What do you remember most about the Q Course/Training Group?

[Mr_PreScuba]

Since I'd already spent 7 to 8 years of my life in the 'regular' army, submitting several applicatons for SFQC... only to get sidetracked by military bureaucrats, regulations, and/or procedures just to get to this point; I thought I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Boy, was I in for a wild ride...

Everytime that I applied for Special Forces, taken the APFT, Physical, etc... etc... etc... something would come up to prevent my getting a class date. The final straw was when I'd done my part and gone to the First Sergeant for the final go-a-head when he 'kindly' informed me that I was on levy for Germany... which nullified all the work that I had done up to that point. Three years later, since I knew when I was to RTB-CONUS so I reapplied and got accepted. When I checked on my class date, I found out that my new duty station was going to be Fort Knox. With all the prep and intel that I had gathered about Special Forces and the requisite training... I could not figure out what type of Special Forces training was done at Fort Knox. Thank the Lord for Mrs. Palmer because when I got authorization to call the SF Branch at DC and talked to her about the situation; she found out that my SFQC assignment had 'been buried' and new orders recut to send me to PSNCO school at Fort Knox... on the premise that it would be too late for me to change anything once I arrived there. Thanks to her, I was back on track for the SFQC.

Initial exposure to Phase I; Upon arrival at CMK... 30 seconds to go grab personal ruck from the pile, return to marked position in the formation area, proceed to transition from the position of attention to the front-leaning-rest; knock out pushups, and then return to position of attention... repeat as instructed by Cadre... However, while conducting this repetitious exercise, while waiting for the rest of my classmates to sort, find, and return with their respective duffle bags (mine just happened to be conspicuously marked for easy identification)... I pulled the lateral muscles in my lower back that run alongside the backbone... I remember tears in my eyes and gritting my teeth, as the pain rippled up and down my spine muscles... and this was within the first 15 minutes of arrival at CMK. I just remember thinking to myself that although I had ample justification for a medical recycle... there was no way in hell that I was going to go through this again. I asked one of the cadre for permission to go to the latrine, without informing him of the actual reason that I wanted to be alone for a few minutes, and tried to massage the pain running down my back to a bearable level... until one of them came to check up on me. To this day... I think he had his suspicions about my back pains, but he didn't say anything... for which I'm greatful.

Major Howard and his famous ruck/run evolutions. As long as you started (and stayed) within the first three to four rows... everything was usually OK. But I could never figure out why the middle and end rows couldn't keep up in a tight formation (accordian effect)... hence the 'hit it' command ringing out by the cadre. If I happened to start in the middle/rear of the pack, I found myself constantly running to keep up...

The other item was Major Howard's uncanny ability to single out individuals (by name in most cases) to get back into formation... without even looking back from his position as the pace guide.

The infamous 'puke run'... Beware of cadre bearing wonderful edible gifts of lots and lots of mermite containers of Chili-Mac, Corn, Salad, Bread and Butter, Cake, Milk, and Honey Buns. They brought so much that they announced that we could eat all that we wanted for dinner that evening... and that we were through for the day. Since we were very hungry... most of the students gladly accepted the offer of this magnificent feast. I guess I was more suspicious than most, because I held off stuffing myself but did stuff my cargo pockets with Honey Buns. When I went to the barracks for a short nap after that wonderful meal, and hiding my Honey Buns... I had just barely had time to close my eyes... when the cadre announced over the PA to form up outside in formation immediately. Then they proceeded to run us around CMK for the next hour until most of us puked our guts out... and I hadn't had as much as most of the other students. Then, to add to our misery, they ran us back into the compound through the front gate... past our barracks and formation area... and out the back gate... twice... Talk about psychological warfare. I think we lost six to eight students at that point because they just gave up. The cadre ran us around the compound back through the front gate the second time and finally stopped and dismissed us. I have loved Honey Buns ever since...

Hearing the song 'Another One Bites the Dust' by Queen... after Taps over the PA almost every night.

Land Nav Course - worried that I would bolo the course because I found the day course points with no problems... only to get cocky and blow the night course because the point that I had to find was one that I had run across during the day... only to spend all my time trying to locate it knowing that I was missing the stake by a few meters. NOTE: I was trying to follow instructions and find the point without using my flashlight... silly me. I had to re-test the next day by finding all the day points and the night point... I was one tired puppy that night... after running the course twice... but I passed.

We did have one notable 'incident' during the Land Nav Phase though. After we'd completed the day phase and were waiting for it to get dark to start the night test phase, several of us practiced knife throwing. There was a student named Byrd (I think) that was constantly sharpening his USAF survival knife every chance he got... almost to the point of obsession. He watched us for awhile, but declined to participate, as he continued to sharpen his knife. Well, we stopped and settled down to wait for dark and didn't notice that he'd gone into the bush. Next thing we know... there is a ruckus at the Cadre Hooch... and we hear a voice cry out "Oh, my God..." really loud. Seems as though Byrd had gone off into the brush to try his hand at knife throwing by himself... and the thrown knife had 'bounced' back and the sharpened edge had struck the bridge of his nose and almost cut his nose off. The voice was the on-site medic's positive verbal reinforcement upon seeing his new patient... or so the story goes. We never did see Byrd afterwards.

Graduating 150 students out of 306 at the end of Phase I.

More to follow...

[Warrior-Mentor]

Trek. Grandfather Mountain.

Sand Babies. (SFAS) extra special because our were watered down.

[2018commo]

Pre-Phase: PT: Long slow morning runs, always getting longer. Running through COSCOM 200 strong listening to the sound of boots and asphalt echo across the WWII Barracks. Later running across Ft Bragg to the pool, learning to swim. Receiving a class from a 5th Gp Medic on how to buy running shoes, the Army was changing, no more PT in leather boots. Classes during the day from 5th and 7th Groups, from land navigation to algebra. The ruck marches in the afternoon, the amazing motivation from SFC Weddell and SFC Warrem.
Phase I: Hearing that the TAC Craig M had left for other duty, he had previously recycled half of our class, most thought it was PSYOPS. Later hearing on the PA that the US had beat the USSR in hockey, more PSYOPS. 22 inches of snow during the FTX, extending our stay at CMK a few days.
Phase II: The code room ZZZZZZ, the legends’ teaching us the right way to do everything.
Pisgah, beautiful weather, and being visited by a bear. Later getting our first “No chit” briefing about the demise of Che.
Phase III The desertion of several G’s, recruited from CCF. Steve A, getting struck by lightning, and later graduating. Being handed my Beret by another legend.
Thirty years later I still identify the seasons as to where I was that year.

[ODA CDR (RET)]

we sleep in caves and ditch's, we wipe our ass with broken glass we're mean sons of bitch's. That was a good class motto. How about getting your low crawl pace count in Phase 1. I can't have been the only one that had fried chicken gizzards and beer watching the go-go girls for lunch at the Yntema Club during the weapons course.

[Dusty]

First ruck run with Bad Bob.

Many aspirants bounced the gate that evening.

[Snaquebite]

First impressions are everything....

Reporting to the old headshed for night compound guard duty...(Phase I)

Knocking on the door and hearing a voice in the back somewhere saying "ENTER"

Walking in and seeing a wooden leg with a boot on it sitting on the SGM's desk.

SGM Parker hopping out of the back room on one leg saying "What the F*(& do you want?"

After reporting, being handed a baseball bat and told to get out....

UNFORGETABLE.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Snaquebite

First impressions are everything....

Reporting to the old headshed for night compound guard duty...(Phase I)

Knocking on the door and hearing a voice in the back somewhere saying "ENTER"

Walking in and seeing a wooden leg with a boot on it sitting on the SGM's desk.

SGM Parker hopping out of the back room on one leg saying "What the F*(& do you want?"

After reporting, being handed a baseball bat and told to get out....

UNFORGETABLE.

lol Carlos!

Remember the prank he pulled on the medic on the DZ with the leg and ketchup?

[PRB]

Col Howard...then Maj...rucking us to death and telling us hooah stories to pump us up, or down, depending lol

[Combat Diver]

84 time frame
Phase I- last of the C rats and beginning of the MREs
Phase II- during the Engineer FTX, reached down into the "inert" box of training aids, reassemble a M607 fuse to the M21 AT mine. T. Riccio was standing next to me and it detonitated in his hands. 3 of us got evac from MKC to Wolmack (driver got lost).
Phase III- MSG W. Adams "My sister is so ugly jokes", breaking my leg on the infil jump. Did the ruck to link up with Gs and 48 hrs later back at Wolmack thru the underground and xrays showed fractured tibula and getting medically recycled.

22 yrs later would be a Robin Sage instructor, used my 12 yo son as a G and decided to retire after the torch was passed to my 22 yo son (now a 18B3W7W3) My best moment then was during his teams infil, he was the number 1 jumper and I was his jumping jumpmaster on a night C-130 ramp Combat Equipment jump. Follow me........

CD

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Combat Diver

84 time frame
Phase I- last of the C rats and beginning of the MREs
Phase II- during the Engineer FTX, reached down into the "inert" box of training aids, reassemble a M607 fuse to the M21 AT mine. T. Riccio was standing next to me and it detonitated in his hands. 3 of us got evac from MKC to Wolmack (driver got lost).
Phase III- MSG W. Adams "My sister is so ugly jokes", breaking my leg on the infil jump. Did the ruck to link up with Gs and 48 hrs later back at Wolmack thru the underground and xrays showed fractured tibula and getting medically recycled.

22 yrs later would be a Robin Sage instructor, used my 12 yo son as a G and decided to retire after the torch was passed to my 22 yo son (now a 18B3W7W3) My best moment then was during his teams infil, he was the number 1 jumper and I was his jumping jumpmaster on a night C-130 ramp Combat Equipment jump. Follow me........

CD

Now, that is priceless.

[Combat Diver]

Youngest son playing OPFOR this time and me.


On his brother, I don't have any pictures of actions in the aircraft, but here we are together with me rigging him up at Green Ramp!


CD

[ZonieDiver]

CD,

That truly IS priceless! SF should be a 'family affair'! My son-in-law and I bandy about thoughts of his son, my grandson, being SF... but you have seen something close to that! Congrats! Here's to 'inter-generational' SF!

[ZonieDiver]

Today, I have gone through this thread from start to finish. To me, this thread exemplifies what SF is all about - one generation passing the torch to another. Some things have changed over the years, but one thing has not: the pursuit of excellence, or perhaps - the pursuit of those who pursue excellence.

LTC Rowe, and Maj Howard in the dining facility, standing in line like everyone else, allowing students to "Go ahead, you eat first."

Sharing the barracks with only 6 other students in the whole building because, well, that's all that was left. We moved all un-needed bunks into another building, and making mini houses/caves/rooms out of wall lockers, lumber, ponch-liners, etc. Frig., for batteries and stuff.

ISG having the 6 report to his house to pour concrete and build a patio while he and his wife grilled streaks. Second home for laundry services.

Walking across the stage from right to left shaking hands, only to have the SGM ask me to stop by his office for a 'simple assignment'.

[uplink5]

When I was in AIMC classes, I was in what I think was the first BODY NAZI class. I don't remember all the cadre names but we had a medic named SFC Jordan. He was a huge Black fella who scared the hell out of me one morning when I started falling back during a ruck-run. Capt. Charters was running us up a sugar sand hill by the fairgrounds, I thought I was dying. All the sudden, “something" picked me up from behind and carried me to the top, ruck and all. When he set me down, he said, "fall back again and I'll stick this boot up your ass, and it won't be as fun a ride as you just got". I never fell back again. I realized later that Jordan was one of the nicest guys in the world but, I always refused to test him.

In PH1, we had an instructor named SFC Neptune; he was trying to demonstrate the proper techniques to accomplish "the Whopper", but couldn't climb the rope. Then out of nowhere, SFC Gallant jumps out from the wood line, and while calling Neptune everything but a child-of-god, demonstrates the Whopper for us, making it look quite easy. Of course, Neptune never did recover from this and another Cadre soon became our primary instructor. Perhaps the best teaching point was Neptune himself though because I knew, from then on, that I never wanted to be "THAT GUY". Years later when Gallant worked for me as a communications guy in one of the safe houses, he had quite the laugh over this.

In PH2, I had a family emergency and when I went to the CQ, (a SSG on admin. hold from the Q course) I told him that I needed to talk to the NCOIC, SFC Davis. The CQ refused to give me the number unless I told him what was going on. I told him it was none of his business then, one thing led to another, and I hit the SOB. 30 minutes later, while I was sulking on a pick-nick bench by the code room, I hear, "hey Wildman", it was Davis. I told him my issue and he informed me that it wasn't the end of the world but, the issue over me hitting the CQ might be. When we made it back to the CQ, Davis asked him what happened. The bonehead pretty much verified my version of things, and then Perry told him that he could press charges against me but he'd never graduate the course if he did. He never did. Since Davis went out to 1st GRP, I never did see him again but, to this day, I owe CSM (Ret) Davis a bottle of his choosing.

Finally, one of the proudest moments in my life was when I finished SFQC. Of the 310 studs who started, 68 ultimately finished I think, and though we still had a long ways to go once we got to our Groups, I knew I was ready. Of course, subsequent life and death events in 5th and 3rd GRPs, health concerns with cancer and other realities made my experiences from the SFQF seem so long ago. That said, I’d never have made it to where I am today, without having made it through the Q course first. It’s been one hell of a ride....jd