016.jpgLets see. Ranger , S.F., Sapper, Sniper recon do, commando, tater fryer. If you drop back to the 1960’s there just were not that many who wanted the patch. Being less than 10 years since John F. Kennedy gave the Special Forces the Beret. S.F was very unconventional. Spooks training training was a big part of training. The Army did not care much about the S.F. there was a lot of professional jealously about the S.F. S.F. did not have a quartermaster to draw equipment from. Where did we get log. support. We saw three colors, white, gray, and black. My team had an Nuro Surgeon , a Highway Patrolman, we all civilian careers in addition to military. Where our money came from I don't know. But when we lost that source everyone in S.F. knew it. I waited for money to go to the Q. course, Path Finders school, HALO we didn't have the money. People that went to the schools came back and trained the ones that had not been to the schools. I never got S.F. qualified or a full Flash as we called S.F. qualifications. That did not keep me off of a TEAM, when I got busted up on a night jump MC1-1 into the middle of some mountains I was with my team and they roped me off of the mountain. I made a few jumps after that but just not toe the line in a high speed unit. That patch was on my shoulder when I crashed and burned. I have not had it on my shoulder since that time. We had one of our guys killed in training. Would you have ripped the patch off his arm? No I am not S.F qualified. I just got to hang around a bunch of guys that were, and I would not take anything in the world for that privilege. Enough said