Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [53]
“Sir, SFAS Class 8-04 is formed.”
“Very well, Sergeant,” Diemer replies, returning his salute. “Fall in with your men.” Diemer pauses to survey the class, then, in a clear, restrained voice that carries to the rear ranks, says, “Good morning, men.”
“GOOD MORNING, SIR!”
“Stand easy, men. First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for being here. The groups need Special Forces soldiers. The nation needs Special Forces soldiers. Each of you has the ability to make it through this selection process. It won’t be easy, and we don’t want it to be easy. But you can do it—all of you can do it. While we have a pressing need for people, I have no mandate to get a certain number of candidates through selection or any other phase of Special Forces training. There are no quotas. Meet the standard and you can be one of us. If you fail to meet the standard, you will make your next deployment with your current unit. If you young men in the X-Ray Program fail to perform, you’re going to find yourself soldiering with an Army unit other than Special Forces. We may be at war, but we’ll not lower our standards.
“You are here to be evaluated on your suitability for Special Forces. We cannot select you into Special Forces if you quit, so don’t quit. No matter what happens, do your best. We want to assess you on your best effort. If you do poorly on an evolution, put it behind you and focus on the next evolution. All of us have strengths and weaknesses. That’s why we assess men into Special Forces on the whole-man concept. We will identify your weaknesses and help you with them. But you’ll have to work hard. For some of you, this will be the hardest thing you’ve done in your life. So hold nothing back. Show us intelligence and show us some heart. Your goal in coming here is to enter Special Forces training and serve in Special Forces. In the days and weeks ahead, when the going gets tough, don’t lose sight of that goal. Good luck, men, and carry on.”
As Colonel Diemer takes his leave, the class leader shouts from the rear rank, “Class, a-ten-HUT!” The class stands at attention while the colonel leaves the area. After he is gone, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Jackson makes his way from the rear to the front of the formation. Jackson is the commander of the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group. In addition to the Special Forces phase and SERE training, he’s responsible for the daily operation of the Rowe Training Facility. He has a few words for the class, but he is more direct than his superior, and there is an edge to his voice.
“Gentlemen, let me add my welcome to that of the group commander. Ahead of you are twenty-three days of selection—SFAS, or Phase I. During that time, you’re going to have to show us you have what it takes to be a Special Forces soldier. This is a warrior’s vocation. It’s also a technical vocation. We use our training and our smarts to leverage our force in the field. So you have to be smart as well as tough. When the suck factor goes up, each of you’ll have to decide if you want to be in this fight as a Special Forces soldier or if you’d rather be someplace else. Our job here is to assess you based on your performance and on your potential to perform in an unconventional environment. That’s all I have, except to wish you good luck. Do you have anything, Command Sergeant Major?”
The battalion commander’s right-hand man is his command sergeant major, his senior enlisted soldier. At the company level, it’s usually the senior master sergeant in the role of first sergeant who holds sway, but at battalion, it’s the senior sergeant major—the command sergeant major. At 1st Battalion, he’s Command Sergeant Major Frank Zorn. He’s standing at the side of the formation and speaks from there.
“Not really, sir. Other than to remind