You may think, why in the world would the Army Special Forces known as the Green Beret be upset about recruiting civilians to join the world’s best. Well as a former United States Marine, let me share the unsettling TRUTH on why Green Beret hate this.
During Iraqi Freedom or New Dawn and the Afghanistan invasion, the Pentagon came to realize that we would quickly need more Special Forces Operators. Special Operators operate behind or even on enemy lines! This means you need a special set of skills for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, to be highly effective on the battlefield at higher risks than normal. This is 100% considered, one of the world’s most dangerous jobs to ever consider.
So why is this a problem if they are needed? Why be upset that more people are coming through to do the world’s most dangerous job for others who wouldn’t even kill a bug? To start, the Army has a time period for all Soldiers who are active before they can submit to join the Green Beret. You normally would have to wait until you reach the rank of E5/Sergeant which can take a few years. This means you have the skill set, knowledge, and most of all the experience to know what it’s like to be an Army Soldier. Civilians skipping the line coming right in can have a lack of discipline, experience, and in some cases, maturity! This can Dilute Green Beret Toughness and Strength. You are only as strong as your weakest link in this field.
This Is on the minds of all Special Forces. They need to have strong personality under extreme conditions. They operate in really small groups sometimes up to groups of four, behind or in front of the enemy lines or even under the enemy’s roof! Green Beret who join in through the 18X program also are more likely to do one term, which is shown that the retention rate on is very low on keeping them. This is a bigger problem because the ones who were in since Iraqi Freedom and Afghan are now ready to retire! Who will be our newest fighting machines and will they stay our world’s best?
Let me know what you think and as always, tune into the AskMo Podcast on YouTube! See Yah!