Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [74]
For a clearly unsuitable candidate: “We’ve observed your performance and you’re just not what we’re looking for. The input from your peers and the cadre suggests that you’re selfish and that you think only of yourself. There’s no place here for someone who doesn’t look out for his teammates. This business is all about sacrifice for others and working in a team environment. Furthermore, we recommended that you not return for a future assessment. There’s too much you have to change to succeed here; however, you can ask for a waiver, and it may be considered. That’s all I have.” The colonel then formally dismisses the candidate.
To a candidate who has tried, but hasn’t shown an unacceptable level of performance: “The board has considered your case, and you’ll not be going forward. We work in human terrain here in Special Forces. You’ve not displayed the situational awareness to succeed in this business. Right now, son, this is not where you can make a contribution. If you really want to be in Special Forces, you’ll have to make some changes and come back when you’re better prepared. This is our assessment of your suitability for this work; this is not an assessment of your character.”
To a similar candidate: “Go get some operational experience and a little more maturity and come back. It’s just not for you right now. You’ve got too many holes in your game. Go to the 82nd or the 101st, get a deployment or two under your belt, and then try us again. Show us you can succeed there, and then you’ll have a better chance of succeeding here.” More than once I heard the command sergeant major say to younger candidates, “You’ve shown us something, but not enough and not right now. Put in for the Ranger regiment and get yourself to Ranger School. They’ll grow you up right.”
I later asked him about sending unsuccessful candidates to other units for, lacking a better term, rehabilitation. “This has nothing to do with the quality or capability of the airborne divisions or the Rangers or any other unit for that matter,” Zorn told me. “They have a job to do, and they’re damn good at it. But these conventional units and the Rangers work in a far more structured environment than we do. That structure’s tailor-made for developing maturity and professional soldiering skills, including leadership. We need those qualities, among other things, to be at a certain level before we can send a man on for Special Forces training.”
And I recalled his advice for a very strong candidate whose attitude and demeanor were not to the cadre’s liking. “Son, we’re going to send you forward, but before you come back here for Phase II, you better sit down and have a good talk with yourself. Your performance here was very good, but you’ve given the cadre the impression that you think you’re better than everyone else. Your teammates peered you low for that very reason. Are you really that good?”
“No, Sergeant Major.”
“I recommend you find yourself a good ration of humility before you come back. Start thinking about others and stop thinking about yourself. You hear what I’m saying?”
“Roger that, Sergeant Major.”
“Say that again, a little louder.”
“Roger that, Sergeant Major.”
“One more time.”
“Roger that, Sergeant Major!”
“Good. That kind of response’ll take you a long way in this training.”
Most of the enlisted candidates who come before the Class 8-04 review board aren’t selected for Special Forces training,