Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [126]
“When they finish with Max Gain,” First Sergeant Blowers tells me, “we feel they can communicate to standard—anytime, anywhere. During the course of twelve days in the field, they’ll be hot, cold, attacked by bugs, and get rained on. That’s what we want; they still have to communicate. Commo is very important in the operations of a deployed Special Forces detachment. This is why we put them out there and have them do it again and again and again. It’s our responsibility and their mission to see that they can make commo anytime and under any conditions. We also want them moving around in the woods under a load. It gets them thinking about Phase IV, where they’ll move under this much gear or more, and they will be walking a lot farther.”
“How about class attrition?” I ask him.
“Our job is to get these guys through this, and by and large we do. If they’re having problems, we come in and work with them at night or on the weekends. We lost two from this class. One was for a family problem, and he’ll probably be back. The other was a guy who for some reason just couldn’t handle the technical material. Hard as we tried, we just couldn’t get through to him. It’s like that sometimes, but we try to get them all through here and on to Phase IV.”
“Never been in the field that long,” David Altman says of Max Gain. “But I learned a lot, and I’m ready to communicate in Phase IV. I also learned that I’m going to have to build a better ruck to see if I can shed a few pounds. We carry a lot of gear.”
“This was a challenging course,” Justin Keller reflects. “I was a little beat up from Phase II, so the classroom time at the beginning allowed me to heal up. I know we have a ways to go, but I’m starting to think about duty with an ODA team. The 18 Echo is in the middle of everything, and I can’t wait to do my job on deployment as a communications sergeant.”
“But first there’s Phase IV.”
“Oh, right, Phase IV. I’m looking forward to that as well.”
At the end of Phase III, the 18 Bravos, Charlies, and Echos join their officers, the 18 Alphas, for a return to Camp Mackall and Phase IV. By now, most of them, to one degree or another, know each other. They are joined by a contingency of 18 Deltas who began their combat medic training over a year ago. Ahead for these soldiers is a crash course in unconventional warfare and the storied Robin Sage exercise.
TEAM LEADER. Captain Miguel Santos confers with his team in the field during one of the Phase III tactical drills.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE DETACHMENT COMMANDER
Following the battalion commander’s and battalion command sergeant major’s briefing to the Phase III gathering, the class officers make their way to the Alpha Company area at Aaron Bank Hall. There they meet in a classroom with Major Jim Brooks, who commands Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group. Brooks came to the training group from Iraq, where he served with the Free Iraqi Forces in Nasariyah. Brooks is a quiet, understated man whose soft demeanor belies his reputation as a top Special Forces professional. He lays out the administrative, academic, and professional requirements of the course.
“I don’t have to tell you gentlemen just how important the next three months in your Special Forces career are. What you learn here will determine your success as a detachment commander. We’ll throw a lot of information at you—so much you might feel smothered at times. Work through it. This is information you will take with you to war.”
Major Brooks then introduces his company operations warrant officer, Chief Warrant Officer Frank Bonner. In contrast to his company commander, Bonner is animated and direct.
“Good morning and welcome to the 18 Alpha curriculum. Let me echo what the major said; the next three months are going to be challenging and important.