Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > Special Forces > Base Camp

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-30-2009, 17:24   #1
Red Finch
Asset
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Europe
Posts: 9
Wearing of SF insignia before qualification?

The following video is a news segment documenting the Times Square Recruiting Station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWvBDHmC3j8

At 3:11 minutes a Pvt. Gomez is interviewed and he states, that after 10 months in the Army he has completed: "Basic, AIT which is Advanced Individual Training, where they teach you your job and also Airborne School". And yet he is wearing what I believe is the SF shoulder sleeve insignia on his ACUs. If he were an 18x candidate, as his record may suggest, would he be permitted to wear this before qualifying in the 18 series? I do not mean to catch anyone out, I am simply curious.
__________________
-Red Finch

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” - Oscar Wilde
Red Finch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2009, 18:04   #2
Kyobanim
Moderator
 
Kyobanim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 3,045
Yes, it's part of his uniform. The patch means he is slated to go to, or is a member of a SF group. It doesn't mean is is SF qualed. That is the Tab that goes above the patch.
__________________
"Are you listening or just waiting to talk?"


Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
Optimus Prime
Kyobanim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2009, 21:10   #3
mark46th
Quiet Professional
 
mark46th's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orange, Ca.
Posts: 4,941
I made it through basic, AIT, Jump School, Phase I, II & III of SF training between July 11, 1970 and June 1, 1971, making E-5 in the process. I was very lucky, hitting all my training with little or no wait between classes. The big key was, as a commo man, I already knew IMC, so it saved me weeks of training...The day I graduated from SWC with an assignment to the 5th SFG(A) as an 05B4S was the proudest day of my life....
mark46th is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-30-2009, 22:23   #4
FrankCastle18b
Quiet Professional
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 31
The SWCS patch is what they are supposed to wear until they completely finish and move out to group.
Support personnel wear the patch that he is wearing and are currently assigned to a Special Forces Group. All students Wear the SWCS patch.
FrankCastle18b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 05:56   #5
Richard
Quiet Professional
 
Richard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
Quote:
The SWCS patch is what they are supposed to wear until they completely finish and move out to group. Support personnel wear the patch that he is wearing and are currently assigned to a Special Forces Group. All students Wear the SWCS patch.
We wore the SF SSI going through SFTG and - upon completion of Phase 1 - the beret w/SF DUI and w/o flash. I can understand the reasoning behind the current wearing of the SWCS SSI when attending SFQC - but we were glad to have avoided the flaming piss-pot () in my day.

Question: Do those 18s already in a Group wear the SWCS SSI when attending another MOS producing course - e.g., an 18B from the 7th returning to go through the D course?

Just curious.

Richard's $.02
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)

“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
Richard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 06:10   #6
Pete
Quiet Professional
 
Pete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Fayetteville
Posts: 13,080
Assigned vs TDY

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard View Post
....Question: Do those 18s already in a Group wear the SWCS SSI when attending another MOS producing course - e.g., an 18B from the 7th returning to go through the D course?...
Assigned vs TDY

Depends on what the orders say. Almost all students going through the basic course are assigned and wear the SWC patch. A very few who are not assigned elect to wear the SWC patch as it raises less questions while in formation.

Just about everything else is some form of TDY and the students wear their unit flash and patch.
Pete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 08:31   #7
Team Sergeant
Quiet Professional
 
Team Sergeant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
One very cool idea is to get a Special Forces tattoo "before" you go to the Q-Course and show it off to all your friends and to the SF cadre when you arrive.


Team Sergeant
__________________
"The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy, but where they are."
Team Sergeant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 08:50   #8
Sdiver
Area Commander
 
Sdiver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: The Black Hills of SD
Posts: 5,917
Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Sergeant View Post
One very cool idea is to get a Special Forces tattoo "before" you go to the Q-Course and show it off to all your friends and to the SF cadre when you arrive.


Team Sergeant
You're EVIL !!!!
__________________
Non Sibi Sed Suis
_____________________________________________
It's Good To Be Da King !!!! Just ask NDD !!!!
Sdiver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 09:47   #9
The Reaper
Quiet Professional
 
The Reaper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,779
Pete hit it on the head.

There is nothing wrong with assigned soldiers wearing the SF SSI any more than soldiers in PCS to the 82nd or the 1st ID wearing their respective patches.

If you are TDY for schooling but are assigned to an SF unit, you wear the SF patch (NOT Tab!). En route to an SF unit from OSUT would, I believe, qualify you to wear the SF SSI.

If you are en route to SWCS on a PCS, even if you are going as an SFQC student, you should be wearing the SWCS patch.

A support soldier headed to an SF unit should be wearing the SF SSI.

Do you not understand the difference between the SF SSI and an SF Tab?

TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
The Reaper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 09:52   #10
wet dog
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Has it changed?

In the early 80's, REP 63 students from the Guard/Reserves, (i.g., 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th) wore the unit patch of their home unit upon graduation from Basic Training. All through AIT, Airborne and SFTG it was easy to identify who was AD SWC and who was Guard or Reserve.

"Death before Division"
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2009, 11:34   #11
Red Finch
Asset
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Europe
Posts: 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper View Post
Do you not understand the difference between the SF SSI and an SF Tab?

TR
I had no doubt that the Tab can only be worn by qualified SF soldiers (18 series MOS), however I had not adequately informed myself about the SSI leading me to make an incorrect evaluation of who the soldier used as example was (I now understand that the SSI worn is dependent on a formation's chain of command).

Therefore if I have read your posts correctly, it is unlikely that Pvt Gomez is an 18x candidate (as he would be on route to SWCS thus mandating the SWCS patch), but rather he would be an airborne qualified support soldier assigned to an SFG (and therefore his formation would fall under SF chain of command).
__________________
-Red Finch

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” - Oscar Wilde
Red Finch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2009, 04:11   #12
zfm7th
Quiet Professional
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Near Fay NC
Posts: 20
SSI for 18s getting an additional MOS

Ref the question about 18 series guys going back to SWC for an additional MOS: If they are in SWC on a TDY status, they wear the SF SSI. If they are PCS'd there, they wear the SWC SSI. Due to the overall length of the MOS portions nowadays, this rarely happens anyway but is found mostly with guys that return for the med coure, which is almost always a PCS even for guys stationed at Bragg (due to the length of the Course). I recall in days past when the MOS portions were as short as 8 weeks (early 80s), you could send guys back to get additional MOSs all the time, but those days are long gone....unfortunately...and the SF guy with a secondary SF MOS is a rare guy indeed unless he's been to the 18F course.

zfm7th
zfm7th is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2009, 06:26   #13
csquare
Quiet Professional
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 406
Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Sergeant View Post
One very cool idea is to get a Special Forces tattoo "before" you go to the Q-Course and show it off to all your friends and to the SF cadre when you arrive.


Team Sergeant
Or while in training group, walk around the barracks posing with / wearing your "Green Beret". Making sure it is fitted properly.
__________________
I do not regret a day I spent in uniform—I’m immensely proud of my service. If I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned what a truly remarkable thing it is to be a combat veteran. Now I want to live an exceptional life for those who never made it home.
csquare is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2009, 14:00   #14
7624U
Quiet Professional
 
7624U's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 1,461
Quote:
Originally Posted by csquare View Post
Or while in training group, walk around the barracks posing with / wearing your "Green Beret". Making sure it is fitted properly.
He is this kind of guy right ?

Q: Where did you hear about Special Forces ?
A: TV.

Q: What do you think Special Forces does ?
A: They help people.

Q: What do you offer Special Forces?
A: Pause -------------- MYSELF !
7624U is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-04-2009, 15:36   #15
arumor_ofwar
Asset
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Savannah, GA
Posts: 0
SF tab?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Sergeant View Post
One very cool idea is to get a Special Forces tattoo "before" you go to the Q-Course and show it off to all your friends and to the SF cadre when you arrive.


Team Sergeant
I wish id known that useful piece of information prior to SERE school...i felt completely left out when my buddies with 75th Batt tattoo's received more one on one time training that i did
arumor_ofwar is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:02.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies