RE: getting ready for military
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Monday, October 18, 2004 3:30 PM
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#17 )
Everyone has their limits, especially when it comes to training. In basic, they break you down through training, sleep deprivation and stress- Some people can handle it longer than others, but everyone I knew in the service agreed that at some point in basic training they broke down. It's all mental though, and you just have to change the way you think about it- You really have no choice. Those who can't adapt to the stress simply don't- They end up getting kicked out, you have a few who become depressed, and there are all sorts of stories out there about suicide attempts. When I went through basic, we had two guys who went that route- One of them threatened to kill himself, and he was processed out and given counseling. Another faked a suicide attempt and got the same thing. (Personally, I think they had those tendencies to begin with, I don't think the army itself can make someone seriously want to end their life.) Oh, and if anyone ever tries to tell you a story about someone who tried to kill themselves by throwing a buffing machine out a window with the cord tied around their neck, don't believe it. Urban legend.
When it comes to the stories you've heard about spec ops guys, keep in mind that they're just that- Stories. It's nice to think there's some super elite units out there who do all that crazy stuff and just train all the time, but it's simply not true. I've known quite a few guys who've gone through Green Beret school and been assigned to Special Forces units- The initial training is rough, but just like any other military job, once you get there, it gets boring real quick. Hell, I used to hear stories about how hardcore the Infantry was, and once I got there I realized they just weren't true- And all the Infantry guys used to hear stories about how hardcore the Spec Ops guys were- Then some friends of mine got in, and it turns out those stories weren't true either. Special Forces units don't train to some superhuman level, and they're not always out on missions either- The truth is, there aren't always secret missions to go on, and when it comes to the training, it's about the same amount as regular infantry, just different- I was in a mechanized battalion, which meant we had personnel carriers. There are hundreds of soldiers in a battalion, so we trained with very different tactics than a small special forces team would, but we did have just about as much training as they do, and it was just as intense.
Now, when it comes to the type of person most people think are in the special forces, the "instinctual killer" comes to mind- Again, not really true. No one ever knows how someone will react in combat until they're actually in combat- Of course, the army and the other branches of the military try to train everyone to the point where they don't really think, they just react, but everyone I've ever talked to who's been in combat tell me that most of their training goes right out the window as soon as the bullets start flying anyway- Some tactics taught in training just aren't useful in battle. The bottom line is, there's no way the military can turn anyone into some sort of emotionless robot- Some people are born that way, and it's actually more of a problem, even in the military, than it is beneficial. The type of person typically sought after by special forces groups is the type of person who's above average intelligence, has the natural ability to lead and make decisions under stress, pays serious attention to detail and can solve all sorts of problems. A lot of the Green Beret training dealt with these abilities. Of course, there's always the question of will you be able to pull the trigger when it counts, but like I said earlier, there's no way to know if someone's capable of that until the time comes, no matter what anyone says.
All of the Green Beret guys I knew were pretty much just regular guys- Sure, they were a little ****y about being Green Berets, but like I said, you'll see that whole mentality when you get in. Everyone says they're the best, everyone gets a little ****y- Once you get past the ****y part and learn how to tell the B.S. stories from the truth, they're just normal people.