04-29-2007, 19:11
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#1
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Moore County, NC
Posts: 96
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Observations from Phase III SFQC
Here are some of my observations after my first month as the CSM for 4/1 SWTG(A).
1. We are selecting the right guys.....period!
2. The 18X's are highly motivated and willing to learn...just lacking some basic Army skills, but they are doing GREAT!!!!!!
3. The 18B course is the toughest MOS to pass...I don't train the 18D's but I believe their 1st time GO rate is higher than an 18B.
4. The 18C's learn some very cool stuff..."P" for plenty still applies but these guys can build some stuff! BUT...BUT...if you detonate your charge BEFORE the instructor tells you to...well, you will find out how tough it is to become an 18B! The 18C course will be history to you.
5. The 18E's still do things that don't make any sense to me. The 18E's are under-appreciated and sometimes commo ain't sexy, but when you need them, those guys are like Platinum.
The cadre are dedicated and spend untold numbers of hours training these young men to become their team mates some day. They are very serious about their jobs and I'm amazed at the work ethic and concern for their students' training.
The civilian instructors are also amazing. We couldn't do this without them. I have the pleasure of now being the CSM to my old CSM..Henry Ramirez. Henry, Earnie Tabata, Pappy, and all the rest of these old Soldiers are the link to our past, and yet still, they shape our future. SWC is fortunate to have them.
Overall I would say that my first month has been a very educational one. For all of you who wonder where the future of our Regiment is going...well, I can say it's going in the right direction. We can all feel safe in our beds at night...there are still men out there willing to step up and be the best. We owe these guys nothing but our best because someday, they will return the favor to us!
Daver sends.....
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Daver is offline
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04-29-2007, 19:13
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
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CSM:
Thanks for the update. Keep up the great work!
TR
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"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
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The Reaper is offline
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04-29-2007, 19:36
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Vermont
Posts: 3,093
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CSM, thanks for the post. I can appreciate your job and value your observations. Makes an old guy feel pretty good.
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Jack Moroney (RIP) is offline
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04-29-2007, 20:06
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#4
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DFW Texas Area
Posts: 4,741
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This is VERY refreshing news!!!
Thank You CSM!! Keep up the good work!!
Take care.
Martin
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Martin sends.
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Ambush Master is offline
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04-29-2007, 20:22
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Quote:
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3. The 18B course is the toughest MOS to pass...I don't train the 18D's but I believe their 1st time GO rate is higher than an 18B.
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Uh...Sergeant Major...blasphe...heres...uh...wron...pre-selected....uh. 
Thanks for the feedback. Numbah one is great news.
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Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-29-2007, 20:27
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#6
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,780
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Daver
3. The 18B course is the toughest MOS to pass...I don't train the 18D's but I believe their 1st time GO rate is higher than an 18B.
Daver sends.....
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Since NDD brought it up, maybe it is more of a reflection on the intellect of the students than the difficulty of the course. 
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
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The Reaper is offline
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04-29-2007, 20:29
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: sharq-el-ouset
Posts: 498
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Quote:
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5. The 18E's still do things that don't make any sense to me. The 18E's are under-appreciated and sometimes commo ain't sexy, but when you need them, those guys are like Platinum.
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Sometimes things don't make sense to us either, but thanks for the compliment SGM.
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bubba is offline
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04-30-2007, 09:32
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#8
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Great post and great news! Thanks for keeping us in the loop CSM!
TS
(If I had but one wish that would be to do it all over again. )
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Team Sergeant is offline
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04-30-2007, 10:44
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: South Georiga
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CSM, nice to know things are going well. Nicer to know that someone cares enough to share the news with the new and old folks.
Thanks,
Jim
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Breaking a law or violation of a regulation is not a mistake. It is willful misconduct.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." [Samuel Adams]
Jim
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incommin is offline
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04-30-2007, 15:38
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#10
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Moore County, NC
Posts: 96
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New view of students
The great thing about being the CSM here is that I am seeing the guys I selected who are now going through the SFQC. I recognize many of them and these young men are doing very well. They are getting more confident and competent every day and my hope is that when they become Green Berets down on a team, the team sergeant will continue to keep them pointed straight. We need to look at these young Soldiers as the future leaders of our Regiment. They aren't always going to be 18X's, 18B's, and so on. They will be MSG's, SGM's, and CSM's eventually. We owe them the leadership and motivation so that when time comes, they will raise their hands again and "Defend The United States Against All Enemies, Foreign, and Domestic".
Daver.....
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Daver is offline
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04-30-2007, 21:31
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#11
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Well said Sergeant Major.
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-30-2007, 22:25
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Occupied Pineland
Posts: 4,701
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I'm glad to read an "up close and personal" professional assessment of the current SF Candidates. I'm very glad to read such a positive report. FWIW I'm part of the generation that included the first peacetime experiment with "SF Babies" and personally, I don't think we did as well as the kids (I use the term loosely and affectionately) today must just to meet the demands of the times.
Despite a few misgivings in the details, I think history will judge the 18X program a success. A lot of effort has gone into correcting some of the mistakes of the past; certainly into meeting the evolved requirements of the GWOT. The rigorous selection and training pipeline these guys are going through and the attempt/pass ratios speak for themselves.
Today's SF soldier leaves the "Q" Course better prepared to meet the challenges facing them than at any time in the past. Many go straight to combat deployments. They don't get the years of post detail, questionable exercises, unit training, and hanging out in the team room learning to "get along" that I and my peers had. Almost all of our "polish" came at the hands of team sergeants and/or the "tender mercies" of team mates. It showed in retention rates, discipline problems, and how well we integrated into the teams.
There will always be the ocassional problem child. The greater the pressure to make numbers and meet the needs of the force, the greater the odds of one "slipping through the cracks". This time I don't think they (the problem children) will define the program. As long as the community remembers that it's everybody's job to (attempt to) integrate the new guys, and mentor them when required, the future is assured - and from here it looks pretty good.
(Now if we can just get leadership to focus on UW and winning the current mess.  ) Peregrino
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Peregrino is offline
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04-30-2007, 22:37
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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I have to say, from everything I've heard the Q Course is right.
On another note, I would be careful about comments regarding the Bravo course being more difficult than the Delta course. That kind of thing has been known to result in massive numbers of shot records "lost" in some type of catastrophic tragedy...
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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05-01-2007, 09:16
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#14
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Gun Pilot
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Iowa and New Mexico
Posts: 2,143
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Daver
The great thing about being the CSM here is that I am seeing the guys I selected who are now going through the SFQC. I recognize many of them and these young men are doing very well. They are getting more confident and competent every day and my hope is that when they become Green Berets down on a team, the team sergeant will continue to keep them pointed straight. We need to look at these young Soldiers as the future leaders of our Regiment. They aren't always going to be 18X's, 18B's, and so on. They will be MSG's, SGM's, and CSM's eventually. We owe them the leadership and motivation so that when time comes, they will raise their hands again and "Defend The United States Against All Enemies, Foreign, and Domestic".
Daver.....
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DAMN WELL SAID!!
Thank you!
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B model gunship pilot 65-66 Soc Trang, Cobra Pilot 68-69-70 Can Tho Life member 101st Airborne Association
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CPTAUSRET is offline
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10-02-2007, 20:49
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#15
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Asset
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southwest Virginia
Posts: 4
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CSM.....I hope I'm not out of place speaking on this thread, but I wanted to express a "civies" point of view for a second. I was a DOD civilian police officer at AP Hill for the last few years until I medically retired last year. I must say, that I spent a LOT of my "patrol time" in the AO for your guys while they were completing the phase of training there, and the time I spent with the SF instructors and cadre, and the role players such as Pappy...was one of the greatest honors of my life. The cadre always treated me like family (one Capt. callsign "Meatchild" always offered his polish sausages off the campfire...lol) and took a lot of time to answer my questions about tactics, gear, etc. as if it were the only thing they had to do. I was medically prohibited from joining the military and chose a long and pretty happy career in law enforcement instead. Although I did not have much interaction with the candidates themselves, I can say that we NEVER...NEVER had an issue with any of them on base. Being a "professional observer" of sorts, I can speak of the quiet professionalism and respect that these young men exhibited while on base there and it was always a pleasure to see the convoy from the "Pines" pulling into the gate upon their arrival!!--John
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