Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - SF History "What-If"

NousDefionsDoc · 08-08-2004, 19:45

We, especially the foward deployed guys (I won't use the acronym), owe a lot to the SOT-D instructors that kept the school and the TTPs alive despite all the detractors. My Group CSM even told us in a meeting once, "There is no DA mission for SF." He was wrong, and he's gone. Thank you Toby.

I think a lot of what we consider to be negatives may actually prove to be positives if we look back objectively. What do I mean?

The fear and loathing that the rest of the Army showed for so many years banded us together like very few military organizations in history IMO. It has always been "us against them".

The constant attacks and attempts to get rid of us made us learn to adapt, improvise and overcome. Remember, "We have been forced to do so much with so little for so long for so many people we can now do everything with nothing forever for anybody." ? I truly believe this.

The people that were there truly believed in what we were doing and were there because they wanted to be. It wasn't "cool" to be SF a lot of times.

We learned to do many things very well in order to survive as an organization. UW, FID, DA, Strat Recon, ROTC, etc. There is nothing an A Team can't do given 6 weeks of preparation and the appropriate resources (or not).

Being disliked kept us from becoming liked and therefore 'appropriated'. I would rather do FID on my own than be a roadguard for somebody else's DA mission.

What Colonel Moroney said. I consider El Salvador to be one of those cases. Very little has been said about it but, there was an offensive in the capital once upon a time. There was a unit there made up in large part of former soldiers that had been wounded and now had been given "easier" duty. Their base was a rather craptastic facility located in a basin. The Gs infilled into the barrio above the base and used the gen pop for cover. One of the first mortar rounds hit the ASP. These troops, with their courage and the training provided by SF, not only held out, they assaulted the high ground several times over the course of several days. They didn't take the neighborhood back, they couldn't, they were all wounded and had very little ammo. But by God they didn't let those sons of bitches take their base either. A 7th Group Team managed to hold their own in a hotel in town at the same time, avoiding what could have been a tremendous international incident if they had been taken to the hills. And you can bet when the offensive failed, Gs all over Latin America were a little less enthusiastic about all out assaults. And before most of the damage was repaired, 7th Group assets were right back in there getting them ready for the next round. I have a very nice dirty old baseball cap in my closet with a code name handwritten in it from a Captain that died assaulting up those hills. I cherish it like very few of my personal possessions. Pairs of SF guys all over the country led and fought side by side with their little people to keep the country's critical points from being over run.

There is very little said about the SF contribution to bringing that communist ass clown Che down. But it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for a small group of men ready, willing and able to put the Bolivians, who they trained, into a position to be successful. And believe me, that was strategic.

I have heard stories told over and over of SF guys giving up strings or seats to save a HN soldiers. Of SF troops bolting from cover to save their indig.

There are countless stories like this from every Group all over the globe.

While I have the utmost respect for conventional soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, personally, I think its much easier to be hard when you are surrounded by your own kind, with modern weapons, with soldiers that will obey a command instantly than it is to be with 12 or even 6 Brothers, outnumbered 20 to1 by the "good guys", knowing that there won't be a medevac and trying to keep the local Kurd commander from laying waste to an Iraqi police patrol because, even though they raped and killed his daughter, they're on our side.

What's my point?

If they ain't SF, fook 'em.

But then, that's just me.

08-08-2004, 19:45	#13
NousDefionsDoc Quiet Professional Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: LA Posts: 1,653	We, especially the foward deployed guys (I won't use the acronym), owe a lot to the SOT-D instructors that kept the school and the TTPs alive despite all the detractors. My Group CSM even told us in a meeting once, "There is no DA mission for SF." He was wrong, and he's gone. Thank you Toby. I think a lot of what we consider to be negatives may actually prove to be positives if we look back objectively. What do I mean? The fear and loathing that the rest of the Army showed for so many years banded us together like very few military organizations in history IMO. It has always been "us against them". The constant attacks and attempts to get rid of us made us learn to adapt, improvise and overcome. Remember, "We have been forced to do so much with so little for so long for so many people we can now do everything with nothing forever for anybody." ? I truly believe this. The people that were there truly believed in what we were doing and were there because they wanted to be. It wasn't "cool" to be SF a lot of times. We learned to do many things very well in order to survive as an organization. UW, FID, DA, Strat Recon, ROTC, etc. There is nothing an A Team can't do given 6 weeks of preparation and the appropriate resources (or not). Being disliked kept us from becoming liked and therefore 'appropriated'. I would rather do FID on my own than be a roadguard for somebody else's DA mission. What Colonel Moroney said. I consider El Salvador to be one of those cases. Very little has been said about it but, there was an offensive in the capital once upon a time. There was a unit there made up in large part of former soldiers that had been wounded and now had been given "easier" duty. Their base was a rather craptastic facility located in a basin. The Gs infilled into the barrio above the base and used the gen pop for cover. One of the first mortar rounds hit the ASP. These troops, with their courage and the training provided by SF, not only held out, they assaulted the high ground several times over the course of several days. They didn't take the neighborhood back, they couldn't, they were all wounded and had very little ammo. But by God they didn't let those sons of bitches take their base either. A 7th Group Team managed to hold their own in a hotel in town at the same time, avoiding what could have been a tremendous international incident if they had been taken to the hills. And you can bet when the offensive failed, Gs all over Latin America were a little less enthusiastic about all out assaults. And before most of the damage was repaired, 7th Group assets were right back in there getting them ready for the next round. I have a very nice dirty old baseball cap in my closet with a code name handwritten in it from a Captain that died assaulting up those hills. I cherish it like very few of my personal possessions. Pairs of SF guys all over the country led and fought side by side with their little people to keep the country's critical points from being over run. There is very little said about the SF contribution to bringing that communist ass clown Che down. But it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for a small group of men ready, willing and able to put the Bolivians, who they trained, into a position to be successful. And believe me, that was strategic. I have heard stories told over and over of SF guys giving up strings or seats to save a HN soldiers. Of SF troops bolting from cover to save their indig. There are countless stories like this from every Group all over the globe. While I have the utmost respect for conventional soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, personally, I think its much easier to be hard when you are surrounded by your own kind, with modern weapons, with soldiers that will obey a command instantly than it is to be with 12 or even 6 Brothers, outnumbered 20 to1 by the "good guys", knowing that there won't be a medevac and trying to keep the local Kurd commander from laying waste to an Iraqi police patrol because, even though they raped and killed his daughter, they're on our side. What's my point? If they ain't SF, fook 'em. But then, that's just me. __________________ Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home. He knows only The Cause. Still want to quit?
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