT Glenn R Rouse, CPT Udo H Walther, SFC Earl Bleacher, SFC Leroy N Carlson, SFC John Jakovenko, SFC Jack G Joplin, SFC Daniel Jurich, SFC David A Lawhon Jr, SFC Salvador M Suarez, SFC Donald Taapken, SFC Richard W Valentine, SSG Walter L Miller, SSG Robert L Nelson, SSG David S Nickerson, SSG Thomas E Powell, SSG John E Rodriquez, SGT Gary D Keel, SGT Keith R Medenski, SGT Franklin D Roe, SGT Marshall A Thomas.

Assault Element

CPT Richard J Meadows, CPT Thomas W Jaeger, CPT Dan H McKinney, 1LT George W Petrie, MSG Thomas J Kemmer, MSG Billy K Moore, MSG Galen C Kittleson, SFC Anthony Dodge, SFC Lorenzo O Robbins, SFC William L Tapley, SFC Donald R Wingrove, SSG Charles G Erickson, SSG Kenneth E McMullin, SGT Patrick St Clair.

Command Element – Security

LTC Elliot P Sydnor, LTC Joseph R Cataldo, CPT James W McClam, CPT Daniel D Turner, MSG Joseph J Lupyak, MSG Herman Spencer, SFC Tyrone J Adderly, SFC Donald D Blackard, SFC Freddie Doss, SFC Jerry W Hill, SFC Marion S Howell, SFC Billy R Martin, SFC Gregory T McGuire, SFC Charles A Masten Jr, SFC Joseph M Murray, SFC Noe Quezada, SFC Ronnie Strahan, SSG Paul S Poole, SSG Lawrence Young, SGT Terry L Buckler.

Support Personnel

LTC Bill L Robinson, LTC Gerald Kilburn, CPT Randel L Smith, SGM Minor B Pylant, MSG Jesse A Black, MSG Edgar C Britt, MSG Bernard L Rauscher, SFC Franklin Abramski, SFC James A Bass, SFC Archie Batrez Jr, SFC Robert L Dodd, SFC Charles M Erwin, SFC James A Green, SFC Bobby R Hansley, SFC Roswell D Henderson, SFC Frederick L Hubel, SFC Bruce M Hughes, SFC John R Jourdan, SFC Ernest R Pounder, SFC Aaron L Tolson Jr, SFC Burley W Turner, SFC Grady C Vines, SSG Elmer D Adams, SSG Rodger D Gross, SSG Larry G Stroklund, SSG David L Wilson, SGT Brian J Budy, SGT Michael G Green, SGT Robert R Hobdy, SGT John J Lippert, SGT Arlin L Olson, SP5 William F Dezurik, SP5 Lawrence C Elliot, SP5 Gary R Griffin, SP4 Christopher Casey, SP4 Frank J Closen.

UH-1 Crew Members

1LT George W Williams, CW2 Ronald J Exely, CW2 Jackie H Keely, CW2 John J Ward, SP6 Larry C Boots, SP4 Alan H Wood.

Injuries Without Scars: How Special Operations Medics Treat Brain Injuries

Since the start of the United States’ armed engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, many military members have fallen victim to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other explosive blasts. As most people know, IEDs have been a major contributing factor to the death toll of Americans in the Middle East. A lot of servicemembers have survived these blasts with visible injuries and others have walked away unscathed, or so they thought.

According to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, in 2017 it was reported that approximately 350,000 military personnel had experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) since 2000. It was estimated that anywhere from 11 to 23 percent of deployed personnel had been exposed to a TBI event. There is such a wide range in the estimate because many individuals either didn’t report their injuries or didn’t realize they had experienced a TBI at the time they were exposed to a blast.

It was estimated that approximately 50 percent of the individuals who experienced a TBI also exhibited Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Before the true dangers and repercussions of TBIs were understood, many operators claimed they would experience concussive blasts while outside the wire, or on a mission, to only go out the next night and operate all over again.

Treating Brain Injuries

When I arrived at the Special Operations Combat Medic Course (SOCM) in 2012, the severity and dangers of TBIs had become fully understood. Dealing with and treating TBIs was at the forefront of the special operations medical community and was implemented into the SOCM training curriculum.

The critical piece to understanding and treating a TBI is to identify when a TBI event occurs. It had been discovered that if an operator did experience a TBI, they would be much more susceptible to serious brain damage if they were exposed to a secondary TBI or a concussive event soon after. The SOCM schoolhouse understood this and began training medics on how to properly conduct a Military Acute Concussion Evaluation, better known as a MACE exam.

During a MACE exam, the medic asks the patient a variety of questions and conducts different tests to determine the cognitive function of the patient’s brain. The MACE exam assists medics and medical professionals in determining if an individual experienced a TBI and what is its severity level.

Conducting a MACE exam provides multiple benefits for the patient. First and foremost, by conducting a MACE exam, medical providers can definitively determine if an individual experienced a TBI and thus prevent him from re-entering a dangerous environment until he is completely healed and considered fit for duty. Secondly, if an operator experiences a TBI and the event is documented by the use of a MACE exam, the operator will be entitled to disability compensation benefits and other resources to help heal and manage this “invisible” injury.

A SEAL medic who recently attended the mandatory, two-year SOCM Refresher Course, claimed that the special operations medical community is placing more emphasis on TBIs now than ever before. This is supported by the amount of training that is taking place at the SOCM schoolhouse and the implementation of the MACE 2 exam. The MACE 2 exam became available in 2018. This updated exam provides improved brain injury information, testing, and vestibular-ocular-motor screening.

The United States military has made great achievements in identifying and treating individuals who have experienced TBIs. The research, treatment, and preventative care today will help keep our warriors strong tomorrow.

So, You Want to Be a Part-Time Navy SEAL? There’s a Way

Believe it or not, being in special operations can be a part-time endeavor. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all have reserve and/or national guard special operations units at their disposal. These “part-time” units give people the unique opportunity to serve in America’s elite forces while still being able to maintain their civilian careers and lifestyles.

The 19th and 20th Special Forces Group make up the Army National Guard’s special operations units. Individuals that receive a National Guard Special Forces contract are required to go through the same Special Forces Qualifications Course (SFQC) as their active-duty counterparts. A National Guard member going through Special Forces training is placed on “active duty” during their time at SFQC and must complete the entire pipeline before they return to National Guard status. National Guard units stay extremely busy and take part in deployment rotation just as active-duty Special Forces units do.

3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group operators (3/20th)

The Navy consists of NSW and EOD reserve units. The NSW reserve units are SEAL Team 17 and SEAL Team 18. These two teams are comprised of both SEALs and SWCCs. The majority of the SEALs and SWCCs at these units are prior active duty members that transferred to the reserves upon completion of their active duty commitment. But, some sailors are able to obtain an NSW contract while in the reserves and upon completion of training are assigned directly to a reserve SEAL Team. EOD operators are similar to their NSW brothers, with most being active duty service members before their transfer to the reserves. The NSW and EOD reserve units are also on a constant deployment rotation. Usually, reservist operators are mobilized for a year. The first three to six months are used for pre-deployment training and the f0llowing six to nine months are the actual deployment, which could be anywhere in the world.

The Air Force’s special operations career fields, Pararescue (PJs) and Combat Control Teams (CCTs), Special Reconnaissance (SR), and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) have Air Force National Guard and Reserve units. Like the Army, individuals are able to enlist into the Air Force National Guard or Reserves and directly enter into a special operations training pipeline. Upon completion of PJ, CCT, SR, or TACP training, operators are assigned to their respective units.

The Pararescue community has many Rescue Wings (Guardian Angels) assigned to both the Air Force National Guard and the Air Force Reserves. The Combat Control Teams only have two Special Tactics Squadrons under the Air National Guard. These units have a wide array of responsibilities, ranging from domestic operations to deploying to combat zones downrange.

If an individual has the burning desire to become a member of the United States Special Operations Command, but still wants a “normal” life, becoming a special operator in the reserves or National Guard could be the perfect blend.

My Woobie, My Best Friend

It’s undisputed that if a soldier would go in the wilderness for an extended period of time, one of the few things he’d take along would be the woobie. The beautiful polyester camo encased in two layers of joyous quilted nylon is a universal staple for the infantryman.

If you search online for the term woobie, you’ll get various results, from poncho liner to sleeping bags, to blankets, to baby blankets, and yes, even hoodies now.

Woobie is also used as a term of great affection. Calling someone a “woobie” is basically the same as calling them “love” or “sweaty.”

But when it comes to the military, the woobie is the nickname given to the poncho liner issued to all soldiers. The woobie is not a new thing with the first used in the jungles of Vietnam.

A Term of Uncertain Origins

My Woobie, My Best Friend — A Marine private holds up a sleeping system and poncho liner “woobie” during a gear issue return at the SOI Supply Warehouse on Camp Pendleton, CA, September 26, 2017. (Photo by Pfc. Dalton S. Swanbeck/Marine Corps)

How the term “woobie” came to be applied to the poncho liner remains a mystery. Some claim that it started as the phrase, “Because you would be cold without it” and “would be” evolved into “woobie.” Or that it was called a “willbie” from the phrase, “It will be what keeps you from freezing.”

Now anyone has access to woobies. They are sold online and now come in various fabrics, prints, colors, prices, and qualities. Woobies have been widely advertised to civilians. Hunters and campers use them during cold and wet weather. Picnickers and stadium goers use them as blankets. People even use them as comforters and couch blankets at home.

I use mine as a pillow on a hot summer afternoon and always place it inside my ruck frame to give me a little padding on my back and allow me to quickly access it.

Some soldiers have altered their woobie to have a zipper. When lined inside their poncho, they now have a lightweight waterproof sleeping bag. The woobie has several anchor points with ties to fix to the poncho.

It can also be used as an overhead shade. In the desert, we would use two woobies or ponchos, one about a foot over the other. This created a buffer for the heat and kept us significantly cooler underneath.

Can the Woobie Keep You Warm?

Matched with its poncho counterpart, the woobie can be very warm. Even if you are wet, it will help trap your body heat. If you have never experienced the joyous hug from a woobie, I highly suggest you get yourself one and take it on your next hiking adventure. Or better yet, put it in your living room for watching movies.

US Military’s working dogs are the worst nightmare for the enemy

Cry havoc…

Since the time of Greece and the Roman Empire, the dog has been a valued and trusted member of the military. The Romans used a breed of Mastiff that is now extinct. Then, they covered their canines in armor with spiked collars and used them to wreak havoc on their enemies.

The use of military dogs by the United States was largely an unknown to the general population until a Belgian Malinois named “Cairo” was thrust into the spotlight after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US Navy SEALs.

But the use of military dogs goes far back from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first well-known military dog was SGT Stubby who was a stray Bull Terrier that was adopted by the 102^nd Infantry Regiment of the 26^th Infantry Division (The Yankee Division).

SGT Stubby with uniform coat and decorations in WWI.

Stubby was smuggled on the troop ship to France but quickly proved his worth. He could warn the troops of impending poison gas attacks, could hear artillery shells coming before human ears could detect them, he could find American wounded in no man’s land and even caught a German prisoner, grabbing the enemy by the seat of his pants and holding him until the soldiers made him a prisoner.

Stubby met three US Presidents, marched in numerous parades and even received a half-page obituary in the New York Times when he died in his sleep in 1926. But dogs have been used in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, but only officially used since World War II.

Today the training and use of military dogs are extensive and there are a few thousand serving in the armed forces. Many of them are in harm’s way in the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, among other hotspots and they’ve proved invaluable.

America’s military dogs can find illicit drugs, sniff out bombs and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), search out and find enemy combatants. They’re almost all trained at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland as part of the Department of Defense Military Working Dog Program (MWD). The military has been training their canines there since 1958.

German shepherds and retrievers are commonly used, but the Belgian Malinois (i.e.Cairo) has proven to be one of the most outstanding working dogs used in military service. The vast majority of military working dogs are purchased in Germany or the Netherlands, where they have been breeding dogs for military purposes for hundreds of years. But because of the uptick in operational tempo as well as the demand, the breeding programs in the United States are flourishing.

The dogs must exhibit focused, aggressive behavior, with a heightened sense of smell and a strong desire to work for reward before they are assigned to operators worldwide.

Typically, pups begin their training very early. When they’re very young, (6-8 weeks of age), they’re sent to homes for socialization skills in a stable, home setting. They’ll come back to the school between 7-9 months where they’ll be observed for consideration as a working dog. The puppies must exhibit a strong drive, are adaptable to a host of different environments and respond to reward-for-work motivation before they can begin the pre-training program.

The training is long and difficult and only 50 percent of the dogs pass thru their dog school “Selection.” After the dogs are a year-old and pass their advanced training, they’ll have two primary roles. Either as an operator in search for explosives or narcotics detection or as patrol member for apprehension and search for the enemy.

Malinois’ are favored because of their agility, speed, focused aggressive behavior and the fact that their sense of smell is 40 times that of their human handlers. Military dogs frequently are used in airborne operations, rappelling, and helo-casting.

Dogs that work with Special Operations units are specifically trained in just a handful of locations. CBS’ Lara Logan did a story on former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland who trains dogs for the dangerous world of Special Operations as well as for the FBI and SWAT teams.

In the same story, Logan did a story on Chris Corbin from the 7^th Special Forces Group and his dog Ax. They both almost lost their lives on the same day in Afghanistan on their final mission. Ax had already found one bomb and the two were moving toward an area that had already been cleared.

Corbin missed Ax’s signal, thinking he was just smelling another dog in the cleared area when the bomb went off. Ax was shaken but ok, Corbin lost both of his lower legs. But a few months later he was back on active duty…with Ax and the two grew inseparable.

Corbin told Logan that the bond was there when his teammates brought Ax to see him at Walter Reed Army Hospital. “They brought him up for a visit. And I heard him, getting him out of the back of the truck. And opening his kennel, and he just being a stir-crazy dog, just, ‘Hey, let me out of here. Let’s do a look around.’ I just said something simple. Hey, where’s my boy at? and he stopped. He froze. He looked around. And he went into a panic until he found me and he jumped on my legs. Painful. Just– I was just happy to see him. I didn’t care how much it hurt.”

Some dogs, like their human counterparts, can suffer from the throes of PTSD. Many of the dogs are treated for such and return to have successful completions to their military careers. When one of these canine operators is wounded, they’re transported via medevac just like a wounded soldier would.

Sadly 42 dogs have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country and their handlers. But a good indicator of their worth is how the enemy feels about them. The Taliban and ISIS hate the military working dogs and have a healthy respect for them. The Taliban soldiers have orders to shoot the dogs first and American soldiers second.

The unfortunate footnote to this story is that prior to November 2000, military working dogs were euthanized upon the finish of their career. Now, most are adopted by their handlers. A few each year go to civilians who apply for adoption rights. The waiting list for an adoptable military working dog is about a year.

Our military forces continue to keep us safe, at home and abroad. And their four-legged counterparts are doing their share as well. And SGT Stubby? He’s being immortalized in an upcoming animated feature film that is being released in 2018.

Photos Courtesy DOD

What Makes a Successful Special Operation Forces Candidate?

“…We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then is not an act but a habit”

Aristotle

One of the biggest questions we get here at SpecialOperations.com and over at SOFREP for the aspiring SOF candidates is, “What do I have to do to get Selected?” It is a legitimate question if a bit simplistic. There is no one specific thing that a candidate has to do to pass but many.

Selection and Assessment hasn’t changed all that much since the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II when General William “Wild Bill” Donovan and his band of glorious amateurs were looking for “PH.D.s who can win a bar fight.”

While the force isn’t necessarily looking for a Ph.D., most Special Operations candidates have some advanced education, is a bit older than the average Joe, more mature, and most have families. The closest thing the OSS Selection came to in the modern era is the 18X program. While there were quite a few young kids straight out of high school, you’d easily find several candidates who graduated from college and had high paying jobs on the outside.

The obvious draw for them was the opportunity to go straight to a Special Forces unit from the street. While there is plenty of criticism of the program from the community, (isn’t there always?), overall the 18X is deemed a success. A good friend was the Battalion Commander at the Special Warfare Center and spoke quite highly of it. That’s good enough for me.

But back to the question at hand, “What do I have to do to get Selected?” The first thing we have to examine is this; What trait do all successful Selection candidates share?

It begins with what Special Operations is. It is a complex, dynamic environment that doesn’t function from the orders of the officers for the troops to carry out, but the leadership of the units comes from within.

Last year we conducted a two-part interview with former Major Brian Decker who had revamped the SFAS course to bring it back up to what we needed it to be. Decker improved the way the candidates were evaluated and the success rate for candidates who passed Selection who went on to success in SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course) soared.

Decker’s evaluation system works not only in Special Operations but in just about any line of work. You’d just have to change the parameters of what makes a successful candidate in any profession. While many people compare SOF personnel and NFL players, there are pretty big differences between the two.

However, Decker’s method of evaluating caught the eye of the NFL and he had just started an evaluation system for the Cleveland Browns when they cleaned house and fired the entire staff. He has since taken it to the Indianapolis Colts, where he’s been for the last few seasons.

Decker spoke about the Selection course and what a successful candidate and future leader in Special Operations because everyone in Special Operations is a leader, will show in the course.

“During the events of Week 3, we select the future leaders of the Regiment based on their ability to lead or contribute to the performance of a team in a dynamic and complex environment.”

“What we’re looking for is a candidate that isn’t looking for external solutions, you look internally and you look to the group for solutions. And it was at this point that we moved away from the two-event day (during Team Week). Because the solution to any problem in Selection is stability. Because during those events, all you are doing is measuring a candidate’s ability to persevere.”

So what is the one factor that every successful Special Operations candidates possess? Each successful candidate responded to stress in their lives with a heightened sense of motivation.

Someone once told me that the difference between a regular person and a Special Forces soldier was that a regular person looked upon everything that happened in their lives as either a blessing or a curse. The Special Forces soldier looks upon everything that happens in his life as a challenge.

Special Forces utilizes the “Whole Man” Selection Process concept and the six main attributes that every successful SF Operator should possess include:

Intelligence
Trainability
Physical Fitness
Motivation
Influence
Judgment

Every unit will be different and have a different set of attributes that they’re looking for to accomplish their mission. What makes a good Ranger, SEAL or Delta Operator may not be the exact same as what makes a good SF trooper who will fight in an Unconventional Warfare environment. But they all share some of the same attributes.

As Decker said in the interview with us, “The most successful people in any profession all have the same attributes. They all have grit, they all have extremely good work habits. They all have the mental toughness, the confidence which comes from practice and preparation and the optimism and belief that they can achieve. They are extremely intelligent. What makes a good operator…there is a lot of similarities with other professions.”

SOF guys can make decisions in a high-stakes environment so rapidly without having the time to think through every outcome which allows them to make sense of their environment.

The successful candidate knows that he’s always being evaluated and that evaluation doesn’t stop once a man graduates and gets to one of the Special Operations units in the force. If anything, the evaluation gets harder as the stakes that they play for, get much, much higher.

Photo: US Army

Basic Training Will Be A Breeze by Following Some Simple Steps

A friend is leaving in a matter of days for basic training, followed by Airborne School and then on to one of our Special Operations Units where, hopefully, after he navigates the Selection and Assessment courses, will get qualified and serve as a member of one of our very best units in the force.

But first comes basic training followed by advanced individual training, i.e. infantry school where they teach the basics of being part of the Queen of Battle. When all is said and done, the vast majority of us who’ve served in Special Operations units look back on the time in basic training as a piece of cake.

But it comes with challenges, mainly, this is all new. These young men and women are leaving home, most for the first time in their lives and are entering a realm that is totally alien to what they’ve been accustomed to. It is a culture shock, something the military plays upon to help integrate the boots into military life. It is an eye-opener for some when you first get off of the bus. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

So, for my friend, and the rest of those young people heading to basic training soon, here a few tips that will make navigating the first gate of your military career an easy walk in the park.

Tip #1 – Embrace the Suck: Trust me, the suck factor in basic is nothing compared to what you’ll experience when you begin your Special Operations journey. It will register about 0.2 on the Richter scale of suck factors. But this is all new and people will be screaming at you from every conceivable direction. Your head will be spinning at first.

For many of our readers, you’ll see that we always say that the breakdown of mental to physical factors for Selection is mental for the vast majority. In basic training, it is even more so. The Drill Sergeants will play a constant mind f**k with the boots. Don’t worry about it, don’t stress about it. It is going to happen regardless. Learn early on to roll with the flow and embrace what they’re throwing at you. It will just make you stronger and better prepare you for what ultimately lies ahead.

Tip #2 – Be a Team Player Now: It is imperative to begin building your military self from Day 1. And in basic, it is all about the unit, the whole, being successful. Another thing we always say is, “you’re always being evaluated.” And that is also true in boot camp. The Drill Sergeants will always look for the lone wolf that is only interested in himself. Don’t be that person.

While you’re all in the same boat, be the guy who helps along his fellow grunts when they need a hand up. They’ll do the same for you. The more your unit shows that they’re looking out for one another and are sticking together, the less mind games BS they’ll throw at you collectively.

The more you use the term “we” instead of “I” in basic, the better life will be. Some of the troops you serve with in basic may indeed become the guy that will sweat, bleed and share his last drop of water with you once you get to your unit.

Tip #3 – Remember, We Defend Democracy, Not Practice It: This above all else will save you untold heartache and massive amounts of pushups in basic training if you remember this one small fact. Much of what you will experience will seem grossly unfair. It may well be just that. But that just follows right along with Tip #1.

Never, ever talk back to a Drill Sergeant or any other member of the cadre. It is a losing proposition and you will lose every single time. A good rule of thumb is to never talk to a Drill Sergeant unless spoken to.

Remember the scene from “Full Metal Jacket”, Pvt Joker tells the Sr. Drill Instructor (The Gunny), “Sir, the private believes any answer he gives will be wrong and the Senior Drill Instructor will only beat him harder if he reverses himself, SIR!”

Of course, there are exceptions to this. If he’s teaching something and he asks for questions or you don’t understand what is going on, then ask. But always do so in a respectful manner and don’t try to sharpshoot the DIs. That won’t end well either.

Tip # 4 – Lead By Example: Now is the time (as stated above) to forging your own military identity. If you desire to become part of the Special Operations community, then you’ll already be familiar with or should be the term, “Quiet Professional.”

Do your absolute best at everything and give 110 percent with everything you do. But don’t beat your chest over every single thing you do correctly. Show the Drill Sergeants that you are a serious-minded individual that they and more importantly your unit can count on.

It could mean that you become a squad leader or platoon guide which puts more on your own plate. Because then you’ll be responsible for not only your own success but the rest of the unit as well. It doesn’t seem like much of a daunting task until the first time you’re put in charge of the group. Don’t run from it, embrace the leadership challenge and learn from it. You’ll be better off in the long run.

Tip #5 – Never Quit or Lose Focus: This is the first of several gut checks you will experience in the military but by the easiest. It may not seem like it at the time, but this is a relatively easy task to excel in. They get progressively harder down the road.

Remember to stay focused on your tasks in the short term. Airborne School? Nope. Selection? No way Jose. Worry about you are doing right this very minute and don’t deviate from that. What seems like a million light years away will be on you much faster than you’d have thought possible.

Everything you do or say is evaluated. Never quit or give in. A drill instructor today may be a leader of a Special Operations team in the future and they will remember the good troops and the poor ones.

Photo: Wikipedia

Not comfortable enough in the water? Master the SEAL Drown Proofing Test

If you aspire to be a member of the Special Operations community, you are going to face challenges at every turn. A special operator has to be comfortable in any environment, on the land, in the air, and in the water.

A former BUDS graduate told me once that for candidates going into Naval Special Warfare that, to them, going into the water was going home. “The water is our bread and butter,” he said. “That is what we see as home. The water is our safe place and if you aren’t comfortable in the water, you need to try something else.”

Today we’re going to look at the last of those realms, the water and why it is so important to be comfortable in an airless environment. Regardless of the unit in Special Operations, you will be doing operations in the water. If you choose to be a Naval Special Warfare Operator or a Navy SEAL, then you must be extremely calm in the water as that is the basis of everything that they do.

During the training, candidates while in their Dive Phase will be harassed by the cadre member and have their masks ripped off, their fins taken, and air their air hose tied in a knot to stop the air flow. Why the harassment? It all serves a distinct purpose. SEALs have to be able to adapt to anything that goes wrong in the water because things invariably will.

They have to be able to think things thru and not panic if something goes awry under the water. And the jostling and banging around the cadre do to the candidates is equated to coming ashore in a very rough surf.

Another tactic that the cadre uses to teach candidates not to panic in the water is referred to as “the Beehive”, where candidates are pushed into the deep end of the pool in an ever-tightening group. As it was explained to me, candidates are shoulder to shoulder trying to stay afloat and it takes just one of them to panic and grabs the guy next to him and try to use him for support and it sets off a chain reaction. In just a matter of seconds, it turns into what was described as “a fight for your life.”

Candidates will be pushed under the water and it was akin to being trapped under an ice floe as the candidates struggled to breathe. The lesson? Stick together, help each other and never panic. It is a complete mental exercise to vanquishing fear and panic.

So, what is the way that the Navy SEALs first teach their candidates to be comfortable in the water? They call it the Drownproofing Test, but it is popularly known as the “SEAL Water Challenge Test”.

The test is done by SEAL candidates in a 9-foot deep pool. With their hands tied behind their back and their feet bound, they have to completely pass all of the events in the test or they are considered a failure and removed from training. The test consists of the following tasks:

Bob Up and Down at the deep end 20 times: It isn’t easy, especially if the candidate is positively buoyant, and then the candidate will have to exhale as he descends and keeps his legs straight to reach the bottom. Then bend at the knees and kick to the surface.

Float on Your Back for 5 Minutes: The key here is to get a deep breath and arch your back to naturally bring your lungs to the surface. Most consider this not that difficult, but if you are in the minority (raises hand), that is negatively buoyant, it is much more difficult.

Swim to the Shallow End of the Pool, Turn Around and swim back without touching the bottom: Here the candidate has to do a dolphin kick which is easier to do on your side, where you can catch your breath at intervals.

Do a Forward and Backward Somersault: Most SEALs say that after the swim, the key is to do a few bottom bobs to catch your breath and then kick hard at the bottom and flip on over. Another bob is done to then do it in reverse.

Retrieve a Mask Off the Bottom with Your Teeth: This is the same as the bottom bob but once the candidate hits the bottom, he must bend his knees, flip over retrieve the mask with his teeth and the exercise is complete.

If at any time your ropes become undone, the candidate must start the entire exercise over again, if they come undone again, he fails. It is an extremely difficult test as it will force a candidate to either relax in the water or fail. It is also a tremendous endurance test as, by the time, the candidates get to the final task of retrieving a mask, their bodies are exhausted and they are having trouble getting enough air to complete the challenge.

A couple of caveats to trying this on your own for practice and to get that comfort level in the water. Number 1 and most importantly is to never attempt this alone. Have a training partner or two along with you….just in case.

Number 2, do not tie your hands and feet together during your training for the real thing. It is inherently dangerous and when the SEALs do this, they have cadre members and instructors right there just in case anything goes terribly wrong for a candidate. And even then, although very, rarely, things can go awry.

Get more comfortable in the water and learn to relax, it is like anything else candidates will have to learn while in Special Operations. Once you cross that threshold, everything else becomes a little bit easier to accomplish.

It isn’t easy for some, others are born comfortable in the water. But it isn’t anything thousand of special operators haven’t done in the past.

Photo: US Navy SEAL candidates conducting a drown proofing test.

The Secret to Getting Selected in SFAS? There Isn’t One

I know what you’re thinking,…” here’s this FOG (F***ing Old Guy) preaching again about being in the last hard class.” Okay, first let’s dispense with the myths and get right to the crux of the matter. Every Special Forces guy you will meet, regardless of era went thru the last hard class and everyone since then or before his was an absolute cakewalk.

It is true, ask anyone and you’ll bound to get the same answer. Years from now when some of you do get selected and sent to one of the Operational Groups, you’ll be doing the same thing. I swore back in the day, that I would never, ever do that. But then in my last year or so in the military, I was talking to a good friend of mine who was at the schoolhouse teaching SF medics and he was lamenting the quality of his latest class and we fell into the “man things were sure tougher when WE went thru the course.” Yikes!. “When did we turn into the old MFers that we used to make fun of?” But I digress

Passing Selection is the rite of passage for every Special Operations unit in the world. And that is why we are all here right? The courses are designed to be incredibly hard for a reason and a very good one. The operating environment that Special Operations many times must perform in is often extreme. Carrying a lot of gear on your back in the heat of Iraq, Syria or in the mountains of Afghanistan or 100 other places isn’t a walk in the park. And all the while you’ll have a determined, hardened enemy that is trying very hard to kill you.

So, we get all kinds of email from prospective Special Operations asking about what the secret is for getting selected and the magic elixir that’s required to pass. The short answer is, there isn’t one. It is so simple it is hard sometimes for young troops to get. So we’ll go thru the quick guide again and the first one is probably a total no-brainer.

Be in the Best Shape You Possibly Can Be: We’ve set out the physical training pieces that we’ve felt will help you prepare physically for the challenge that is ahead. And make no mistake you will be challenged. You will get smoked, rinsed off, dusted and do it all over again. There will be plenty of times where you are tired, hungry, beat up and mentally taxed. That is normal, it also is exactly what the course is designed to do, once you show up for selection.

But there is no reason to be in arguably the best shape in your life when you show up for selection. I know at times a lot of guys get hurt during their prep time and they are not all the way back by the time their class date begins. I’ve seen that as a cadre member and the only thing to do in Selection is to just gut it out the best way you can unless you are seriously injured, where you can’t do it. Then try to get your class date changed.

I was levied for SWC (Special Warfare Center), the schoolhouse while on a deployment to Central America back in the day. As soon as I got back, I was assigned to Selection and since I went thru the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course) in the days before SFAS, I had to attend the next class…the only issue? While down south I had got a case of dysentery and was still getting over it when reporting in …about 25 pounds light. Carrying the “Sandman” while having the screen door $hits isn’t the best way to go thru the course. So I feel your pain if you’ve had to endure the task with going thru Selection, while not at 100 percent thru no fault of your own.

Leave the Assessing to the Assessors: This is a big one and a total no-brainer. Far too many candidates take a look around themselves and the daunting task that is selection and psyche themselves right out of the course. They become so self-critical that they’ll convince themselves that they are doing terribly. It is a common trait among most successful people and many Special Operators that we are usually our own worst critics. But Selection isn’t the time for that part of your psyche to come out.

One class in SFAS, there was senior NCO who came from an LRSU unit and he positively smoked every run and ruck march during the course. But instead of being back in his unit where he was far out in front of every such event, in SFAS among many equally impressive troops, he wasn’t. He took it to mean he was performing substandardly when the total opposite was true. He self-assessed himself and did a poor job of it. He voluntarily withdrew until “I can get my shit together and come back to do the course right.”

You don’t know what or how the cadre is assessing you at any given time and that isn’t your job. To quote my favorite BB, “Do Your Job”. Let the cadre do theirs. If you’re still giving 100 percent every day and still standing there in the formation, that is all you should be worrying about. If you’re self-assessing yourself, you’ll be looking at a sad face in the mirror.

Remember, You Are Always Being Assessed: This will sound crazy perhaps but many of the candidates get off on the wrong foot on Day 1 and it can end up costing them down the road. Many of the young soldiers coming into Selection are focused on the physical side (which is good) but never forget that everything in Selection is evaluated which means…”everything”. And now I repeat it, (listen for the foot stomp as if in the classroom) “Assessment Never Ends”, you’ll hear this often. Remember it, file it away and don’t ever forget it.

You’ll be asked to take a battery of psychological tests and they’re quite lengthy. Some of the questions will seem odd (they are) and often make no sense. And you’ll get asked the same questions multiple times but it will be worded differently. It is designed that way to see if you’re telling the truth and taking it seriously. It is designed to identify potential psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies in some candidates.

While working at SFAS, there were a few, not a lot of soldiers who took this part of Selection as a joke, it isn’t. This isn’t the time to be cavalier or a smartass with your answers. It matters everything does. Not answering truthfully will raise its head in the test and it may ultimately cost you.

Another thing, from the time you sign in until the time that you sign out and return to your unit at the end of the course, you are being evaluated. Act like it and as if you under a microscope. There is no off time save for the few hours of sleep you’ll get.

Be a Team Player: This one is self-explanatory. Selection is an individual assessment conducted in a team environment. So yes, you’re being assessed as an individual. But part of that assessment and a VERY BIG part of it is how well you work within a team. Being part of a team is the very essence of what makes Special Operations and Special Forces in this case so successful.

Lone Wolves don’t cut it. You can ace every individual event but if you aren’t a team player, the cadre will notice and so will your peers. And peer evaluation can sink a soldier’s chances easily. Certain soldiers will have areas that they’re stronger in than their peers. A team player will recognize this and step up and help their teammates during team events. If they don’t help their teammates, then they’ll ultimately fail.

This is an area where many of the officers not selected ultimately fail. They perform very well when in charge of an event but balk at taking orders from lower-ranking candidates when it becomes their turn to lead an event. And “spotlight Rangers” who thrive when it is their turn in the box while being a leader, but then try to ghost into the background once it is over are easily spotted.

Don’t Be Late, Light, or Last: These three little sins are my favorites will get a candidate washed out and doing the duffel bag drag quicker than any other. And add a 4th, don’t be out of uniform. If there are 150 candidates standing there in PT gear and two guys show up are in fatigues, do you think that would fly?

You’re being assessed on your potential to be in one of the premier Special Operations units in the world. And showing up late ever or out of uniform isn’t the way to impress upon the cadre that you want to be there.

Unless things have changed drastically, at Selection the students are kept in the dark about what event is coming next until shortly before it happens. The cadre will update a dry erase board usually 15 minutes or so before the next event and will have the uniform that the candidates must be in. Most classes learn quickly to have a candidate from each hut placed outside near the board to keep everyone apprised of updates.

Being light is a cardinal sin and there is no excuse for it. Your rucksack has to weigh what they said it must weigh and it is always the weight specified without food and water. The instructors will always use the same scales that the candidates use so there will never be a discrepancy there. If the standard says 45 pounds, then 44 pounds,15 ounces is a fail. That doesn’t mean to go overboard either.

One winter class in SFAS, one candidate came in straggling at the rear. His rucksack weighed 75 pounds! That didn’t curry favor with the instructors, in fact, it had the opposite effect. Be safe, and err on the side of caution and be in the green but don’t overdo it. A pound or two over the limit won’t hurt you physically and gives the psychological reassurance that you’re well within the standards.

Being last is, next to being light the kiss of death in selection. One has to be pragmatic here. Do the math, the failure rate for selection is high, even those who make it to the very end of the course aren’t guaranteed to be selected, so being last in any event isn’t a good thing. But one event isn’t going to sink you or your chances if you do well in everything else.. We’ll expand on this more below but you never, ever want to be the last guy in at anything.

Ignore the Noise: The SFAS “rumor mill” used to kill me. There is something about Selection that turns good, troops into a ladies’ sewing circle. This goes right along with self-assessment. Listening to the rumor mill is an unnecessary drain on your energy and serves no purpose. And invariably the rumors are as wrong as the National Enquirer, to begin with unless you’re a fan of “Men in Black.”

Many nights, my bud Doug P. and I as well as other cadre members would move between the huts dressed as the candidates were and gauged their reactions to the training for the day. And to check to see if candidates were sleeping before lights out or eating in the barracks, (heel stomp…you’re always being assessed back up to #2). By the second week of the course, they rarely if ever noticed our presence as cadre.

And by far, the rumor mill was always the most entertaining. As the course went along the rumors always got better. By Team Week, many of the candidates were so burned out, we’d have long conversations with some and they never knew they were talking to cadre members.

My advice to candidates is to have a book handy. When the rumors start flying, save your energy and brain matter and read a book.

Sounds like a walk in the park right? And yeah, Don’t quit!

Photo: US Army