View Full Version : Army accepts first two females for SFAS??
Comedy Zone or Here??
Here comes G.I. Jane: Army accepts first women to attend school to become Green Berets, By Alex Quade - Special to The Washington Times - The Washington Times
Friday, July 22, 2016
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. | Two female Army officers will make history when they report to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in their first step toward earning the Special Forces tab and becoming Green Berets.
The female officers, whom Army officials declined to identify, could attend their first Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) class as early as October, though neither has yet received orders for training at Fort Bragg, The Washington Times has learned.
Col. Nestor A. Sadler, commandant of the Special Forces Regiment at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School at Fort Bragg, confirmed that the two female candidates had accepted invitations for the SFAS class.
“Two females met the requirements for SFAS and were nominated by the ARSOF [Army Special Operations Forces selection] panel to attend SFAS. One candidate declined her invitation and withdrew from the process. Special Forces Branch asked why. On the last day to accept or decline the invitation, she changed her mind and accepted the invitation to attend SFAS,” Col. Sadler said.
At a recent Special Forces Association conference in Jacksonville, Col. Sadler said that the Army selection panel had reviewed the application packets of seven female officers. Of those, two were approved for the SFAS class, he said.
Officers may apply for special forces positions once a year. The Army selection panel in April reviewed application packets from 860 officers for the three Special Operations Regiments, which include Special Forces, Civil Affairs and PSYOP.
Maj. Melody Faulkenberry, spokeswoman for the Special Warfare Center and School, said that 71 women applied for the various Special Operations Regiments forces positions and 65 were selected for consideration.
“This was the first time females had the ability to choose Special Forces, and nine female officers marked Special Forces as their first choice in their packets,” Maj. Faulkenberry said.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opened all combat occupations to women in December, ending a ban on women in direct ground combat roles.
The female officers must pass the SFAS and the subsequent Special Forces Qualification Course before earning the coveted green beret.
Both female officers are on active duty and have served in combat support roles. Neither attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. One received her commission via ROTC, the other via Officer Candidate School.
Citing the Privacy Act, Army officials declined Freedom of Information Act requests for the officers’ service background information such as their military occupation specialties, awards and deployment history.
“An important thing to remember is, these are volunteers. Special Forces is something soldiers volunteer for,” Maj. Faulkenberry said.
The two female officers are “triple volunteers,” having volunteered for the Army, airborne training and now Special Forces, she said.
Copyright © 2016 The Washington Times, LLC.
Link (http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/22/army-accepts-first-two-female-officers-to-attend-s/)
Col Sadler appears to be the real deal..
http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/AIWFC/Repository/COLSadlerBio.pdf
x SF med
07-22-2016, 11:32
COL Sadler has 2 CIBs? I didn't think OIF and OEF could qualify you for 2? Panama and GWOT, maybe?
Team Sergeant
07-22-2016, 12:33
If I were a female I'd just ask to "audit" the Special Forces Qualification Course and when it was over and I didn't receive a "Green Beret" I'd threaten the Special Warfare Commander with a sexual harassment lawsuit, (with a lawyer in tow......)
That's just me, that's how I'd get a green beret.
(1VB)compforce
07-22-2016, 12:42
COL Sadler has 2 CIBs? I didn't think OIF and OEF could qualify you for 2? Panama and GWOT, maybe?
Viet Nam era = Viet Nam, Grenada, Panama and Desert Storm
GWOT era = OIF/OEF
so 1 for Desert Storm, 1 for OIF/OEF
GreenSalsa
07-22-2016, 12:43
COL Sadler has 2 CIBs? I didn't think OIF and OEF could qualify you for 2? Panama and GWOT, maybe?
Still quite a few Desert Storm vets out there....
If I were a female I'd just ask to "audit" the Special Forces Qualification Course and when it was over and I didn't receive a "Green Beret" I'd threaten the Special Warfare Commander with a sexual harassment lawsuit, (with a lawyer in tow......)
That's just me, that's how I'd get a green beret.
That's just way too hard. I would go to Clothing Sales and buy, uh, award myself one and when called out file a sexual discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment, and bullying lawsuit...
Viet Nam era = Viet Nam, Grenada, Panama and Desert Storm
GWOT era = OIF/OEF
so 1 for Desert Storm, 1 for OIF/OEF
1-508 IN didn't participate in DS/DS; they did, however, fight in Op Just Cause, and COL Sadler was commissioned a year and a half prior to the invasion. So...
Divemaster
07-22-2016, 14:11
Accepted invitations? I don't recall being invited. I had to kick down the door. But I went to the last easy class so what do I know?
Accepted invitations?
That's one reason I suggested Comedy Zone.. :mad:
The Reaper
07-22-2016, 16:41
Go ahead and print their certificates and assign them Q Course dates. :rolleyes:
Oz has spoken.
TR
CDRODA396
07-22-2016, 18:08
If I were a female I'd just ask to "audit" the Special Forces Qualification Course and when it was over and I didn't receive a "Green Beret" I'd threaten the Special Warfare Commander with a sexual harassment lawsuit, (with a lawyer in tow......)
That's just me, that's how I'd get a green beret.
Nope, I'd go to MISO Selection, followed by SOFCCC, then audit the 18A Phase (skip IUW, SUT, SERE and SAGE) then demand a top hat claiming to have done it all, just under different SOF elements...
miclo18d
07-23-2016, 03:32
Nestor was my company commander right before I retired. No complaints at that time.
Well, he's the SF Commandant for the Regiment up on the 4th floor. All I can say is he's a good person to talk to. As a training developer for the 18E's, he seems to be interested with what goes on in the Q course "pipeline"... As far as what else a Commandant does...well, hell, I dunno.
However, I see him as a good guy.
The Reaper
07-23-2016, 09:45
Well, he's the SF Commandant for the Regiment up on the 4th floor. All I can say is he's a good person to talk to. As a training developer for the 18E's, he seems to be interested with what goes on in the Q course "pipeline"... As far as what else a Commandant does...well, hell, I dunno.
However, I see him as a good guy.
Concur.
He was one of my detachment commanders.
TR
Utah Bob
07-27-2016, 07:43
I hope some nice flowers were delivered with the invitations.:rolleyes:
UWOA (RIP)
07-27-2016, 08:06
Once the "pass" the Q course, are you gonna let them in here?
Or, are you gonna set up a separate ladies room for 'em ....
I think I'm gonna have a heart attack.
.
Once the "pass" the Q course, are you gonna let them in here?
Or, are you gonna set up a separate ladies room for 'em ....
I think I'm gonna have a heart attack..
Federal Laws states that we will no longer have separate showers, toilets, urinals, & Bidets..
Butter Cup better be ready to share..
LMAO
:munchin
UWOA (RIP)
07-27-2016, 09:31
Federal Laws states that we will no longer have separate showers, toilets, urinals, & Bidets..
Butter Cup better be ready to share..
LMAO
:munchin
You funny wide-cracker ... eh ... wisecracker, GI.
ROFLMAO
.
RomanCandle
07-27-2016, 12:16
Federal Laws states that we will no longer have separate showers, toilets, urinals, & Bidets..
Butter Cup better be ready to share..
LMAO
:munchin
Ah hah! The old "Go Kart".
On army rations you always sounded like you were running a two stroke. :D
Federal Laws states that we will no longer have separate showers, toilets, urinals, & Bidets..
Butter Cup better be ready to share..
LMAO
:munchin
Man, you older guys must of had one hell of a P-38 to open those cans!:D
Badger52
07-27-2016, 13:12
Man, you older guys must of had one hell of a P-38 to open those cans!:DIt's one of those "never quit" things.
:cool:
Federal Laws states that we will no longer have separate showers, toilets, urinals, & Bidets..
Butter Cup better be ready to share..
LMAO
:munchin
Great picture. Reminds me of my time in the 2nd Div in Korea. We had the standard 55 gal drum, cut in half, with a toilet seat screwed on. Because it was an all male outfit, sometimes we would just forgo putting a tent over it. Once we located it near the crest of a hill just south of the DMZ so you could sit there and contemplate North Korea (18 year olds with nothing better to do). That was 40 years ago and I still have this image burned into my brain of one of the guys sitting on the thing with the sun setting behind him, putting it all into silhouette.
Inspirational isn't really the right word.
To stay somewhat on point, I'm guessing folks in today's Army won't be having that experience.
ddoering
07-28-2016, 18:06
Perhaps the reason they have to wait so long is so that their new vaginas have healed. Its not just coincidence that the new Transgender policy is out.
Joking aside, what does it say about someone, psychologically speaking, who has mutilated their genitalia to become female. How would that go over in an AO which definitely wouldn't go for that style of behavior if that became known about that individual. Specifically, if the leadership decided to use them to search detained females in a Muslim environment.
We had a guy in AIT that disappeared after we noticed that he was developing full-on female sized breasts. I guess in today's Army he'd be given some kind of special commendation.
Pat
I guess they don't know about Kate Wilder... :rolleyes:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/14/first-female-soldier-in-green-beret-training-fails/
First female soldier in Green Beret training fails to complete the course
By Alex Quade - Special to The Washington Times - - Wednesday, September 14, 2016
The first female soldier to participate in the Army’s initial training for the Green Berets — side by side with men — failed to complete the course, The Washington Times has learned.
The enlisted soldier is the first woman to attend U.S. Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection, the first step toward earning the Special Forces name and the coveted green beret.
Since Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opened all combat jobs to women in December, a number of female troops have applied for direct combat roles from which they had long been banned. No woman has achieved the qualifications to become an Army Ranger or Green Beret, a Navy SEAL, a Marine Corps infantry officer or an Air Force parajumper, among other combat specialties.
The first woman to try out for the 75th Ranger Regiment failed to complete the course this month, The Army Times reported. Three female soldiers have completed the Army’s Ranger School but not the qualification for the special operations Ranger regiment.
In July, The Times reported that two female officer candidates had been accepted to attend a Special Forces Assessment and Selection class that begins in the spring.
On Sept. 2, the unidentified female enlisted soldier reported to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She passed the physical fitness test and the first half of the grueling, 21-day weeding-out process, during which 10 percent to 15 percent of her classmates dropped out.
During the land navigation phase of the training, she either withdrew voluntarily, was medically dropped or was administratively removed for not meeting standards, said three sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Pending review boards, she may try again.
Historically, only one-third of candidates pass the entire course.
“An average class is 300 candidates, with a 10 to 15 percent attrition rate after the physical fitness assessment. The total attrition rate at the end of SFAS is 60 percent,” warfare center spokeswoman Maj. Melody Faulkenberry said in a July interview regarding the first two female officer candidates invited to Special Forces Assessment and Selection.
Army officials would not confirm or deny that a female enlisted soldier was enrolled in the training. They would not release her name, rank, military occupational specialty (job) or deployment history. She did attend Airborne school because all Special Forces candidates must be Airborne-qualified.
Army Special Operations Command would only release a statement about Special Forces Assessment and Selection.
“The Special Forces Assessment and Selection process, and subsequent Special Forces qualification training are very challenging experiences — experiences that can be made more difficult with the additional pressure that often comes with focused media attention on particular individuals due to their race, color, gender, religion, national origin and sexual orientation,” Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, the command’s public affairs director, said in an email.
The female candidate made it through the first week of the course, known as the “gates.” All of the candidates underwent IQ and psychological testing and a physical fitness assessment, and successfully tackled obstacle courses and long marches and runs carrying full rucksacks.
“There’s a fitness baseline candidates must achieve. This test is not graded by age or gender, but purely their fitness level,” Maj. Faulkenberry, the warfare center spokeswoman, explained in July.
If the female soldier retakes and passes Special Forces Assessment and Selection, she then will have to pass a Special Forces Qualification Course to earn the green beret — theoretically a two-year process. As a noncommissioned officer, she would become an integral member of a 12-member Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, known as an A-Team. One core mission is to conduct unconventional warfare behind enemy lines.
She would be a staff sergeant or sergeant 1st class assigned to weapons, engineering, medical or communications on the 12-member team.
Retired Maj. Gen. Mike Repass, former commander of Army Special Forces, said that if a female soldier gets to the A-Teams in the field, she will face the same challenge that every other new operator does: She will have to earn her spot.
“In the very unlikely event that there was some institutional slack on the standards, there will be none on the Special Forces detachments, the A-Teams. Everyone has to pull their weight and be able to do other people’s jobs as well. Every day is a ‘selection event’ for an operator, and you can be told to step off the team if you are not meeting the standards,” Gen. Repass said.
Lt. Col. Stuart Farris, who from 2014 until June was commander at Fort Bragg’s Camp Mackall, where Special Forces Assessment and Selection training takes place, has dismissed suggestions that standards have been lowered to allow women to enter combat roles.
“I am intimately familiar with the women in service initiative. I can assure you that we have the most comprehensive and rigorous Assessment and Selection process and methodology in [all special operations forces],” Col. Farris wrote recently in a discussion on a social media site approved by Special Operations Command.
“Bottom line, rest easy knowing that no standards have changed, and they will not change — everyone in my chain of command up to [Defense Secretary Ashton Carter] has been absolutely emphatic about this,” the colonel wrote.
Gen. Repass said the biggest challenge a female candidate may face could be the cultural shift.
“There is a unique bond between the members of the operational detachments. The small team has a personality of its own, and every member contributes to that, as well as the reputation of the detachment within the company and battalion,” the retired general said. “The women who make it into the team rooms will not be myths; they’ll become living facts.”
Team Sergeant
09-17-2016, 08:11
"First female soldier in Green Beret training fails to complete the course"
I heard she will get the green beret anyway, just for trying, just like kate. (Or she could use the "sexual harassment" route and demand a green beret and force another Special Forces MoH recipient to retire.)
blacksmoke
10-15-2016, 08:14
Wait till they send 20 women to SFAS...
sfshooter
10-15-2016, 19:07
Guess the head shed never thought about all the FID and MTT ops that SF does in shit holes of the world where women have no standing. :confused:
I can just imagine a female trying to teach Arabs BRM.....or any other subject for that matter; talk about not caring about cultural communication or respect for the natives!
Bettendorf
10-15-2016, 23:42
I can just imagine a female trying to teach Arabs BRM.....or any other subject for that matter; talk about not caring about cultural communication or respect for the natives!
That's a point which I've wondered if any SF officers have wondered about. And it's not just an "arab' problem. It's an Islamic problem. It exists from Eastern, Northern, and Eastern Africa. Nevermind SE Asia or Middle Asia.
Bet I don't have any worries....I'm sure our leadership have a handle on it...
Just kidding.
Team Sergeant
10-15-2016, 23:53
Just wait until Special Forces "chicks with dicks" teach BRM.... to anyone.
The 1% has won and the 99% have been forced to kneel at their feet. Enjoy the sensitivity training.........
sfshooter
10-16-2016, 01:22
The sensitivity training is killing me and I'm not even in the service anymore!!!!:mad:
Military society had run amok and the desire to try and fix it is so strong, yet it is at the top where things need adjustment. Us bonehead Bravos can only steam on the side!
And I thought years ago when they quit letting enlisted have 2 beer at lunch was a big deal!!