Old 07-13-2016, 17:41   #1
Bechorg
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SFPA Graduation Standard

On top of everything you'll have to do just to get through the course, looming at the end will be the SFPA:

New graduation standard: 5 miler under 40min, 66 sit-ups , around 62 push ups. Plus 8 pull-ups after the run. The 5 mile route is a ton of uphill plus it's actually 5.22 miles. 30 guys failed the last run they did for this. Oh, but you've got this, right?

SFPA is done every month plus a ruck or run with the cadre every week. Fail his standard and you get counseled. Enough counseling and you go to the relief board. If you have a bad packet, you may find yourself failing your PT test.

Will all that training you should have done come back to haunt you?
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Old 07-14-2016, 08:03   #2
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On top of everything you'll have to do just to get through the course, looming at the end will be the SFPA:

New graduation standard: 5 miler under 40min, 66 sit-ups , around 62 push ups. Plus 8 pull-ups after the run. The 5 mile route is a ton of uphill plus it's actually 5.22 miles. 30 guys failed the last run they did for this. Oh, but you've got this, right?

SFPA is done every month plus a ruck or run with the cadre every week. Fail his standard and you get counseled. Enough counseling and you go to the relief board. If you have a bad packet, you may find yourself failing your PT test.

Will all that training you should have done come back to haunt you?
Good to know it's easy enough to pass while severely hung over and with a broken leg.

Soon the "standard" will be showing up and breathing.
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Old 07-16-2016, 18:15   #3
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Good to know it's easy enough to pass while severely hung over and with a broken leg.

Soon the "standard" will be showing up and breathing.
Shut up.

Seriously, did you have to walk 5 miles to school, uphill, both ways when you were a kid? Did you have to kill a man in the Q course to get your beret?

This a single event designed to make sure people haven't fucked off the whole Q course. It's not replacing anything.

It exceeds the PT test requirements at Ranger School. If this standard was in place there, it would have an enormous increase in attrition rates.

Everything was always harder in the past, and the new generation EVERY generation is a collection of fuck ups who never had to fight the Apaches the way I did, with breech loaded muskets. The people who have gone through the "weak and watered down SFQC" in the past 20 years have spent years acquitting themselves all over the world and have killed and bled and died in places and in battles that people will be reading about for decades.

The people coming out of the Q course now are no worse off then your generation was. I remember in 2004 the pre-9/11 holdovers screaming to get out of SF and to somewhere safe like SWC, because we were supposed to be teachers, not leading the indig across the assault line into a hail of bullets.
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Old 07-16-2016, 18:40   #4
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Shut up.

Seriously, did you have to walk 5 miles to school, uphill, both ways when you were a kid? Did you have to kill a man in the Q course to get your beret?

This a single event designed to make sure people haven't fucked off the whole Q course. It's not replacing anything.

It exceeds the PT test requirements at Ranger School. If this standard was in place there, it would have an enormous increase in attrition rates.

Everything was always harder in the past, and the new generation EVERY generation is a collection of fuck ups who never had to fight the Apaches the way I did, with breech loaded muskets. The people who have gone through the "weak and watered down SFQC" in the past 20 years have spent years acquitting themselves all over the world and have killed and bled and died in places and in battles that people will be reading about for decades.

The people coming out of the Q course now are no worse off then your generation was. I remember in 2004 the pre-9/11 holdovers screaming to get out of SF and to somewhere safe like SWC, because we were supposed to be teachers, not leading the indig across the assault line into a hail of bullets.

Yeah, some things were harder in the past and some things now are much much easier, just ask the Ranger females.
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Old 07-17-2016, 09:50   #5
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At the risk of showing my age, can someone tell me what "SFPA" stands for?
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Old 07-17-2016, 11:29   #6
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I've been actively involved in SF since I showed up at SWCS in May of '78. I've watched standards yo-yo from one extreme to the other the entire time. High standards that make sense and have buy-in from all sides ensure the force receives quality troops. We all know what low standards produce and how long it takes to moderate the effects; I'm not wasting the time to elaborate. Arbitrary standards that don't make sense and lack buy-in damage morale and foster a "guardian of the badge" perception that attacks the ideals of professionalism we're supposed to be imparting on everyone (from the rawest SWCS student to the 3-star at USASOC) across our Regiment. If this new standard is to achieve its purpose, it must be tied to a requirement, sold as reasonable, applied impartially, and supported/maintained for sufficient duration that it becomes a part of the culture. To do otherwise guarantees it will be attacked as "a way to sabotage women attending SFQC" and promptly discarded as a subversive attempt to circumvent policy. Given that anything/everything we do to establish and enforce standards to ensure that we're "Special" instead of just "Good Enough" Forces is anathema to the social progressives demanding soccer trophies for everyone.

And for what it's worth - on the whole today's SF Soldier is the best trained, most lethal version I've been privileged to work with in the last 38 years. Not perfect and a little more narrowly focused that I would like but nonetheless they/you uphold the legacy with honor. As for the outliers - that's a leadership problem and solutions start in the team room. Some of the wisdom shared here and elsewhere gives excellent advice for those who recognize the requirement/responsibility for "fixing ourselves" and are willing to step up and lead.
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Old 07-17-2016, 12:51   #7
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At the risk of showing my age, can someone tell me what "SFPA" stands for?
Special Forces Psychological Assesment
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Old 07-17-2016, 13:14   #8
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Special Forces Psychological Assesment
Oh, thanks.
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Old 07-18-2016, 18:10   #9
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Is that the new name for a 2x4?
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Old 01-19-2017, 19:16   #10
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Yeah, some things were harder in the past and some things now are much much easier, just ask the Ranger females.
Q Course also used to be 6 months.

Talking to some of the Cadre when I went through, they said that the standard they WANTED to enforce was the UBRR, but the timing with opening up the field to females was feared to look overly suspect.

But, it's hearsay, for what it's worth.

Edited to add: Ruck weights went up to 55# dry at the same time standard. So dressed out with water is sitting right at 67# for 12 miles in 3 hours, if that makes you feel any better. Most guys agree with you that the standard could go up in some places.
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Last edited by Retread; 01-19-2017 at 19:22.
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Old 01-27-2017, 14:44   #11
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Training Standards:

BE GRATEFUL FOR A DIFFICULT STANDARD, Because "THE ENEMY IS THE FIRST TO NOTICE YOUR WEAKNESS AND THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE BECAUSE EVERYDAY WAS AN EASY DAY"

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