This is a long article, but I think worth the read. The writer lays out some pretty good information and describes how and why you can't just snap your fingers and increase the size of Special Forces and Special Operations. While he says he went to the Q course, he never states or alludes to graduating. A google search revealed no evidence of any such claims, only that he reached the rank of Sergeant.
The Democrats' Special Forces Fetish
A fatuous promise to "double the size" of our elite military units.
by Michael Fumento
03/05/2007, Volume 012, Issue 24
It was one bullet point in the plan for the Pelosi Congress's "first 100 hours," two sentences in the Democrats' 31-page "New Direction for America" document released last June: In order to "Defeat terrorists and stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, we will . . . . Double the size of our Special Forces" (emphasis added).
Sounds nifty, doesn't it, like a bumper sticker reading "Outlaw War Now!"? And, indeed, top-notch warriors play an invaluable role in any war but are most useful in the sorts of guerrilla actions and antiterrorist activity that will probably dominate the military's missions for the next generation. There are just two problems. First, doubling can only be accomplished by going a disastrous route--making special ops no longer special. Second, false solutions crowd out real ones. Much can be done to improve the quality of our armed forces, but this Democratic proposal doesn't make the grade.
Just as it's disturbing that in 31 pages the Democrats couldn't devote a single line to how they plan to achieve their lofty goal, it's unsettling that they can't get their definitions right. "Special Forces," properly speaking, refers to U.S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets. But, as Drew Hammill in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office confirmed to me, what the Democrats want to double is the much broader group of "Special Operations Forces"--SOF in military shorthand, or just "special ops."
Further, just as they don't seem to know what special ops are, it's doubtful the concocters of this soundbite
know what goes into creating such troops or what a doubling would entail. But in consulting with special ops leaders, trainers, and members--indeed, by merely looking at the numbers--it quickly becomes clear that this "plan" is pie in the sky.
remainder of the article here:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Conten...3/330frnuq.asp