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By Root 1607 0

in Arab headgear. When they are in the kill zone, Kendall keys the initiator of the claymore mine, which produces the bang from a large M-80-type firecracker. The automatic weapons hidden along the ambush line begin to chatter. Loudest of all is the POP-POP-POP of the M240 machine gun. The enemy tries to return fire but is overwhelmed by the concentrated firepower of the student ODA. Kendall shouts above the din, calling for a cease-fire. He then directs the team’s actions as they sweep through the target, checking the downed enemy soldiers and disarming them. Moments later, Sergeant Tell calls the proceedings to a halt and conducts a field critique. He tells his students what he saw and asks for comments from Carlos and the Arab role players who have risen from the dead. The student ODA is back in the team bay by midafternoon for a final critique and course review. A few days later, the new Special Forces Preparation Course graduates are on their way back out to Camp Mackall. They have one more stop before Phase II.

The leadership course conducted at Camp Mackall fulfills the Army’s noncommissioned-officer leadership requirement with a Special Forces bias. The X-Ray soldiers, now selected and prepared for Special Forces training, are housed in clean, new, but still temporary billeting modules at the rear of the Rowe Training Facility. Again, the students are cut into ODA-sized squads for billeting and training. The interior living arrangements are not unlike those they just left at the preparation course at Fort Bragg. The barracks area is a little more generous with wall lockers beside each double rack, and the operations-planning bay is arranged in a classroom setting with the familiar U-shaped student-table arrangement. Since their arrival from Fort Benning, this is the first time the 18 X-Ray soldiers have been in some semblance of an academic environment, albeit a Special Forces academic environment.

Each day begins at 0600 with an hour and a half of physical training—stretching, group calisthenics, and then a run. These are led initially by the cadre sergeants, but those leadership duties are quickly turned over to the students and rotated among the student teams. On the first day after formation and inspection, they are briefed by the course first sergeant, a laconic Georgian and a twenty-four-year Special Forces veteran. The men stand in ranks by team, at parade rest: left hands resting at the small of their backs, right hands holding the barrels of their rifles—rubber M4s for this training. The first sergeant quickly goes over the rules and restrictions. They are to be on time, in the right place and in the right uniform. There’s to be no talking with those in other phases of training, no cell phones, no use of the PX, and so on, and so on. Then he cuts to the heart of the training.

“This course is a standing requirement to become a sergeant in this man’s Army. It will also equip you for the leadership challenges you will face in Special Forces training and Special Forces duty. In every Phase II, we lose a few of you guys because you lack the ability to lead in a tactical situation. There’s information in this course you’re going to need to get you through Phase II and the other phases of the Q-Course. Now, this course is not as intense as what you’ve been through in previous courses. It’s not intended to be. Nor is it as intense as what awaits you in Phase II. Nonetheless, it’s important. It’s a time to listen, learn, and practice the techniques and disciplines you are going to need if you want to earn that Green Beret and deploy as a member of a Special Forces detachment. It’s a time to regroup and prepare yourself mentally and physically for the challenges ahead. Use this time well. Ask questions. Get to know your classmates and your cadre sergeants. Leadership’s a key skill of a Special Forces soldier. Leadership extends to all aspects of military life. Now, some of you might think the accountability and the uniform inspections and the close-order drill we do here is chicken-shit. But let me ask you this.