Chosen Soldier

by Dick Couch

  Eight-one-one is one of the better student ODAs in Class 1-05. This is not just my observation; the cadre working the eight final targets agree. Like most of the other student ODA cadre sergeants, Jan made the patrol-leader assignments but let the senior leadership run the squad. He has a lot of confidence in Sergeant Hall, Specialist Dolemont, and the two officers. While this final field exercise is a chance for the student ODAs to lock down their Special Forces tactical skill set, it’s also a report card of sorts for the cadre sergeants. Their pride is on the line. Whose guys are good, and whose are not so good? Whose student ODAs can be innovative in a tactical environment and whose are capable of little more than a rote execution of the basic skills? By late Saturday afternoon, day thirty-two of the training, all the student ODAs are back at the Rowe Training Facility.

  For 811, the final days of Phase II are taken with gear overhaul, weapons cleaning, and a full inventory of sensitive items—specifically, the radios and night-observation devices. One morning before breakfast, there’s a final round of training in unarmed combat. In a frosty corner of the Rowe Training Facility, the ODAs circle up and take turns with one man in the middle. The soldier in the arena has to fend off attack after attack, using the techniques the men have learned during the phase—breaking choke holds and slipping out of headlocks. They pull their punches and kicks, but there are still a few bruises and bloody noses. Back in the team hut, 811 completes a final round of peer evaluations. On day thirty-four, Jan spends fifteen minutes to a half hour with each man, reviewing his performance—his strong and weak points, and his ranking within the ODA. For the twelve men in 811, training is over. They will move on to Phase III. For Captains Anderson and Santos, they’ll begin the 18 Alpha officer course, which will prepare them to be unconventional-warfare planners and foreign-internal-defense specialists. The enlisted men will start the specialty training that will qualify them for their individual Special Forces military occupational specialty, or MOS.

  PFC Tim Baker, Specialist Antonio Costa, Specialist Tom Kendall, and PFC Roberto Pantella will all begin 18 Bravo training to become Special Forces weapons sergeants. Sergeants Aaron Dunn and Daniel Barstow are off to train as 18 Charlies, Special Forces engineering sergeants. Sergeant Stan Hall, Sergeant Byron O’Kane, and Specialist Frank Dolemont will all attend the 18 Delta course to become Special Forces medics. Specialist David Altman alone will train to become an 18 Echo, a Special Forces communications sergeant. The MOS training assignments are made at the end of Phase II based on the needs of the Special Forces groups, the aptitude of the soldier, and his stated preference. All of the MOS training, except for the 18 Deltas, will last some twelve weeks. Combat-medic training is a twelve-month course. Most of the billets for 18 Delta training are reserved for the regular soldiers, men who have invested enough time in the Army to be considered career soldiers. A few of the X-Rays from Class 1-05 will attend the Special Forces medic training, but most are those who have had prior medical training.

  Day thirty-five is when the commander’s review board convenes. Appearing before the board are the men who underwent retraining and reassessment while the rest of Class 1-05 conducted the final field problems. There are also a few men who did so poorly during the final exercise that their performance will be addressed by the board. As with the previous boards, the candidate’s training packets are closely reviewed, and the cadre sergeants speak to the performance of each man. At this stage of the game, there are no psychologists present, and there is little discussion about a man’s potential; they talk mainly about his performance and his character. Then the candidate is brought before the board, questioned, and allowed to speak to his performance. His fate may be determined at that time, or the board may ask him to step outside while they deliberate. The board, identical to the midcourse board, is chaired by the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Jackson. His battalion command sergeant major, Frank Zorn, and his phase company commander, Captain John Block, are seated to his right and left. Close by are the phase first sergeant, Stew Donnally, and Sergeant Major Rick Martin, from Phase IV. Since most of the board’s work addresses candidates in the reassessment detail, those cadre sergeants who ran the retraining ODA are on their feet a great deal, speaking to the performance or nonperformance of those soldiers.

  This board takes their work very seriously, perhaps more seriously than the Phase I board that selected or deselected marginal candidates. After Phase II, the attrition in Special Forces drops off dramatically. Most of the enlisted men finishing Phase II will become Special Forces soldiers. For the officers heading to Phase III, there is more attrition ahead. So the Phase II board process—the midcourse and final review boards—is an important cut. This is especially true for those men who have just been given one more chance in the reassessment ODA. The discussion among the board and the cadre sergeants is spirited, to say the least. Special Forces cadre sergeants have no problem speaking their minds to battalion commanders and command sergeant majors. At one point, the debate over a candidate became so heated, I had to excuse myself and leave the room. I felt this was strictly in-house business. As an outsider, I can’t comment on the merit of their findings, but one thing was clear: These professionals are passionate in their commitment to select the right men, and only the right men, for this very important job.

  Of the eighteen men granted a reprieve in the reassessment ODA, only one man was sent forward to Phase III. PFC Jamie Wagner, Specialist Scott, and the single captain were relieved from the course. But Specialist Scott and his marvelous knack for languages were not lost to Army special operations. Sergeant Major Zorn took him to Fort Bragg, and introduced him to the 3rd Battalion command sergeant major, the senior NCO in charge of psyops and civil-affairs training.

  Of the 341 officers and enlisted men who began with Class 1-05, 280 will begin Phase III—a success rate of 82 percent. This is up from the historical average of three in four who make it through Phase II.

  On the evening of day thirty-four, Class 1-05’s last night at the Rowe Training Facility, my wife and I join 811 in the team hut for a quiet celebration. Alcohol is not allowed at the Rowe Training Facility, but I asked Jan if it would be permissible for me to bring in some eggnog with a little snap to it. He allowed that it would be all right. So Julia and I carry in some spiked and nonspiked nog to the team hut along with a portable CD player. That evening, with Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas,” we are honored to share some Christmas cheer with 811.

  “Thanks for this little celebration,” Captain Miguel Santos says, speaking for his teammates as he raises his cup, “and thanks for hanging with us during the phase.”

  “Thank you for letting Julia and me share this evening with you,” I reply. “And for me, it was an honor to be a guest member of student ODA 811.” Then, raising my paper cup with the spiked nog, I add, “Gentlemen, to success in Phase III.”

  “To success in Phase III!”

  Author’s Note: Soldiers selected for Phase II who are coming from combat support and combat service support units, like 811’s Sergeant Aaron Dunn, are now being sent to the Special Forces Preparation Course prior to Phase II. They will join the X-Ray soldiers for this pre–Phase II, small-unit-tactics training. Soon after completion of Class 1-05’s Phase II, SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) training was made a part of the Phase II curriculum. Those 280 soldiers from Class 1-05 who complete Phase III and IV will take their SERE training after they complete Phase IV. Special Forces SERE training will be addressed later in this book.

  EARTH TO SPACE. An 18 Echo candidate sets up his PSC-5 satellite radio for a commo shot during Max Gain, the 18 Echo final field problem in Phase III.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE 18 SERIES

  With the exception of those who will train to become 18 Delta Special Forces medics, the new Phase II graduates crowd into the large auditorium of Aaron Bank Hall, the sprawling special operations academic facility at Fort Bragg.

  “On your feet!” a
cadre sergeant barks, and the class rises as one.

  A crisp, wiry sergeant in a freshly starched uniform strides quickly to the front of the large room. “Good morning, men. Take your seats. Welcome to Phase III. My name is Gary Baxter, and I’m the 4th Battalion command sergeant major. The colonel will be with us soon, but I wanted a moment with you before he arrives. First of all, congratulations on successfully completing Phase II. We know you’re tough, and we know you can function in a tactical environment. Now you have to get down to the serious business of learning your trade. A few things to keep in mind. Fort Bragg is not Camp Mackall. This is a military post, and we live with a number of regular Army commands on this base. Stay straight, neat, and have a military haircut at all times. We’re all soldiers. Be in a correct uniform at all times.” The command sergeant major pauses to measure his audience. “This is an academic environment, and you have liberties during this phase that you don’t have in the other phases of this course. Don’t abuse them. You’ve all come too far to let an off-post incident or a DUI get you kicked out of here. I don’t want to see you in my office. And you don’t want to see me, so don’t get sent for. Think about your goals, men, and why you came here. Don’t blow it.” Baxter glances to his right to a figure who seemed to have materialized along the wall. He is a short man with dark hair and a quiet manner. “Gentlemen, the battalion commander. Ten-HUT!”

  Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sandoz makes his way to the center-front of the auditorium. He surveys the men in his audience—the men he is charged with training. Sandoz commands the 4th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group. After a moment of introspective silence, he speaks to them in a measured, clear voice.

  “Gentlemen, let me echo the command sergeant major’s welcome. Phases I, II, and IV are all essential in your journey to become a Special Forces soldier. But Phase III makes you a Green Beret. Over the course of the next three months, you’ll receive the skill-based training to qualify you for your MOS. For you enlisted men, as weapons, engineering, and communications sergeants, and for you officers, as detachment leaders. My cadre are very passionate about their job as trainers. I’m going to ask each one of you to match their passion and dedication with your very best effort. Make no mistake about this, men, you are training for war. What you learn here will mean the difference between mission success and mission failure. It can also mean life or death for you and your teammates. This is a deadly serious business.

  “My cadre are all experienced, proven Green Beret instructors. They can train any soldier in any army. But their efforts can only do so much. You have to bring the right attitude to this training. You have to want this training and information more than anything else in the world. Your desire to learn has to match that of my cadre to teach. This is a teaching environment. We will not talk down to you, disrespect you, or screw with you. But we will teach you.” The battalion commander paces a moment, then turns to the class.

  “You officers will have a tremendous responsibility when you go to your groups. But before you leave here I have to be satisfied—completely satisfied—that I can trust you with the responsibility and welfare of ten Special Forces NCOs. You enlisted men also have a responsibility. I have to be convinced that you can do your job—that you can lead and follow as a member of a Special Forces ODA team. It’s very simple. Everyone in this room is going to war. Think about it, gentlemen, and good luck.”

  “FEET!” someone calls from the rear of the auditorium, and there is a scramble as the class rises. Lieutenant Colonel Sandoz steps to the side of the room to be replaced by Command Sergeant Major Baxter.

  “That’s it, men. We do our job; you do yours. No more, and certainly no less.” Baxter consults his notes. “You each know the location of your respective company areas and where you are supposed to report after you leave here. Some of the finest first sergeants and trainers in Special Forces are waiting for you. Don’t disappoint them. You’re dismissed.”

  The officer candidates and the prospective weapons, engineering, and communications sergeants head off for their respective training companies. The next time they’ll be in the same room will be in one of the two big classrooms at Camp Mackall when they begin Phase IV. That is close to three months in the future. Most of them will be there, but not all. None of them are thinking about that right now. What lies ahead for each man is months of hard work and the mastery of a dizzying array of technical information. The 18 Delta candidates from Phase II Class 1-05 will never rejoin the others, except by chance as teammates on an ODA at an active Special Forces group. The Special Forces medical sergeant curriculum is an intensive, twelve-month course that is both demanding and technical. This scattering of Class 1-05 into the various 18-series military occupational specialty (MOS) training curriculums presents a special challenge for me.

  Up to this time, I’ve had the luxury of tagging along after a class, a student ODA, or an individual candidate as they went about their business. In most cases, the journey of one man mirrored the journey of the class. Now there are five training venues that are going on at the same time. Most of this training is conducted at Fort Bragg, so now I’ll have an hour commute from my quarters at Camp Mackall to whichever training site or classroom that I wish to attend. It’ll be a busy three months. And while I’ll spend time at all venues, most of my time will be with the officers. If, in the words of Captain Walt Carson, the selection phase company commander, “Special Forces is an officer-led, enlisted-run organization,” then why so much time with the officers? Every soldier on an ODA team, officer and enlisted, is a leader. Yet the enlisted soldiers, be they medics or communications sergeants, will usually join an ODA as the junior medic or the junior communications sergeant. To call them simply technicians would undervalue the versatility of these men, but the new 18 Bravos, Charlies, Deltas, and Echos will have the luxury of playing a role on the team. In most cases, they will be supervised and mentored by veteran team members. The enlisted leadership on an ODA will come from senior sergeants, specifically the 18 Zulu team sergeant and the 18 Foxtrot intelligence sergeant. Many of these men will have been on the job for close to two decades. In Carson’s words, they have the experience to “run” the team as well as to lead in selected operational roles. During Phase III of Special Forces training, the enlisted soldiers will focus on the technical material within their specialties. Their leadership role in an ODA, certainly in the key leadership positions, may be years in the future.

  This is not the case with the officers. They’re being trained and groomed to become detachment leaders—ODA team leaders. Captain Matt Anderson or Captain Miguel Santos might well find themselves leading an detachment in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Sudan, or Iraq eight months from the completion of their Phase III. They’ll be responsible for the operational planning and tactical thinking of their detachment’s operations. Chances are their first deployment as a team leader will be a combat deployment. Other SOF units, notably SEALs and Rangers, bring their officers along more slowly. They deploy these officers in assistant-team-leader or deputy-unit-leader roles. The officer in charge of a SEAL platoon—the Navy SOF equivalent of an ODA—may be on his third combat deployment as a SEAL before he is the team leader. Special Forces officers have only their previous branch experience, their maturity, and their Q-Course training to rely on. They’ll have no apprenticeship. These officers, when assigned to an ODA, are team leaders; they will sink or swim. In this wartime reality, they will perform or be relieved of command. The training of officers to qualify as 18 Alpha Special Forces detachment leaders will be taken up in chapter 7.

  In Phase III, the enlisted soldiers will learn the mechanics of their specialties. They’ll learn to perform these duties in support of their ODAs and teach these skills to others. During this MOS training, they’ll continually be reminded that they are teachers as well as warriors.

  THE 18 BRAVOS—THE SPECIAL FORCES WEAPONS SERGEANTS

  Most Special Forces phase training begins with some form of a come-to-Je
sus meeting with the senior enlisted member of the training cadre, usually a master sergeant serving in capacity of the first sergeant. Eighteen Bravo training is no different, except that playing the role of the first sergeant for my Bravo phase is Sergeant First Class Rick Blaylock. Blaylock runs the weapons MOS training for Bravo Company, 4th Battalion. This class of 18 Bravo candidates is designated as Class 1-05.

  “All right, guys, listen up. This will be your orientation briefing for the training that will qualify you as an 18 Bravo Special Forces weapons sergeant. From my point of view, you are the most important man on the team. This is not the Peace Corps. The work of a deployed Special Forces detachment will almost always involve weapons systems. Since 9/11, that has meant getting rounds on the bad guys before he can get rounds on you. Or training others, your teammates or local forces, to put rounds on the bad guys. The Bravo curriculum calls for sixty-five days of training. Given holiday periods and weekends, you will be with us for three months. But out of that sixty-five days of classroom and range time, you’ll have to put in a lot of off-duty study time. There’s a lot to learn. Maybe some of you guys think being a Bravo is just being a gunslinger. Well, there’s that, but there’s a whole lot more.”