So...
To demonstrate my ability to admit when I am wrong - Kazh is correct - in his original post he did not make any direct statement that the "X-rays" he was referring to were cadre.
-I misunderstood his post; I assumed he was referring to Cadre that had “came up” in the 18-Xray program.
-I apologize for the misunderstanding.
-I was wrong
Actually - I'm sad to see Kazh go so soon – it's always better to get through to someone before they dig too deep a hole. Having a disgruntled troop running around with a chip on their shoulder only hurts SF recruiting efforts. It hurts SF recruiting because people like him are the ones that go back to their units and speak ill of “xrays” – now that a few of us 'washed–up-has-beens' posted thread content that triggered his early exfil from the site, I’m sure he has also spread the word that that old SF guys are as fucked up as the new SF guys - and that type of bad press is no good for anyone.
Moving on -
“Don’t piss off your fellow candidates” is not advice – for fuck sake – if anyone REALLY needs advice like that, then they are already facing a ‘0 balls-2 strikes-2 outs-down by one-bottom of the 9th" situation. Better advice would have been - be a team player no matter how much the other candidates might piss you off.
Again, after carefully rereading all of his posts, Kazh was not being critical of the SFAS Cadre - I apologize for the misunderstanding - I was wrong…
He seemed to be blaming other students for his personal failure to get selected.
Of course, I could be wrong about that too - if so, I double apologize for not being able to figure out cryptic posts labeled as 'advice'
Now that I have made my apologies – I would like to offer some advice for anyone following this thread that is considering the pros and cons of a career in the US Army Special Forces…
Citing your fellow candidates as the obstacles to one’s own success is uncharted territory for me – so I missed the original intent of his post. Only Kazh really knows what happened during SFAS that soured his feelings for his teammates so badly, BUT if any of you REALLY REALLY believe that his advice has value and that the “xrays” are one of the obstacles that you must navigate to get selected…
PLEASE DONT GO TO SELECTION. WE DONT NEED ANY MORE OF YOU.
Kazh's comment that "Still just talking about selection not the Q or downrange" is absolutely demonstrative of missing the overall point of the hassle that us old washed up bastards have given him. There is no such thing as a discussion about SFAS that is not rooted in the health and welfare of an Operational A-Detachment engaged in combat. Even if you are having a discussion about SFAS – you are “really” discussing the care and feeding of an ODA in combat.
Throwing out the advice that you must negotiate people as an obstacle by suggesting that not pissing off other SFAS candidates that may or may not have an “18-19 year old ego” is just plain bullshit. The posted standard READILY disproves such a weakly constructed complaint…
You must meet the minimum age of 19 to initially apply but have turned 20 by the end of Infantry Training
In other words – there is no such thing as an 18-19 year old in SFAS. Reporting such a situation as “advice” is a lie. Liars are one of the groups that SFAS screens for.
In fact not so long ago the minimum age was 21 unless I am wrong again.
Lets – for argument sake – give the benefit of doubt and embrace the fact that a 20 year old 11B can in fact, have an 18-19 year old ego. It’s easy to believe that it is EQUALLY as simple to be an E4/MOS-15Q with an 18-19 year old ego. So, if you are worried about working with xrays during SFAS - stay away from SFAS. You WILL attend SFQC with the same xrays and YOU WILL serve on an ODA downrange with xrays.
The difference between my advice and the advice offered by Kazh is that I passed SFAS and SFQC on my first try - then I spent the next 26 years of my 30 years in the Army as a Special Forces Soldier. I have served in combat with “X-Rays” and have never had a reason to identify “the xrays” as an obstacle to my successful completion of any task.
Or – you could take the advice of a non-select that felt like he needed to remind me that “I finished selection boss”
Finishing SFAS is an admirable task – many show up and quit – congratulations for sticking it out.
Competing in the Olympics is also an admirable accomplishment – it is something very few human beings will EVER be able to do…
…but only the first 3 finishers get a medal - the rest are just relegated to the dustbin of history. In fact, some people refer to these world class athletes that didn’t get a medal as “losers” but I digress.
Finishing and getting selected are two different things. Please – if you want to pursue a career in Special Forces – keep that in mind. Finishing is not the goal of SFAS - getting selected is the goal. Understanding ambiguous Commanders Intent while performing a task is the difference between going on a mission and actually completing the mission. YOU own your performance and the people to your left and right depend on you – finishing 4th is something to be proud of but you still don’t get a medal. Instead of being worried about the ego’s of other candidates, I offer a few final bits of advice for aspiring SF guys...
1) I recommend that future SF troops get this "x-rays" concept out of your heads - forever. 18X is not a real MOS – it is a simply a method for tracking new recruits through the pipeline. The window for wailing in protest against the 18X program closed a long long time ago.
2) An “xray” is actually an MOS qualified Infantryman until they are awarded a permanent 18 series MOS. They are not homeless vagabonds floating in MOS purgatory.
3) A lot of them get EXTRA bullshit foisted upon them during infantry boot camp simply because they are going to SFAS after boot camp instead of staying in the infantry.
4) Learn to OWN your performance. The asymmetric battlefield is an odd place and no matter how fast you run or how heavy you lift – you will not find success if you cannot operate as part of a team.
5) Team Mates will normally forgive you when you fuck up if you are willing to “own it” – shifting blame and making excuses will only result in your ruck getting tossed into the hallway.
That is all
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Opinions stated in this post are solely those of the author, and in no way reflect the opinions or policies of The Department of Defense, The United States Army, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, The Screen Actors Guild, The Boy Scouts, The Good, The Bad, or The Ugly. These opinions are provided purely as overly sarcastic social commentary and are not meant to be used for mission planning or navigation.
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