U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course
Candidates Must Now Prove they are Worthy of the Green Beret
Aug 9, 2009
“Make him one of America’s best…” The previous article talked about the rigorous screening process for potential Special Forces soldiers, as well as the hellish, 24-day assessment and selection activities aimed at securing only the best and most determined candidates. This article will continue to talk about the training process by describing the Special Forces Qualification Course (“Q” Course) as well as the “Robin Sage” field exercise, which concludes the training.
The Special Forces Qualification Course
Completing the selection and assessment test is akin to scoring a 1400 or higher on the SATs; it just proves that you have the aptitude to succeed in the real Special Forces training, the same way that scoring high on the SATs shows an aptitude for higher learning at a top university.
Colonel Aaron Bank, credited with founding the U.S. Army Special Forces, created the syllabus for the Q course, which is divided into three phases, and is supposed to give each participant the combat skills he needs, as well as technical and professional training based on his specialization. Specializations come into play in Phase II, described below.
The three phases are:
Phase I – about 39 days long and focuses on basic skills such as land navigation, fieldcraft, patrolling, leadership/ambush/reconnaissance, squad patrolling, and platoon operations.
Phase II – at this point, each trainee will chose a specialty. All training lasts six months with the exception of 18D. The specialties include:
• 18A Officer – focuses on leadership, logistics, mission planning, guerilla warfare tactics, and insurgency operations.
• 18B Weapons Sergeant – teaches advanced weapons’ skills for a variety of firearms and artillery used by armies all over the world.
• 18C Engineering Sergeant – training focuses on not only building things, but on how to destroy them as well.
• 18D Medical Sergeant – the most arduous and longest of all the specialties, at one year, this training focuses on first-response to trauma, particularly gunshot wounds.
• 18E Communications Sergeant – training includes everything from computer networking, to encryption, to signal processing, to Morse Code. These men are trained on how to make a makeshift radio from primitive parts, as well as setting up and configuring an advanced communication networks for transmitting images and video, or listening to enemy communications.
Phase III – at around 38 days, the home stretch includes practical applications of everything learned up to this point. Items such as intelligence preparation, air operations and parachute extractions, unconventional warfare, cross-cultural communications, and airborne operations are emphasized.
The three phases culminate with the final exam, known as “Robin Sage.”
Robin Sage
Prior to the D-Day invasion in 1944, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) parachuted troops behind German lines to link-up with local resistances, and launch insurgent attacks against targets of choice prior to the main invasion force arriving. Robin Sage is a role-playing exercise that seeks to simulate this kind of situation by using a large area of the rural Southern United States to run the training exercise, and casting local civilians as villagers and Special Forces instructors as insurgent leaders or resistance members. Trainees must use every skill they have learned in order to succeed, and instructors grade them on how well they execute.
Clancy and Gresham point out that this is the most difficult and dangerous type of mission. The team is cut-off from the main force, have limited resources, limited communication, have a high risk of being captured/killed, and must rely on civilians to form a fighting force, civilians that may not have the discipline that military training instills. It is up to the trainees to provide it.
Robin Sage lasts 75 days, and is as realistic as possible, right down to the rations and equipment issued. It is divided into three phases as well:
Phase I – trainees parachute into region, secure equipment, and link-up with the local resistance group, who is often very hostile and suspicious of the new arrivals. The trainees must use their cultural knowledge and diplomacy skills to earn his trust and diffuse the situation.
Phase II – assist in training the guerillas or insurgents, and attack a target of choice with the new skills. This forms the essence of the Special Forces motto, “De oppresso liber” or “liberate the oppressed,” since the Special Forces team is training local people to fight for their own freedom.
Phase III – involves mission planning for a major strike against a strategic target, as well as the actual strike, which may or may not be done in coordination with conventional forces. Following the success of the attack, trainees help in rebuilding villages, protecting civilians, and administering medical attention to innocents harmed in the fighting.
The Aftermath
After the exercise concludes, the trainees are sent back to base where they submit reports on their activities, and the instructors evaluate each team member and how well he performed not only his specialty, but also all the other general tasks. When decision are made, some will fail, some may have to redo the exercise, and some will pass.
Those that pass will earn their Green Beret, and be treated to a celebration dinner with their families. However, their training is far from over. At this point, they will be assigned to the various Special Forces group that operate in a particular area of the world. The next article will focus on organization, and describe the Special Forces groups that are currently in existence.
Sources:
Clancy, Tom and Gresham, John. Special Forces. NY: Berkley Books, 2001
 |
