[Five-O]

Col Moroney/ TR or other QP,

Gentlemen, going through the pipeline at 35+ is certainly not ideal. While in the pipeline, other than pure performance, is age taken into consideration in assessing an individual's suitablility for SF? Does the cadre look 4-5 years down the road? A guy 35 now is 40 in 5 years and is at least looking at the down hill regardless of his physical condition. Where as a 25 yr old has that much more time to spend on an ODA. (Do you keep making minor repairs on the old car that is running OK but nickle and diming you to death, or do you go out and get that new car???) Given the fact that SFAS and Q cadre assess the soldiers ability to function as both an individual and a team member do cadre take into consideration the fact that an older guy may not recover and may begin to break down sooner than a younger guy. In other words, when a guy gets selected and graduates the Q is that not a statement that he meets the minimum requirement and that cadre believes he has what it takes to be a contributing member of and ODA and not a burden due to age? Am I being to idealistic? I realize that older candidates and younger candidates are not mutually exclusive selections, just wondering if age is an element of the total picture.