Training The 21st Century Special Forces Warrior
Training The 21st Century Special Forces Warrior
Training The 21st Century Special Forces Warrior
Background
Introduction
So what?
No endstate means flexible standard and flexible content Flexible standards produce inconsistent results Selective application of standard means a weaker force
Research Questions
Is the SFQC training character and the critical skill sets necessary to enable todays SF soldier to dominate on the battlefield?
What personal qualities of character have made the common special forces soldier successful on the battlefield? Can and should special forces soldiers be trained with respect to these qualities, or must training be limited to the mastery of selected tasks? What skill sets should be trained, who determines them, and why? Should the end state be continually adjusted in order accommodate the quality and/or culture of a candidate, or should he be required to adopt the traditional US SF culture?
Delimitations
Not
an analysis of SFAS, though it is linked Not a detailed history of our enemy Not a debate on the conduct or merits of just wars.
Patterns:
Sufficient information is available to determine a range of common successful character attributes. Details of training regimens, who designed them and why are ample
Gaps:
Not much information on the actual training of character as it relates to soldiers The assessment of character or judgment of the worth of a man remains subjective
Historical Analysis:
Character, ethics and the SOE OSS selection and training SF selection and training in 1952, 54 Exploration of ancient warrior cultures codes Research of Donovan, Banks
Operational Analysis:
OSS success Case Studies on successful and unsuccessful Special Ops and the training of the men involved Analysis of SFs history over the last 20 years
Enemy Analysis:
Trinquier, Kaplan, Friedman, Oneil
Chapter 4 Analysis
Units tended to select for character and train skill sets The quintessential SF guy Units tend to initially select from the good ol boy network, then transition to a more formal process
Chapter 5 Recommendations
Publish a relevant end state for the SFQC Determine the level of mastery for each critical capability and the allocation of time for each