The Reaper
01-29-2004, 23:00
This is a list of tips with dos and don'ts for those entering the SF Pipeline, let me just toss the first few up off the top of my head. Other personnel who have completed training please add to the list as you see fit.
o Prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally for the Course. Do the five week PT prep, do not cheat or slack off. Show up at the peak of your game. When your buddies are out partying, stay back and go to the gym. When they are sleeping late, be out rucking. On the weekend when they are playing Nintendo, go out and run. Do not sign up unless you want to be SF more than anything in the world. Keep that thought and your head in the game. Do not worry about what else might be going on in the world outside training. Focus.
o Don't be late, don't be light, and don't be lost.
o Follow all instructions to the letter.
o Do the best that you can whether you think you are being evaluated, or not.
o Keep a positive frame of reference and a sense of humor at all times.
o Be a good leader, as well as a good follower.
o Offering a constructive suggestion once before a decision is made is helpful. Continuing to push it or bringing it up after the order is issued is counterproductive and marks you as a complainer.
o Help your friends any time you can. If the other guy is dragging ass, or having trouble humping team gear, what have you done to help him? Complaining about it or criticizing him will not help, and will mark you as a poor team player. Help your teammates succeed whenever possible. This will pay dividends on YOUR evaluation.
o Never be the first to sit down, or the last to get up. That extends to not being the first asleep, the last awake, or the first to break out chow.
o You will be training while it is raining, hot, cold, wet, dry, hungry, hurt, etc. Bear in mind that everyone else is experiencing the same things, and keeping your self-pity and snivels to yourself marks you as the kind of person we are looking for, and will not hurt you with your peers.
o Try not to get hurt. If you have a real injury beyond minor aches and pains, go see the Doc. People have completed the Trek/LRIM/etc. with broken bones and blisters covering their entire feet. Mind over matter, gents. Your body will press on as long as your mind tells it to. Once you start doubting yourself, it is all over.
o Do not worry too much before attending training about academic shortcomings. The best trainers in the world are SF soldiers. You will be taught everything you need to know in a crawl, walk, run methodology. You will be tested, and if you fail, retrained and retested.
o Do not worry about bringing the latest Gucci gear to training. make sure that what you bring is legal, proper, well broken in, and servicable. You can blow that bonus on gear after you get to a team.
o Make sure that your spouse supports you in your quest, and you can trust her to take care of business while you are gone. You will be gone a lot if you complete training, and you don't need to be distracted by thoughts of what she might be up to while you are out at Camp Mackall for a few weeks. Cold truth: if you can't trust her (or she can't trust you), DX her.
o Focus on the 25m. target. I would not worry excessively about my language training before completing SFAS, or my promotion opportunities in the various MOSes while still in High School.
o We do not need cocky or arrogant people. We are looking for "assured confidence". That means your ass can cash the checks your mouth is writing, and you do not boast unnecessarily about it.
o Do not self-select, let the instructors evaluate you. Do not assume that you have no hope of being selected because of your performance. Strange things happen.
o Complete the course. If nothing else, you will have learned what the course contains, be better prepared when you return, and will have learned that you cannot be broken. Quitting is one lesson that you do not want to acquire during your SF experience.
o The final and most important point is to NEVER EVER QUIT. Make the instructors have to physically remove you from the course and restrain you to put you on the truck back to Bragg. Make them have to carry you out on a stretcher. The next hill might be the last one. How will you feel if you quit with victory in your grasp?
You can be the Gray Man, but be sure that you ARE The Man and are still standing when all is said and done. Then you will need no excuses about what happened.
Good luck, men.
o Prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally for the Course. Do the five week PT prep, do not cheat or slack off. Show up at the peak of your game. When your buddies are out partying, stay back and go to the gym. When they are sleeping late, be out rucking. On the weekend when they are playing Nintendo, go out and run. Do not sign up unless you want to be SF more than anything in the world. Keep that thought and your head in the game. Do not worry about what else might be going on in the world outside training. Focus.
o Don't be late, don't be light, and don't be lost.
o Follow all instructions to the letter.
o Do the best that you can whether you think you are being evaluated, or not.
o Keep a positive frame of reference and a sense of humor at all times.
o Be a good leader, as well as a good follower.
o Offering a constructive suggestion once before a decision is made is helpful. Continuing to push it or bringing it up after the order is issued is counterproductive and marks you as a complainer.
o Help your friends any time you can. If the other guy is dragging ass, or having trouble humping team gear, what have you done to help him? Complaining about it or criticizing him will not help, and will mark you as a poor team player. Help your teammates succeed whenever possible. This will pay dividends on YOUR evaluation.
o Never be the first to sit down, or the last to get up. That extends to not being the first asleep, the last awake, or the first to break out chow.
o You will be training while it is raining, hot, cold, wet, dry, hungry, hurt, etc. Bear in mind that everyone else is experiencing the same things, and keeping your self-pity and snivels to yourself marks you as the kind of person we are looking for, and will not hurt you with your peers.
o Try not to get hurt. If you have a real injury beyond minor aches and pains, go see the Doc. People have completed the Trek/LRIM/etc. with broken bones and blisters covering their entire feet. Mind over matter, gents. Your body will press on as long as your mind tells it to. Once you start doubting yourself, it is all over.
o Do not worry too much before attending training about academic shortcomings. The best trainers in the world are SF soldiers. You will be taught everything you need to know in a crawl, walk, run methodology. You will be tested, and if you fail, retrained and retested.
o Do not worry about bringing the latest Gucci gear to training. make sure that what you bring is legal, proper, well broken in, and servicable. You can blow that bonus on gear after you get to a team.
o Make sure that your spouse supports you in your quest, and you can trust her to take care of business while you are gone. You will be gone a lot if you complete training, and you don't need to be distracted by thoughts of what she might be up to while you are out at Camp Mackall for a few weeks. Cold truth: if you can't trust her (or she can't trust you), DX her.
o Focus on the 25m. target. I would not worry excessively about my language training before completing SFAS, or my promotion opportunities in the various MOSes while still in High School.
o We do not need cocky or arrogant people. We are looking for "assured confidence". That means your ass can cash the checks your mouth is writing, and you do not boast unnecessarily about it.
o Do not self-select, let the instructors evaluate you. Do not assume that you have no hope of being selected because of your performance. Strange things happen.
o Complete the course. If nothing else, you will have learned what the course contains, be better prepared when you return, and will have learned that you cannot be broken. Quitting is one lesson that you do not want to acquire during your SF experience.
o The final and most important point is to NEVER EVER QUIT. Make the instructors have to physically remove you from the course and restrain you to put you on the truck back to Bragg. Make them have to carry you out on a stretcher. The next hill might be the last one. How will you feel if you quit with victory in your grasp?
You can be the Gray Man, but be sure that you ARE The Man and are still standing when all is said and done. Then you will need no excuses about what happened.
Good luck, men.