Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [35]
“I don’t understand,” he says to one of his fellow students between gasps. “I told them I wanted to quit. I told them.”
“Yeah,” the other replies, “but you’re still here, aren’t you?”
After a short run, they return to the bridge. Only this time, Carter takes them into the stream. Most of the TACs and the company commander go in with the students. I keep to the bridge. The first sergeant halts them midstream and starts them on jumping jacks followed by toe touches. The water’s depth is about three and a half feet.
“Are there snakes in there?” I ask one of the TACs.
“Sir, this is August in North Carolina. You got water, you got snakes.”
Back at the assembly area, the class is put back in formation and First Sergeant Carter asks for a report. The assigned student squad leaders take roll and report to their student platoon leader. They report to the student class leader. It’s still confusion, but ordered confusion.
“First Sergeant, the class is formed. One hundred fifty-four men assigned, one hundred fifty-two men present.”
“Where’re your other two men?” Carter booms at him. Accountability is a big issue. “We’ve been at this for barely an hour and already you’ve lost two of my soldiers. You’re fired. You”—Carter points to one of the other rollbacks—“get up here. You’re now the class leader. Now get me a good muster.”
The student class leader, as well as the student platoon and squad leaders, are rotated often; the cadre wants to see as many students in leadership positions as possible. After another round of calisthenics at the assembly area, the class members straggle back to their barracks to change before heading off for morning chow. The new men are a little more than an hour into their training at Fort Bragg, and some are already questioning their suitability for this work. They’re comforted to some degree by the comments of their fellow students from the previous class. “The first day is like this,” they tell their new classmates. “It won’t get any worse. But then, it won’t get a whole lot better either.”
Most of the first day is spent in the barracks, in their squad bays. Each two-story building holds two sixteen- to eighteen-man squads—one on the first deck and the other on the second. Each squad will normally have two TAC NCOs assigned, one primary and one alternate. These are veteran Special Forces sergeants, usually with the rank of sergeant first class and usually with at least ten years in Special Forces. The TACs introduce the new men to the barracks, and show them how to stow their gear—what has to be locked in their locker and what must be laid out on or near their bunk. As with all special operations military training, there’s a host of protocols and ways of doing things that are very specific and exact. There are two reasons for this. First of all, this is high-stress training, and the buildings are very old. The men have to care for them, care for their gear, care for themselves, and live together. This calls for a great deal of regimentation in the mechanics of life during training and nontraining time. The second is that the Special Forces way of life demands a great deal of precision and attention to detail. It may sound simple, but turning out for every evolution properly attired and with the right equipment takes planning and preparation. Cleanliness and personal hygiene in this environment also take time and attention. Deployed Special Forces teams often live in worse conditions