Introductions V

[matlt]

I learned about this website through my interest in knives and from the bladeforums. I'm an aircraft mechanic in the AZ national guard and currently on my second deployment in Afghanistan. Just want to express my gratitude for the job that you guys do. It is truly an honor to support and watch our special operations forces in action out here. You guys are the very definition of professionals. I look forward to learning from the vast knowledge available here and learning more about the lives of the quiet professonals.

[AL*SO]

Greetings to all,
I found this site "googling" around, trying to read as much as possisble about the SF.
I am prior service, spent just a few years in the active army in the 80s, I have the privilege of representing countless Veterans in obtaining well deserved benefits from the VA as a American Legion Service Officer. While these things have proved to be very satisfying, I believe my most gratifying accomplishment has been raising a son that may soon be selected to train as a SF soldier.
My son signed a 18x contract in August 2011, as I type he is on day 19 of SFAS.
I have to say that reading these posts have filled me with peace and assurance that Jon has in fact answered his calling. If my son is going to serve in this mans army then I am thrilled that he is going to be with the caliber of men that make up the SF. Thank you QPs Rebecca

[dcrews46]

Thank you guys (especially the QP's) for wealth of information on this site. I had my MEPS physical last week and am going to need a medical waiver for some hardware on my collarbone from a high school football injury. I am currently waiting for approval on the waiver and preparing to submit an ETP letter. In the mean time, I am getting ready for geology graduate school, which begins in the Spring, in the event my medical situation doesn't work out. I hope to be a part of the brotherhood one day, but am patiently taking it step by step.

Thanks again to you all, Keep up the good work!

Dcrews

[scgyra]

Hello,
I found this site while perusing the interwebs and found it very interesting. I never served in the armed forces due to epilepsy but always wanted to. I have been lurking around the site for sometime now. Thanks.

[st33ve0]

Hello all,

My name is Steve, I'm an IT nerd and photographer who is fortunate enough to be friends with some very cool folks in the tactical industry and even more fortunate to call some true quiet professionals my friends. I do most of my work for RMJ Tactical and individual knifemakers.

I'm here to learn more about the SF community as well as gear and TTPs. I also want to see how I can use my skills to benefit charities like the Green Beret Foundation and Operation Once Voice as well as the SF community directly.

[Eyes Wide Open]

I grew up most my knee-high years being an army brat. My father was a Cavalry Scout for 16-17yrs. We lived all over the United States and in Germany, twice. I grew up my entire childhood listening to my father's fun and exciting stories of the military. The Army family was a close extension of my real family and played a huge role in my childhood. Every holiday, especially Christmas, our apartment / townhouse / or single-family house was full of my dad's Army buddies, who didn't have families close by to spend the holiday's with. My dad finally retired when the Army offered early retirement for E6's and E7's , which he promptly took. I was roughly 13yoa. After leaving the military, my family moved to the midwest, where my father became a police officer.

When we first moved to the midwest, I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. Join the Army. I picked my high school solely on the fact that they offered an Army JROTC program. After doing two years in the JRTOC program, like all high schoolers, it was quickly replaced with the "Chasing Tail" program. I pursued this program all the way to graduation.

After graduation, I applied for an apprenticeship program through the local law enforcement station, following my father's foot steps. It was a program that taught young minds the in's-and-out's of law enforcement / police duties. Upon completion, I would be automatically placed into the subsequent recruit class. The normal wait time outside the program was two to four years just to get selected for the academy / recruit class.

After a year and half of the apprenticeship, 9/11 hit. I still remember where I was and what I was doing, when the cowards struck the towers. It was still early in the morning when I had just gotten off work. I took my uniform off in my bedroom and flipped on the boob tube as I sat down at my desk, kicked my feet up, and waited for the sandman to pay me a visit. After about twenty minutes, the live footage just came streaming in like a blown dam. After watching for a few minutes, I saw the second plane's carnage as it screamed into the remaining the tower. I quickly woke up my entire family and we all watched in absolute anger and frustration. I can honestly say that was the first day I felt all emotions hit me all at once like a pregnant woman; sadness, rage, frustration, helplessness, etc. The proper bi-product of teen hormones.

A week after 9/11, I decided I wanted... No, I needed to join the Army and fight for my country. After work, roughly 8am, I drove to the closest Army recruit station, ready to sign whatever they gave me. As soon as I reached the station doors, they were locked. Came to find out, the recruit station didn't open up till 9am. I just chuckled to myself and went home, where my mom was cooking breakfast. I told her what I wanted to do and begged her not to tell my dad. She was quiet for a while but eventually agreed. I ate breakfast, showered up, and went back to the recruit station. I spoke to the recruiter, who gave me very little information on the Army life, other then he could have me shipped to basic within the week. The recruiter pressured the hell out of me to sign a contract. The pressure hit a breaking point and I immediately became defiant. I walked out, pissed off. I went home to collect my thoughts and figured I would talk to the "old man". My dad, who was also an Army recruiter for a few years, was a straight shooter. We talked for hours about the recruiter / “recruiting process”, the great times in the Army, along with the bad times. Ultimately in the end, he didn't want me to go in and give up my young promising career in Law Enforcement. Mind you, my father was my hero and inspiration in life. I conceded and agreed.

I graduated the Academy and reported to my first assignment. After OJT, I was immediately moved to the busiest car in the area. After a year, I was recruited to a proactive unit, where I'm still currently assigned. One thing I can definitely attribute to my success is my work ethic, which I learned from my father. Other units also recognized this and at one point, I was almost kidnapped to a bigger, more-specialized unit. I developed so many friendships within my unit that I begged to stay. After several years, I was so preoccupied with work the Army dream fell to the way side. Out of sight, out of mind.

The spark started to come back around the beginning of 2011 when my brother wanted to join the Army. He was 28 and wanted to change his life. In his 20‘s, all he did was work construction and play video games. Realizing he needed a change, he spoke to a recruiter and wanted out of his norm. Due to his GED and after signing his contract, he had to wait till January of 2012, a whole year, to start basic. During his waiting period in ’11, the spark started to come back and was kind of like a small itch that would come and go. In Nov. ’11, the spark turned to a raging fire. I wanted to the join the Army but I wanted to do something exciting, memorial-able, and challenging. I spoke to my wife about my plans to join the National Guard. She all agreed. Now that I had my wife’s support, I had to figure out what I wanted to do. Earlier, my brother was looking to join the Ranger regiment so I also looked. From what I learned the Rangers conduct direct-action missions where ever they go. I thought to myself, this would definitely satisfy my appetite. Thank goodness for the internet. I spoke to an Army recruiter online and they advised it was not possible in the reserves w/no other opportunities, which left me feeling completely dejected. The recruiter explained (not really) that reserves are only there to support active service. Sometime went by and I ended up running into one of my old friends and patrol partners, who was a First Sgt in the Army. He brought up going NG SF. He also advised we had a few people within the Dept. who were in the NG SF's. So I thought this would be my chance to open the door and take a peek, sort-of-speak. After doing a bit of online research regarding, I had a chance to speak with one of the NG SF’s where I work. I would have never guessed what he did as a "Side Job". He was quiet, reserved, and in phenomenal shape. Funny thing is, we never really talked about SF or even the National Guard. But from that point on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I've done a ton of online research, spoke to a number of Hero-On-Calls, one that put me in touch with a NG SF operator through email. The operator was absolutely, blunt, and honest, which I can appreciate. So the plan is to get an 18x contract by mid 2013. In the meantime, prepare my mind and body for the rigorous training.

Update on my brother, who is an absolute inspiration, graduated Basic and AIT with flying colors and was offered a Ranger contract. He went to Airborne and RASP, which he graduated. With a flip of a switch and complete dedication, he went from the bottom of the mountain straight to the top.

[shark1]

I am currently a contractor at Fort Polk training soldiers before they deploy, I have been on an I.E.D. cell for OpFor for two years, my wife is an engineer with the 46th EnBn here and I am a six year Navy Gulf War Vet with four of those years with NAVSPECWARGRP2, I have two cousins with SF SGA Glenn Morrell and 1st Sgt or MSG Joe Alderman of 5th Group Vietnam who earned 5 bronze stars while in country, I am just finishing a rotation as a good guy for once working with a 7th Group B team. I am also currently working on my associates degree in Counter Terrorism at AMU.

[imkingordie]

I am 21 years old and am currently serving in the US Army as an Apache helicopter mechanic. I never gave SF a thought until I was deployed and noticed the SF guys at my FOB and all the great work they do and the stories i've heard from the Blackhawk crew chiefs. I'll have to wait a year or so before I can even consider going to selection. But as days go on the more I think about giving it a shot.

[Static Fox]

Greetings, I found this site about a year ago through a friend. Have been reading ever since. Currently assigned to 4/3 SFG (A) as an Intel Analyst. I have a goal of becoming an 18F.

[Bull-1986]

Hello Everyone,
I'm SGT F, most call me F or F (admin edit, no names if you are active duty). I am currently in Doha, Qatar. I've been here one week out of a year tour. As you can see in my profile I am a 14H. I provide early warning to everyone around the globe, most importantly our homeland and deployed forces. As of right now I am working every spare moment I have towards completing my degree in Space Studies/Mechanical Engineering and preparing for selection. With my job I can eventually become a liason for NASA but while I'm in service that isn't what I want. I've given it plenty of thought and researched my options and it always boils down to the same thing, I need to follow my heart and be Special Forces. Everyday at work has been a challenge in many ways. Those around me are generally closeminded and have no desire to improve themselves or the Army. I am alone in absolutely everything I do. Regulations are an option in their eyes and they are all ETSing ASAP. The harder I work the more grief I catch. For example: When rucking to work one day I was called in to the office and told that my gear was not a toy and shouldn't be treated as such. It was suggested that I utilize a personal bookbag with weight to replace my ruck. So I could rant for quite a while but that isn't my goal. I have talked to the recruiters already while at Carson and have had my questions answered on what I need to do. Today I set up my PT regime using the plan listed in the SF Guidelines. While here in Qatar I will be preparing completely solo. There are SF around here as I've seen but I'm not in touch with any of them at this time. With that I will bring this to a close. Thank you for all who contribute here. I have been blessed to find this website. I look forward to getting to know you all.

[hak32001]

I'm Howard. I'm 26 years old from Pennsylvania. I've been in the national guard for about 9 years. I did 2 deployments in Iraq and a few missions stateside. I've been coming to this site for a while now and thougt I'd finally start posting. Thank you to whoever started this site, it has been very helpful for me.

[Team Sergeant]

Welcome all!
Team Sergeant

[Badger55645]

Hey everybody, my name is Holmes Baxter, and I'm from Brookhaven MS, that's pretty much it.

[qurfy]

Hello, names Grant. I made an account a while back and never really used it until now and just posted a question before posting this intro to which I regret. Anyways I'm here to learn about SF and that's about it.

[Looney17]

Hello everyone I'm SPC L. I'm 21 years old , in the reserve component, and am coming off of my first deployment. Coming into the Army I had the intention of making it my career and becoming special forces. The only problem is that I am in the reserve component since I joined under the Army's split op program which automatically puts you in the reserves. Since joining I have tried a few times to switch over to active duty but was turned down for reasons such as not being in the Army long enough, not being in the unit long enough, not being in my MOS long enough, and deployment. I have now been in the Army for nearly 5 years and my intentions have not changed.


Upon returning home from my deployment I want to switch over to active duty and pursue my dream of getting into Special Forces. I am here hoping to gain as much information as possible in regards to switching over to active duty and what it takes to make into Special Forces. I am aware that it is not an easy task switching from reserve to active duty, but I truly believe that it is still worth trying. Any advice or helpful information would be much appreciated.