Should SOF units utilize a "selection" process prior to assigning support personnel?
Special Operations
Army
I spent 13 years supporting 1st and 5th SFG and they have been trying to come up with something but never put anything together. In 1st SFG they started a week long orientation, that involved shooting moving and communicating. However, their was no pass or fail. If you didn't well in an event then they let your Leadership know so they were aware of where you needed more training.
I spent the first 13 years with Group right out of AIT and I see how you can think that it would make them complacent and relaxed. I think that falls under the individual. Just because an SF guy calls you by your first name doesn't mean you do it back. Or if you see them wearing a ball cap it doesn't mean you do. To answer your question, yes their needs to be a selection phase to ensure that SOF is getting the cream of the crop. It is HARD to train an average Soldier to be a superstar with the high OPTEMPO that SOF has. Great post!!!
Like SFC Ronnie Jackson, I went to 7th SFG right after AIT and Airborne school. I spent 9 years there and left as a SSG(P). I learned to adapt to different types of situations. When I was attached to an ODA they let me become one of them and played by their rules. Once I returned back the support company it was back to the basics and being a Soldier. I learned a lot and received some of the best training in the world and would not trade it in for nothing. If a Soldiers becomes complacent he will do the same in a regular unit.
When I was coming up I earned the "S" SQI for being in group for 2 years, being airborne, and deploying with them. That is a tool not being utilized. Once you met the requirements to get the S identifier the commander must recommend approval. If you start to give out the S identifier for those SM that are good for the community it makes the pool of personnel to pull from easier.
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