[turboprop]

The problem with a lot of soldiers is that they think that their past accomplishments, accolades, etc. stay relevant forever. There is definitely a time for basking in the glory of the past, but it isn't when you are on active duty. The best soldiers, without fail, have completely bought into the mindset that the only thing that matters is what you've done today. SF has enough team room heroes.

Bear-how much would your experiences be worth stacked against what you would have learned if you had made it to SF the first try? Maybe you wouldn't be so sure that not making it was the best thing that could have happened to you 3-4 deployments with an ODA later. You may have even picked up some institutional training along the way too. The point is, you didn't make it, doesn't matter why, but some other guys did, ran with it, and were successful. Don't come to a board about SF and expect digital high fives from those that did.

The SFQC is not some magical gate that makes you a SME on all things SF, and it damn sure isn't the last time you will learn how to be an SF soldier in your career. The SFQC produces entry level SF soldiers. ODAs and specifically the combination of mentorship and teaching oneself produce competent SF soldiers. Not the 82nd, 3rd ID, the couch, or wherever you came from.

For the SF candidates, it is no secret how to be successful once you get to a team, and it has nothing at all to do with where you came from. Put in the hours, PT, shooting, MOS proficiency, team training..., and surprise, you will be successful. If you show up thinking that wherever you were 1-2 years earlier is going to impress anyone, or take out the trash, or fill the fridge with the beer you owe, you are sorely mistaken.

Sorry for the rant, anytime the 18x things rears its head I feel the need to defend it. Not for the turds, and there were some, but for the awesome guys that I was completely honored to serve with. There are a lot of guys that grew up X-ray that wouldn't change a thing.