Special Forces Officer Questions.

[SeanR87]

I know the Special Forces are hard to get into. But I decided I want to go out for it when I'm done with school.

I heard you can take a Career Captains course in Armor, or Infantry only. I am assuming these would be the two most relevant jobs to the Special Forces operations.

My question is, which would serve me the best,

to commission as an Infantry officer, do my training, and take the Armor career captains course,

OR

to commission as an Armor officer, do my training, and take the Infantry career captains course.

Maybe I should have a different job all together...like Artillery? or maybe that would be irrelevant.?

Where are the quiet professionals.. I'd like to hear from you.

[Rhadamanthus]

I'm not a QP so I'll stay in my non-SF lane but I can tell you that your information is dated and that there is no longer an Armor CCC or an Infantry CCC. It is now the Maneuver Captains Career Course, which a captain would take to continue their career in the Armor or Infantry. So that's one less decision to make.

[sp.copper]

What about in a state where we have Special Forces, but only artillery units, no armor or infantry?

I am leaning towards an aviation officer, but if the opportunity presents and feel I am up to speed at the time, I would seriously consider a special forces officer. Even then, just curious how it would work?

[SeanR87]

Which career branch would I be better suited to begin a commission in.

Which one is more relevant to Special Forces missions.

[willw]

I too will stay in my lane and just try to give you some general officer advice based upon my experience. Obviously if it is an option in your state then an Infantry slot is the best preparation since you will have the opportunity to go to Airborne and Ranger school. You will also learn lots of field craft which is obviously very helpful.

While on active duty I had quite a bit of interaction with SF and I think the skill set that makes a great SF soldier is a very eclectic mix so based upon my experience I think you can have a non traditional track and still do it. Just focus on being the most tactically and technically proficient officer you can be. If you wind up in a support branch you will obviously have some catch up on certain things like land nav in particular, but you can stay tremendously fit regardless of branch.

I can't say how it works for other states, but it seems like in Colorado that the SF unit is very open minded and looking for quality people. There is another member of the forum who was a commissioned officer in another service and they are talking with him about getting into the SF track.

[PigginOut]

Not to Hijack but you can go Special Forces in the guard?

Or are we having a RA discussion here?

[willw]

There are SF units in the Guard.

[Recruiter yosis]

[QUOTE=PigginOut]Not to Hijack but you can go Special Forces in the guard?

Or are we having a RA discussion here?[/QUOTE]


Yes. We even have Ranger Dets as well.

[Draco771]

[QUOTE=PigginOut]Not to Hijack but you can go Special Forces in the guard?

Or are we having a RA discussion here?[/QUOTE]

Ever heard of 19th, and 20th SFG? They are both ARNG, 19th is West Coast, 20th is East Coast....

[tomdell13]

Not a QP, and from another service to boot... ;-) But a pretty good description of training is here: [url]http://www.nationalguard.com/specialforces/training.php[/url]

My understanding of SF is that you have to know you want to do it. Given that, good luck!!

[Recruiter yosis]

[QUOTE=Draco771]Ever heard of 19th, and 20th SFG? They are both ARNG, 19th is West Coast, 20th is East Coast....[/QUOTE]


Maryland has the 20th group. I'm not too sure how far its from the land of monkeys

[Phantom]

20th SFG(A), is in 9 states currently. 19th is about the same and added Texas last year.

[dnall]

[QUOTE=sp.copper]What about in a state where we have Special Forces, but only artillery units, no armor or infantry?

I am leaning towards an aviation officer, but if the opportunity presents and feel I am up to speed at the time, I would seriously consider a special forces officer. Even then, just curious how it would work?[/QUOTE]

You go to selection as a 1LT/junior CPT (ie before you complete a CPTs course & maybe after you finish CO time). You will then complete the MCCC as part of the training pipeline prior to attending the Q.

You cannot go SF from AV. You also cannot maybe kinda sorta thinking about it become an AV officer. To get branched AV, you need an AFAST & Class I physical, plus you need an open slot (fewer avail than SF) which you need to work you butt off to earn. You need to get thru a process of about five interviews starting at a local unit & working up to the SAO.... in short, it's not something you just write on a list & hope for the best.

[dnall]

[QUOTE=Phantom]20th SFG(A), is in 9 states currently. 19th is about the same and added Texas last year.[/QUOTE]
I've heard some completely baseless speculation that as USSOCOM moves into expansion, that 12th Group might get stood back up in the guard, based in middle states (like Mississippi River to Rockies), and TX goes from Co to BN. Don't know if there's a spec of truth to that, but it seems like a good idea.