Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [66]
“We have a difficult and important job here,” he told me one evening, after the rest of the cadre had left. “We have to assess and select men who have the traits and characteristics that have proven successful in the force. This is a great responsibility. Special Forces is an officer-led, enlisted-run organization. Some officers find it difficult to lead in this kind of environment, and I was one of them. I tended to be a micromanager as a Special Forces detachment leader. You can’t do that when you lead smart, professional, type A SF soldiers. That’s something I’ve had to work on. Fortunately, the battalion commander who hired me into this job recognized this and teamed me with Billy Sarno. I spin around and want to fix everything myself. Billy doesn’t let that happen. He and the other senior cadre force me to forget about the details, which they take care of, and focus on the big picture. It’s made me be a better officer and a better leader. I have another issue; I’m a very devout Christian. I feel I have a duty to preach the word of Christ and to share his teachings with others. One of my former company commanders finally took me aside and asked if I wanted to be a chaplain or a Special Forces officer. I still have a duty to the Lord, but I’m a Special Forces officer. It’s the path I’ve chosen, and I will give it my full attention and best effort.”
This gregarious, sometimes ribald first sergeant and his thoughtful and devout captain make an odd but effective pair of leaders. They differ in temperament and personality, but I watched both work long days in harness together to select the right men for Special Forces. On more than one occasion, when I was with alone with one of them, he would take a moment to tell me how much he admired and respected the other. The first sergeant and cadre sergeants ran the training for the most part, and I saw very little of Captain Carson as I observed the first two weeks of training. That was to change, especially during the SAREs and during the commander’s review board.
Along with the physical and professional assessment evolutions, there’s the mental and psychological screening. The approach of Special Forces in their efforts to get a read on a candidate is like nothing I have ever seen. As I was to learn, a man could be a physical stud and professionally competent, but still be unsuitable for Special Forces. All candidates for Special Forces training undergo a battery of psychological and aptitude testing. There are three basic instruments that are used in the selection process. One of these is the Wonderlic Personnel Test, a short exam used to predict an individual’s ability to learn, adapt, solve problems, and understand instructions. Another is the TABE—the Test for Adult Basic Education. The TABE assesses reading and basic math ability and a candidate’s aptitude for language. The scores from the TABE reflect reading and math ability in grade levels. It may suggest that a candidate reads at the tenth-grade level and has twelfth-grade math skills. The third test is a version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI. The MMPI is one of oldest psychological assessment tests, and can be used to evaluate thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and behavioral traits that relate to an individual’s personality. It can also be used to diagnose mental disorders. These