oracle
02-24-2002, 04:01 PM
Former Green Beret remembers action, brotherhood (http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/specialforces_24liv.Zone1.Edition1.bedec.html)
02/24/2002
By DAVID TARRANT / The Dallas Morning News
The Green Berets huddle in a dry irrigation ditch deep behind enemy lines in Iraq.
They are monitoring Iraqi army troop movements and feeding the information back to military commanders. It is Feb. 21, 1991. In two days, a massive ground assault will be launched in the ultimate phase of the Persian Gulf War. In an incredible stroke of bad luck, a rifle-toting Bedouin shepherd and his herd cross through their position. The shepherd stares a moment at the Green Berets and then sprints away.
Sgt. 1st Class Gary Seideman watches the retreating figure of the Bedouin, who he believes is part of the Iraqi National Guard, disappear over the sand dunes. He declares the mission compromised.
But their escape is quickly foiled. Within minutes, Iraqi soldiers attack. For the next six hours, the nine soldiers fight desperately to hold off a larger enemy force while waiting for a rescue.
Eleven years later, Mr. Seideman stands in his Dallas office looking at a photo he took minutes before the Iraqi attack. The photo shows the tension on the faces of the soldiers.
"It didn't look good. We didn't want to surrender. It would have been ugly," he says.
He is 40 now -- a civilian, a co-worker, a noncombatant. But there is an edgy preoccupation in his ice-blue eyes, as if he is listening for a call that would spring him from his chair and spirit him out of his office in a moment. A mustachioed minuteman awaiting his mission.
He looks away from the photo and speaks with the bedrock resolve ingrained in his psyche after a career in the Special Forces.
"So we made a decision not to surrender."
Now in the spotlight
They operate in stealth mode. Yet it is as if America has suddenly discovered them.
The Special Forces -- which include the Army's Green Berets and Delta Force, Navy SEALs and Air Force Special Operations -- have taken the leading role in the U.S. war against terrorism that began last fall.
The film Black Hawk Down about Army Rangers and Green Berets in a 1993 battle in Somalia is a huge draw at movie theaters.
This month, a new Tom Clancy book, Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces (Putnam: $29.95) is being released.
The attention could help dispel worn-out myths about the Special Forces as a gang of incorrigible, one-man armies, says retired Gen. Carl Stiner, former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., and co-author of Shadow Warriors with Mr. Clancy.
"This fable that they're all Rambos is the furthest from the truth. We do not accept Rambos nor accept anyone that is not absolutely stable in every respect," Mr. Stiner says.
"These are very smart guys," says Mr. Clancy. "These are brain surgeons who kill people. They study their profession at least as carefully as a surgeon studies his."
Few chosen
Like brain surgeons, those in Special Forces pride themselves on being the crème de la crème, the elite of the elite. The statistics bear this out.
Of the 2.2 million people in the U.S. military, only 46,000 -- about 2 percent -- make up the Special Forces.
Intelligence scores for Special Forces members trend higher than those in the general officer ranks do, Mr. Stiner says.
For every 100 soldiers who volunteer for the Green Beret's initial assessment course, fewer than 20 are selected for further training. Of that number, fewer than two-thirds will earn the beret.
Instructors look for more than just muscle-ripplers. They look at overall physical fitness, motivation and ability to cope with stress, as well as leadership and teamwork skills. The process favors traits such as maturity, trustworthiness and self-motivation.
The training is dangerous and demanding. Instructors scream at recruits and harass and intimidate them constantly.
"They have to test how you will react under extreme sleep reduction during patrols and land navigation. It's very challenging mentally," Mr. Seideman says.
Soldiers must demonstrate the ability to lead and think under extreme stress.
"You might not have sleep for days, and you have to motivate your men, and you've got people screaming at you at all hours -- 'You're mud! You're dirt!'
"They want to see how much you can take before you quit. It's a great way to mess with people," he says.
Candidates are never told how they're doing. "A lot of people have to be stroked to perform. You're not looking for a person like that," Mr. Stiner says.
An evaluation board meets after the first phase to determine which candidates will be allowed to continue in the program.
"Once you find a person with these qualities, you can always train them in the skills," Mr. Stiner says.
Even if you pass the initial assessment, you're still a long way from becoming a Green Beret. An additional 12 to 18 months of training will determine whether you have what it takes.
Special Forces soldiers are trained to work in urban, jungle, desert, mountain, maritime and arctic environments. They must be able to survive for months behind enemy lines.
They require foreign language skills in order to teach military tactics in other countries.
It can cost as much as $1 million to produce one combat-ready member of the Special Forces.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/specialforces_24liv.Zone1.Edition1.bedec.html)
02/24/2002
By DAVID TARRANT / The Dallas Morning News
The Green Berets huddle in a dry irrigation ditch deep behind enemy lines in Iraq.
They are monitoring Iraqi army troop movements and feeding the information back to military commanders. It is Feb. 21, 1991. In two days, a massive ground assault will be launched in the ultimate phase of the Persian Gulf War. In an incredible stroke of bad luck, a rifle-toting Bedouin shepherd and his herd cross through their position. The shepherd stares a moment at the Green Berets and then sprints away.
Sgt. 1st Class Gary Seideman watches the retreating figure of the Bedouin, who he believes is part of the Iraqi National Guard, disappear over the sand dunes. He declares the mission compromised.
But their escape is quickly foiled. Within minutes, Iraqi soldiers attack. For the next six hours, the nine soldiers fight desperately to hold off a larger enemy force while waiting for a rescue.
Eleven years later, Mr. Seideman stands in his Dallas office looking at a photo he took minutes before the Iraqi attack. The photo shows the tension on the faces of the soldiers.
"It didn't look good. We didn't want to surrender. It would have been ugly," he says.
He is 40 now -- a civilian, a co-worker, a noncombatant. But there is an edgy preoccupation in his ice-blue eyes, as if he is listening for a call that would spring him from his chair and spirit him out of his office in a moment. A mustachioed minuteman awaiting his mission.
He looks away from the photo and speaks with the bedrock resolve ingrained in his psyche after a career in the Special Forces.
"So we made a decision not to surrender."
Now in the spotlight
They operate in stealth mode. Yet it is as if America has suddenly discovered them.
The Special Forces -- which include the Army's Green Berets and Delta Force, Navy SEALs and Air Force Special Operations -- have taken the leading role in the U.S. war against terrorism that began last fall.
The film Black Hawk Down about Army Rangers and Green Berets in a 1993 battle in Somalia is a huge draw at movie theaters.
This month, a new Tom Clancy book, Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces (Putnam: $29.95) is being released.
The attention could help dispel worn-out myths about the Special Forces as a gang of incorrigible, one-man armies, says retired Gen. Carl Stiner, former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., and co-author of Shadow Warriors with Mr. Clancy.
"This fable that they're all Rambos is the furthest from the truth. We do not accept Rambos nor accept anyone that is not absolutely stable in every respect," Mr. Stiner says.
"These are very smart guys," says Mr. Clancy. "These are brain surgeons who kill people. They study their profession at least as carefully as a surgeon studies his."
Few chosen
Like brain surgeons, those in Special Forces pride themselves on being the crème de la crème, the elite of the elite. The statistics bear this out.
Of the 2.2 million people in the U.S. military, only 46,000 -- about 2 percent -- make up the Special Forces.
Intelligence scores for Special Forces members trend higher than those in the general officer ranks do, Mr. Stiner says.
For every 100 soldiers who volunteer for the Green Beret's initial assessment course, fewer than 20 are selected for further training. Of that number, fewer than two-thirds will earn the beret.
Instructors look for more than just muscle-ripplers. They look at overall physical fitness, motivation and ability to cope with stress, as well as leadership and teamwork skills. The process favors traits such as maturity, trustworthiness and self-motivation.
The training is dangerous and demanding. Instructors scream at recruits and harass and intimidate them constantly.
"They have to test how you will react under extreme sleep reduction during patrols and land navigation. It's very challenging mentally," Mr. Seideman says.
Soldiers must demonstrate the ability to lead and think under extreme stress.
"You might not have sleep for days, and you have to motivate your men, and you've got people screaming at you at all hours -- 'You're mud! You're dirt!'
"They want to see how much you can take before you quit. It's a great way to mess with people," he says.
Candidates are never told how they're doing. "A lot of people have to be stroked to perform. You're not looking for a person like that," Mr. Stiner says.
An evaluation board meets after the first phase to determine which candidates will be allowed to continue in the program.
"Once you find a person with these qualities, you can always train them in the skills," Mr. Stiner says.
Even if you pass the initial assessment, you're still a long way from becoming a Green Beret. An additional 12 to 18 months of training will determine whether you have what it takes.
Special Forces soldiers are trained to work in urban, jungle, desert, mountain, maritime and arctic environments. They must be able to survive for months behind enemy lines.
They require foreign language skills in order to teach military tactics in other countries.
It can cost as much as $1 million to produce one combat-ready member of the Special Forces.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/specialforces_24liv.Zone1.Edition1.bedec.html)