Posers be Dammed!
 

Two sides of the coin.

Incident Number one
While sitting at a café in Central VA with my family a man stands up and says how his bones are aching, loud enough fro everyone to hear. I make eye contact and he continues ‘Fell out of my tree stand, but being a good paratrooper, I put my feet and knees together”… Blah, blah, blah you get the point.

Well being an avid deer hunter I decide to further the conversation so I ask about his time with the military and he goes on to chronicle a list of assignments that would make most soldiers green with envy. He caps it off with “then I finished out with 5th GP.” Great now you really have my attention. I am feeling the love- this SF brother now have common ground and I envision that he and I are going to be putting up Tree Stands soon. He might even give me the keys to the back 40 on his farm for exclusive hunting rights- I fantasize.

So I start to ask all the right questions. Which BN? What years? Who was your SGM? I get the following answers- “I need a moment- I lost my composer- The pain”, “That was a long time ago.”, and Pure silence. Well he pays his tab leaves and I look across the table at my wife who rolls her eyes, says “Poser” and then begs me to drop it so it doesn’t ruin out afternoon.

Incident Number two.
On our way to the Inaugural Presidential Commander in Chief Ball we were riding the Metro (Necessary Evil when trying to get into a city that has all of its streets blocked for security). My wife and I are transferring to the Red line and I am uncomfortable as hell. I hate Dress blues to Begin with and being in Public like that just doesn’t sit right with me. In any case there we where feeling like thousands of eyes are on me and feeling a little self conscious when I notice a small little guy wearing and old Khaki jacket with a SF unit patch sewn on it. I decide to let it go.

After a few minutes the train arrives and we get on- with the little guy I had just noticed a few minutes before. Now he notices me. The first thing he does is extend his hand and asks “What group where you in?” I tell him and then he lists his units and assignments and Tours of Duty including SOG. We chat for a while and share some well wishes in the midst of all the party goers and commuters. AS his stop approaches he invites me to join the SF association local Chapter- Chapter 11, shakes hands with me one more time, and departs.

My wife looks at me and asks “Do you feel better? That makes up for the other day.”

Man I hate posers. You can tell them in a second. Do the right thing all the time because if you don’t you look like a Fool like number one did, and because there maybe a quite humble warriors amongst us- watching.

I am new to this site and am a little nervous about posting. I am a three time No-Go from SFAS (class 07-03, 02-04 and 07-04) but I intend to go back as soon as the Cadre forget my name. I have seen many SF Posers both in my hometown and around my duty stations. I used to not think much of it until I came face to face with the challenges of Phase 1. Now, granted, that's JUST Phase One, but I figure anyone who can get through that beast without getting eaten by the drawmonster or assesing themselves out and STILL have the intestinal fortitude to carry on and complete the other Phases has the right to stand talll WITHOUT worrying about posers trying to stand tall with him. Ya'll are a special breed and posers be damned for trying to take that without going through it themselves. I now go back to being quiet and watching and learning.

DB:

Thanks for the kind words.

I hate to tell you this, but after three tries, you will need a waiver.

The cadre will also never forget your name, because every SFAS record of every student is kept there for your return, and a database has all of the classes you have attended.

If you get another shot, you better be ready, because odds are they will not want to see you a fifth time and you will be NTRed, if you are not already.

PM me if you have any questions.

Your plan to be quiet, watch and learn is a good one.

Gents, every month (every day, lately), I see posts or get PMs from some heroes who have failed to read the stickies and are planning their SF career 10-20 years out, or what they are going to do after they complete ROTC and become the Army Chief of Staff.

As you can see here, this is not an easy road, attrition in the past four years from SFAS has run from a high of 77% to as little as 20% for one very special class. Odds are better than even that any particular individual will not make it through Selection.

Quit asking if you can go to Ranger, or CDCQ, or MFF schools. Schools are for you to learn a skill that you need to do your job, not for you to collect shiny badges to impress your friends. If you need a school, the Army will send you to it. Only exceptions are for courses like SFAS, and when slots are left over from the people who need it. Most of the best SF guys wear a uniform with few, if any badges affixed. They let their performance and reputation speak for them. They need no badges to impress others.

Stop assuming that you are going to be an SF Soldier just because you signed an 18X contract or are going to graduate from ROTC. A lot of plans fail, and a lot of thngs happen in a few years to change the goals that you have. Set out to complete the course or be carried out of it, never lose sight of your goals and quit, but have another plan for what you want to do, and quit asking or telling people what you are going to do before, during, or after SF. You need to focus on the 25 meter target, be that ROTC, High School, Basic, or SFAS.

A fast run time or a good bench press does not equal success at SFAS or in the SFQC. We are looking for the total package, the "whole man". Intelligence, physical fitness, and the right attitude are all equally important. All of the bluster and bragging in the world will not move you one meter closer to the next point when you are out in those woods for days on end with the big green tick on your back, feet that are killing you, and miles to go before you rest.

All you can do is to prepare yourself as best you can, be quiet, watch, and learn, and roll the dice by giving it your best effort along with everyone else. The soldiers who make it do that. IMHO, those who talk the most, generally do the least.

Good luck.

TR

Reaper,

Very inspiring advice. Thank you.

--Aric

drawbreaker..... TR is dead on as usual. I went through SFTG in 1969. Stuff changes, ONE thing that doesn't change is what the cadre is after, what the training, the qualifications are all about. I was fortunate at that time where all my insrtructors had several years combat experience. I remember just running the obstacle course in august.....hot....humid. At the time, we were the second class to run it, the first to run it after completely finished at that time. They lifted and wrote a number under our top left fatigue pocket flap. Explanation being....... you'll be lucky to remember your name, let alone a number. Turned out to be kinda true, as I watched guys given saline injections and put in the meat wagons. Out on that course, I helped a guy on one of obstacles ( we called it the tables). This guy looked like he had been born in Gold's Gym, then there was me, 6'4 155 skinny guy. He freaked on the obstacle. I helped him part way up and he got through, knowing we were also being timed.
If you mentioned why you are going back for the 4th time, having to leave after the other attempts, I missed it. Injuries?... Mental attitude? At any rate, if you need to keep trying.... and it isn't the mental thing, that is commendable.
I'll add my Good Luck as well

TR,

Injuries. Getting too confident and trying to go too fast is what happened. I forgot the golden rule: Paitience is Everything. I have reclassed into 11B w/Airborne follow on to get some line experience and more maturity. I sincerly hope to go back in two years and that is what I'm working for. (Two years is the timeline I figured out for personal and professional growth.) In the menatime, I plan to learn from this site, and keep my mouth shut for the most part.

DB

DB:

I admire your spirit, good luck.

Take what TR said to heart.

Roger, and thank you Sir.

Good luck, DB.

Three things...
 

1. Posers come in many forms - some that wish and want to be us, and others that are us. Those that wish - we can identify rather quickly and blow off. My issue is with the ones that have the tab and not only "enhance" what they thought they might have done - but bring it to the point of stupidy.

2. You have a good wife.

3. You must have looked ravishing in your blues...


----------------

Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know the leader.

Aurthur. W. Newcomb

Even after more than two decades of being around them SF soldiers still have the ability to ability to reply to a question that makes me want to stand up, applaud, and call "Good Answer! Good Answer!"


"When all is said and done it's what's done that counts." a 7th SFG(A) CWO-4

"Quit asking if you can go to Ranger, or CDCQ, or MFF schools. Schools are for you to learn a skill that you need to do your job, not for you to collect shiny badges to impress your friends. If you need a school, the Army will send you to it. Only exceptions are for courses like SFAS, and when slots are left over from the people who need it. Most of the best SF guys wear a uniform with few, if any badges affixed. They let their performance and reputation speak for them. They need no badges to impress others."

Originally posted by The Reaper.

I just want to add on here for those of you who are joining right now. (Please delete if it's not my place.) Most combat arms MOS's are going to newly structured UA's (Unit's of Action). They have NO time or patience to be handling 4187's for schools and such. You might be able to get Ranger (11B or 19D) but that is a very small percentage. As always, it depends on the Unit. I'm in the first Unit of Action to be deployed so we have an inordinate amount of attention to making sure every Soldier is present and not away without cause. I.E. MFF, Pathfinder, Sniper, etc... Those that need to go or qualify are told so, as TR stated. Put it this way, UA's are trying to formulate under an entirely new structure and are trying to get the schooling in that they are required from higher for their Soldiers. Most of this is in house and they want to make sure they get this done before even considering a 4187. That comes from higher so don't expect to get around that.

Keep this in mind, those that are going to enter service to try "as soon as you get in".

Hope that was helpful.

Ian

young man, I respect you for having the balls to try out three times.

good luck with your fourth.

I agree. May get some flack for this, but putting the physical aside, it's about your mentality. Crap, now I entered something more than I can type. As far as waivers and all, I know TR gave ya that info. But what happened in those last 3 attempts? You mentioned injuries and "getting to fast" whatever that means. Of the 3 attempts, how many were injury and "getting to fast"?

The first try was a med drop. They said I fell out with a high core temp. I really don't remeber much. The second time I broke my ankle getting lost in Hoffman. It was the third night and the docs said it wasnt bad enough for a med drop, but because land nav was over, and I had been picked up off the course I had to sign a VW statment. On the third attempt, I was in the top percentile I'm pretty sure (except for Nasty Nick), was a hut leader, posted high run times, high ruck times etc. I was doing pretty well up until the last night of the star. It was wet, I was tired and not paying attention. I went up a draw on my feet and came down on my neck. (I feel like a real puss typing this now by the way). The Cadre talked to me afterwards and told me to reapply in six months to a year.
The endsate of the matter is this; It was concentrating on the tab and beret too much and not paying enough attention to what I was actually doing. Stupid, rookie mistakes and not enough concentration is why I didn't make it. Going too fast, thinking I knew it all because I had "Been there before". Dumb Mistakes. I truly hope to gain the experience and maturity in the next few years so that I can go back and get it done. Until then, I'll just sit back and learn all I can from this site.