follow up
 

Thanks. The recruiter told me it shouldn't be a problem to get released for the SFRE as long as I don't get any flags. And honestly, if I get flags, I don't think that's SF quality anyway.

I will contact the unit and the SFC that does the recruiting for the unit and ask them. It seems that as long as I'm 11B and don't have any flags against me that I must be allowed to attend the tryout if I put in for it.

I've also talked to a few guys over the interwebs and some buddies who are eiter AD qualified or going through the Q-course. and they have put me in touch with NG guys who've followed a similar course and had no problem getting the sign off to attend the SFRE.

A note on this. My initial Guard unit did not allow me to attend an SFRE for almost 2 years after checking in. From my experience, there is no guarantee that your "home" unit will let you attend in a timely manner. I was not a critical skills MOS, just an 11B. But, after much patience it all worked out.

contract insurance
 

Thanks, I've gotten a lot of different responses. some people who said it was no issue at all and others who said they had a lot of difficulty and to "put it in your contract". At this point, do you know of anything that I can put in my contract to ensure I get an opportunity to tryout?

This reply may be a little late, but there is no way to "put it in your contract".
Your enlistment contract for the Guard can guarantee you an MOS, a specific UIC, and a specific amount of time. That's it.
The only Guard contract that guarantees SF is a Rep 63 contract, or the extension you do to go to SFQC.

But like active duty, where a commander cannot prevent someone for volunteering for SFAS, a Guard commander cannot prevent someone for volunteering for SFRE or SFAS.

If you are in contact with a unit for a SFRE, and you are having trouble getting released by your unit, talk to the SF Readiness NCO, and he will talk to your Readiness NCO. And if he cannot convince him to play nice, then what we do next is have our CSM contact your 1SG, or an LTC contact your commander too remind them that in the Army, you are, in fact, allowed to volunteer for shit.

Tremendous info, thank you NC6J

new contract option
 

Thank you for your response. Thankfully I hadn't yet signed my 11B contract. And after getting in contact with some guys from 20th I have gotten in touch with 20th HQ in Alabama and am going through the process of getting an 18x with them. Just setting up my interview and a 1 day SFRE now.
I appreciate your response. Thank you.

case in point
 

I am not qualified or entitled for an opinion on the overall matter, but thought that I'd add in a case in point example how the unit prep. pipeline affected me.

I enlisted through the A 2/20th SF through rep 63 back when they had it. Didn't have to but still attended their SFRE and did well based on the feedback I received. I went on to OSUT and airborne which I graduated.

I got back to training with the unit to prepare for the SFAS. There was at least a 4-6 month wait to go to SFAS class. I attended training weekends that were tremendous events with the team putting a lot of care and attention into the success of candidates

That being said, I felt that I was ready for SFAS, but kept putting out during drill weekends. Every Drill weekend was just as hard, if not harder than SFRE. During one of the evolutions I injured myself badly and was never able to fully recover from the injury (inoperable grade 3 PCL tear). I was later sent to an 11B unit because I was unable to fully recover.

The downside of the training pipeline and the breaks between Q phases sometimes transform what is designed as a 1.5-2 year pipeline into a 2.5-4 year pipeline. And while the training is designed to prepare you, it wears down the body and increases injury risk, especially since candidates are not getting younger.

I realize that I was unlucky and the needs of an individual are nothing in comparison to the needs of the team, but I really felt that my best shot at SFAS was right after OSUT and airborne. I wish I have had the opportunity to go straight through.