View Single Post
Old 10-17-2006, 13:18   #15
The Reaper
Quiet Professional
 
The Reaper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,823
Quote:
Originally Posted by tag0885
(opinion from an outsider) the SEALs have been able to recruit straight from the civilian world with success and without a drop in quality. I think we should take a page from their book and perhaps set up a prep program for the 18x contract, such as the SEAL's RDAC. It appears that this will be the Army's way of trying to fill their need, with a national prep program that is successful we will be able to better evaluate/prepare those coming in. There are good candidates out there, you just have to go get them. You guys could also bring back SOPC (i believe that was the name of it), which along with a prep program would seriously bolster the quality of candidates.
What I said above will help better prepare those already wanting to come to SF, the other step needed is to appeal to more people. The Army could spend more money advertising to get the SF name out there and into the heads of the people. (I have read stories of SEALs going to marathons and other extreme competitions to try and recruit)This will get SF more recognition, but as long as it is "The Army" promoting it, SF will easily be able to keep its "quiet professional" motto true to form. (which is another recruiting advantage point) Like I said, these are just opinions from someone not in the military. The problem is that all this requires money, it will show how badly the Army truly wants to have qualified SF soldiers downrange.
tag:

Not sure what your background is from the info in your profile.

The SEALs are looking for a different type of recruit, strong of back and totally dedicated to the mission. They do not really do UW or FID, or speak the required languages, so their needs are different from ours. We might find some very fit and smart 18 year olds, but we are not going to find very many mature people of that age.

You do not appear to understand the SF prep process. SOPC is not gone, it just changed names. Besides, the people with the dedication and maturity we want will prep themselves, they do not need someone to hold their hands and make them ruck long and hard. The sort of people that we want have generally tended to self-motivate and those who did not were not really the sort of people we were looking for. Those who would be influenced by a flashy ad campaign and not by the SF soldiers making the news are not the ones we want either.

It is not a lack of those who want the beret so much as it is a lack of those who are winning (and able) to pay the price of admission. If we took everybody, the tab wouldn't read "Special Forces", it would be "Average Forces".

Just a friendly heads up, you might do some more reading before jumping in with both feet.

Welcome aboard.

Rats, the Colonel beat me to the punch, as usual.

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
The Reaper is offline   Reply With Quote