Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [140]
On their way back to the notional embassy and before they conclude their site survey in the host nation, Toohey, Santos, and company negotiate several more role-play encounters that challenge their ability to think on their feet and their interpersonal skills. Those encounters are omitted here to preserve their training value for future 18 Alpha officer candidates. The site-survey team and the other members of 912 head back to their team room to begin working on the JCET backbrief for their battalion commander.
Nine-one-two works all afternoon and most of the night to prepare their JCET predeployment briefing, or briefback. A battalion commander from the 7th Special Forces Group is seated at the table in the briefing room at 0800 the following morning to receive their briefing. Captain Toohey and 912 push through their formatted briefing, with the battalion commander stopping them on occasion to ask a question. And as with most briefings, much of the learning comes from the post-briefback critique. The commander compliments the team on their planning, then flips through his notes and ticks off a number of items the team should consider or consider in more detail when planning a training mission to another country:
“Don’t forget that the host-nation commander has been fighting for a while. Listen to him. What does he say about his capability? What do battalion-size operations mean to him?”
“As you rehearse for the deployment, don’t forget teaching rehearsals; they’re very important. If you’re going to train at altitude, rehearse at altitude.”
“Verify ammo requirements on the ground—ensure you have what you need, who is providing it, and what are the arrangements for storing weapons and ammunition.”
“Alcohol. Know customs and have a plan. Some cultures are hard drinkers, like eastern Europeans, and some cultures don’t drink at all.”
“Be prepared to deal with the press. War-game out the hardball questions. They’re there to get the goods on you and to embarrass you. You have to protect yourself and the host-nation force.”
“Security; this is big issue. There are people out there who want to kill you and kidnap you. Game out your security plan. Is there a history of vehicular kidnapping of Americans? Can you carry a gun while you’re out in civilian clothes?”
“One of the main jobs of your predeployment site survey is to gauge embassy support and commitment for your mission. The same for the host nation.”
“You as a team leader have to understand the range and depth of their problems. Gear and procedures are different in Macedonia than in Africa or Afghanistan.”
“Every move you make has an effect on the local economy. Think about this as you contract for services.”
“You have to war-game the training and decide if you are going to conduct the training for the host-nation force or if you’re going to train the trainers—their senior training sergeants. The latter is usually better, as we can get them to do the job so we can go home. At all times, do what’s best for the men you have to train.”
“And always, always, always see to the safety of your men. Good luck to all of you.”
Following the foreign-internal-defense planning exercise and briefback, the men of 912 secure their FID training materials and prepare for a trip to Washington. Well before dawn the following day, the officers of Class 1-05 are on a bus bound for D.C. There they will receive classified briefings from the deputy director for special operations at the Pentagon, and representatives at the State Department, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
For the most part, these programs are designed to give these future detachment leaders some feel for the organization of these agencies and departments, how they communicate with the Defense Department, and how their overseas representatives and programs