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Old 11-07-2017, 10:06   #31
Astronomy
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Probably. My first SF assignment was to 1-10 and, at the time I arrived (1980), they hadn't seen a live SF E-5 in quite awhile. So long that I got treated like a new puppy found under a Christmas tree. Had an E-4 "S" qualified guy showed up, they'd have probably taken turns feeding him.

At that time, 1-10 teams were full of senior guys. Teams chock full of deeply experienced Vietnam era SF E-7s. Guys from all the Groups. Guys who knew how to schmooze choice assignment to Bavaria through Mrs. Palmer.

Meanwhile, most of my graduating SFQC class were filling billets at Bragg. With the exception of myself and another E-5 who went down to Panama, every junior Ranger tabbed NCO in my class went straight to SWC after graduation. Drafted as cadre instructors before they ever saw their first ODA. If you had just come from a Ranger Batt or other Airborne Infantry unit, you went to Phase I or Phase II. Even if you were only an E-5. The schoolhouse cadre bench at that time was not very deep.

That was 1980. Three AD Groups. SF was short of experienced mid grade NCOs on teams and enjoyed little support or patronage from DA. The late 70's were a time of existential crisis for Army Special Forces. There were powers on-high that wanted the organization to disappear forever.

Half the folks you'd meet in the Army were absolutely sure that SF had been disbanded after Vietnam. Or didn't know that we existed.

During the early Reagan Era, that began to change, and lots of newly minted E-5s & E-6s started getting pumped onto teams. Especially as we became our own branch & filled the new Groups (1st & 3rd).

Last edited by Astronomy; 11-07-2017 at 13:58.
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Old 11-07-2017, 20:41   #32
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Well, we used to pin the rank on before the actual promotion. So there were some E-4's on our teams.



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In A-1/7 we had a bunch. I wore mosquito wings on a team.
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Old 11-07-2017, 21:17   #33
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I was an E-4 upon SFQC graduation.

Did you have a break in service after your first enlistment? Just curious.
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Old 11-12-2017, 12:03   #34
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Did you have a break in service after your first enlistment? Just curious.
Yes I did. Spent three years in the 1-505 ABN INF, got out for two years and came back in. After a two year break was in Phase One less than three days after arriving on Ft. Bragg.

Jan, 1983, I re-enlisted.
SFQC SGM told me that I'd be in the "next class" that I think started in Feb or March, 1983. He told me I'd be in PT for the next month to get ready. I told him I could do 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and then run a sub five minute mile. I was ready. He smiled and said "If you can in process in 3 days I will get you into the next class."

After a two year break I was in Phase One three days later. (Easily proven by my records.)
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Old 11-12-2017, 12:43   #35
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Yes I did. Spent three years in the 1-505 ABN INF, got out for two years and came back in. After a two year break was in Phase One less than three days after arriving on Ft. Bragg.

Jan, 1983, I re-enlisted.
SFQC SGM told me that I'd be in the "next class" that I think started in Feb or March, 1983. He told me I'd be in PT for the next month to get ready. I told him I could do 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and then run a sub five minute mile. I was ready. He smiled and said "If you can in process in 3 days I will get you into the next class."

After a two year break I was in Phase One three days later. (Easily proven by my records.)
Such a show off

People that were set on what they wanted and prepared succeed.
Wonder how these new troops would do without people feeding every step of the process to them.

Good job TS. You knew what you wanted and were ready to learn what they taught.

Last edited by SF_BHT; 11-12-2017 at 12:46.
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Old 11-12-2017, 15:07   #36
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Yes I did. Spent three years in the 1-505 ABN INF, got out for two years and came back in. After a two year break was in Phase One less than three days after arriving on Ft. Bragg.

Jan, 1983, I re-enlisted.
SFQC SGM told me that I'd be in the "next class" that I think started in Feb or March, 1983. He told me I'd be in PT for the next month to get ready. I told him I could do 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and then run a sub five minute mile. I was ready. He smiled and said "If you can in process in 3 days I will get you into the next class."

After a two year break I was in Phase One three days later. (Easily proven by my records.)
I always meant to ask TS, what did you get up to on your 2 year sabbatical?

S
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Old 11-12-2017, 15:47   #37
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I cut steel in a factory, worked out, ran, dated women, ran some more, dated more, kick-boxed and ran even more. Trained with the city SWAT team for fun and taught them advanced rifle marksmanship. (I was already a SF trained sniper.) Used to go on ride-alongs’ all the time with the SWAT SGT.

Pissed off the union where I worked by not joining and busting the union required work quota’s. If the union said you could only cut twenty-five pieces an hour, I’d cut forty-five pieces an hour. Did that every day. Had my work checked once a week by a union idiot to ensure I was not cutting corners or doing crappy work.
Seriously pissed them off to the point they threatened me, big mistake.

Was a very amusing time. Made great money but work sucked. Wanted to be back outside. Also missed the camaraderie of the infantry. The only “friends” I had working at the factory were the vets. They all said they wished they could do it again, go back into the military but all had families to support and made great money doing factory work.

I then met a former Special Forces soldier and had a long chat with him. Made up my mind right there I was going back in…… actually had to cross state lines to find a recruiter that had not filled his quota for prior service recruits…… signed up and the rest was history.
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Old 11-12-2017, 20:29   #38
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I'd say it sounds like you had as much fun out of the Army as you did in, but we all know that isn't close to accurate.

Thanks for sharing TS.

S
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Old 11-13-2017, 18:26   #39
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Pissed off the union where I worked by not joining and busting the union required work quota’s. If the union said you could only cut twenty-five pieces an hour, I’d cut forty-five pieces an hour. Did that every day. Had my work checked once a week by a union idiot to ensure I was not cutting corners or doing crappy work.
Seriously pissed them off to the point they threatened me, big mistake.
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Hmmm. Don't like to play with others. Check
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Old 11-13-2017, 19:40   #40
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In 1970, SF started the practice of automatically promoting to E-5 upon graduation. Problem was, us guys who had graduated in the previous few months weren't grandfathered in, so there were a bunch of pissed off E-4's for about a year since there were no E-5 slots opening up now.
So Pete, it sounds like between 70 and 74, SF changed again? Wow.
I was graduated in August of '69 as an Spec. E-4(Commo). Starting with the very next class(Sept.?, Oct.?), all SFQC grads were automatically promoted to E-5. I was one of those pissed off E-4's. They realized the error of their ways ~a year later, and there were a whole bunch of E-4's promoted at the same time. All our promotion orders were backdated to the date of our SFQC graduation. No back pay though.

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Old 12-05-2017, 18:11   #41
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I’m a QP but went through SFQC a long time ago and was medically discharged in 1993, so I’m seriously out of the loop now. So hopefully I’m not too far off base asking this one here.

In a comment on military dot com someone posted that everyone wearing the long tab was an E-6 or higher. That sounds odd to me so I thought that I’d ask it here. At the point when a candidate graduates SFQC are they promoted to a certain pay grade? What is the lowest rank that someone can be at the point in their career that they’re awarded the long tab?
What in the world is a "long tab?" When is it awarded?

I read it on many posts and is something I should know, but I don't. Inquiring minds want to know.
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Old 12-05-2017, 18:40   #42
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What in the world is a "long tab?"
Kapish??
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Old 12-05-2017, 19:05   #43
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Now Chucko, do push-ups...
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Old 12-05-2017, 21:06   #44
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Kapish??
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Now Chucko, do push-ups...
That's a big 10-4. Thanks. I never heard that until on this site but is worth a hundred pushups....maybe tomorrow.
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