Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [67]
“We get a lot of men through here, and we look at the psychological health of all of them,” Lieutenant Colonel Scott Middleton told me. Middleton is the senior psychologist who oversees the testing and the team of psychologists who work with the Special Forces candidates. “Most are well-adjusted soldiers. A few may have problems that would not be an issue in a conventional military organization, but considering the stress and the nature of the Special Forces mission, we may want to take a closer look at these soldiers.
“Initially, we look for flags that may suggest possible pathologies. So yes, we’re looking for potential problems and for those who may be unsuitable—guys with serious problems. Occasionally, we find a man who is very smart, but lacks ethical balance. Too much intellect without a firm moral grounding is like a big engine without a transmission. But we have to be careful in the application of our testing and evaluation. The men who come here and go on to be successful special operators are a breed apart. They are not ‘normal’ compared to a group of civilian men their age or even a group of regular soldiers. They’re aggressive, adventurous, extroverted, intelligent, type A individuals. Many of them are thrill seekers. That’s OK, but these traits have to be balanced with maturity and framed with a sense of responsibility.”
During the selection process, about 15 percent of the enlisted candidates are brought in for psychological counseling. Army psychologists meet one-on-one with these candidates to further explore issues raised in their testing—issues that need clarification or explanation. All officers meet with a psychologist for a session to review their test results.
“Initially, we’re looking for the problem soldiers—pure suitability issues. Past that, these tests and our work with the candidates become positive. Where are they weak and what do they need to work on? What are their strong points and how can they use their strengths to offset their weaknesses? Of course, some of the candidates see us simply as shrinks—that these exams and evaluations are mumbo jumbo that might adversely affect their chance at selection. But you’d be surprised how many agree with our assessments and use the information we give them in a constructive way. The bottom line is that these men will often have to be on their own doing a difficult and dangerous job, well away from traditional military structure. They have to be professionally, ethically, and morally self-sufficient.
“Our input to the training cadre comes in three general areas,” Lieutenant Colonel Middleton said. “The first is the intellect of the candidate. Is this soldier smart enough to handle the technical part of Special Forces training? In many cases, it identifies men who need more education in a specific area to perform in an SF role. For our work here, we try to measure intellectual capacity, academic training, and potential creativity as they relate to the Special Forces mission. The second is vocational. Which Special Forces military occupational specialty may be appropriate for the man, and what might be his limitations if he is assigned to one MOS or another. We’ve an immense body of evidence that supports our input to the process. For example, we can predict that a man with a given set of scores will have 40 or 70 or 95 percent chance of completing the academic portion of Special Forces training for, say, an 18 Echo—a communications sergeant. And, finally, there’s the psychological assessment. These are the social and adaptability indicators—the people skills—which are so important in Special Forces.”
“The psych evaluations and psych input to the process are very helpful,” Captain Walt Carson told me. “Sometimes it confirms what the cadre sees in a man, and occasionally