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.....

CSM:

Thanks for the update. Keep up the great work!

TR

CSM, thanks for the post. I can appreciate your job and value your observations. Makes an old guy feel pretty good.

This is VERY refreshing news!!!

Thank You CSM!! Keep up the good work!!

Take care.
Martin

Uh...Sergeant Major...blasphe...heres...uh...wron...pre-selected....uh.;)

Thanks for the feedback. Numbah one is great news.

Since NDD brought it up, maybe it is more of a reflection on the intellect of the students than the difficulty of the course.:D

TR

Sometimes things don't make sense to us either, but thanks for the compliment SGM.

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.;) )

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

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.....

Well said Sergeant Major.

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. :p ) Peregrino

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...;)

DAMN WELL SAID!!

Thank you!

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