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**The Reaper** · 04-30-2008, 12:58

I guess I will be the odd man out here.

This is not the Army, or the SF, of 30 years ago.

My opinion, based on 20 years in SF and 4 years sitting in on SFAS, Phase II and Robin Sage boards is that you need to be a good soldier in order to be a good SF soldier.

If you are the sort of anti-social, sociopathic person who consistently defies authority, ignores the rules, breaks laws, can't tell right from wrong, and who has little regard for other people and their property, I do not want to serve with you.

People who come to SF to get away with misconduct, to grow their hair long, or to dress differently are not normally good SF soldiers, and tend to be disciplinary distractors.

I saw gang bangers trying to get into SF, and I always recommended against them, unless they had a pattern of good military service for at least one enlistment.

There were serious alcoholics, substance abusers, perpetrators of domestic violence, and child abusers trying to get into as well. Anyone who has been in leadership positions knows how corrosive this behavior can become, and how much fun these soldiers are to have on our teams or in our units. We have to be pretty desperate to take a chance on the long shot that these people can shake off their problems, straighten themselves out, and become good SF soldiers. FWIW, the psychs tended to agree with me.

I could understand giving someone who made a single mistake an exception to policy to come into the service (note that I did not say directly into SF). I would not say the same for people with a pattern of misconduct, or those who demonstrate a lack of integrity.

Just my .02, YMMV.

TR

04-30-2008, 12:58	#4
The Reaper Quiet Professional Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Free Pineland Posts: 24,825	I guess I will be the odd man out here. This is not the Army, or the SF, of 30 years ago. My opinion, based on 20 years in SF and 4 years sitting in on SFAS, Phase II and Robin Sage boards is that you need to be a good soldier in order to be a good SF soldier. If you are the sort of anti-social, sociopathic person who consistently defies authority, ignores the rules, breaks laws, can't tell right from wrong, and who has little regard for other people and their property, I do not want to serve with you. People who come to SF to get away with misconduct, to grow their hair long, or to dress differently are not normally good SF soldiers, and tend to be disciplinary distractors. I saw gang bangers trying to get into SF, and I always recommended against them, unless they had a pattern of good military service for at least one enlistment. There were serious alcoholics, substance abusers, perpetrators of domestic violence, and child abusers trying to get into as well. Anyone who has been in leadership positions knows how corrosive this behavior can become, and how much fun these soldiers are to have on our teams or in our units. We have to be pretty desperate to take a chance on the long shot that these people can shake off their problems, straighten themselves out, and become good SF soldiers. FWIW, the psychs tended to agree with me. I could understand giving someone who made a single mistake an exception to policy to come into the service (note that I did not say directly into SF). I would not say the same for people with a pattern of misconduct, or those who demonstrate a lack of integrity. Just my .02, YMMV. 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
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