Female gets Green Beanie

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

double

[chuckman]

So why the NG angle? She joins the NG and then says, heck, I want to be SF. Is that common?

I got no experience about nothing, but from the outside it just seems strange.

IF some 18 year old kid told me he joined the National Guard and he's going to be a Green Beret, I'd think that was the biggest bullshit sell by a recruiter in history.

Caveat, the ones I know are out of the 20th group in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, I know a handful of guys up there. Most of them, but not all, are former active duty who want to ride out their time and get retirement.

They claim if you work the system is the best of all worlds, you can deploy just about as much as you want to, you can go to almost any school you want to, and you don't have to always work within your MOS. For example, I know a Delta, he is a firefighter.

The NC SF guard is always recruiting, both former active duty as well as brand new kids off the street.

When I got off active duty and was trying to think about what I wanted to do, I gave them a hard look, but at that time they were deploying all the damn time.

[yoni]

One of my friends went through selection for the Tier 1 army unit while he was in the National Guard. He then served 17 years there and he told me about an officer in the Navies Tier 1 unit, that after he reached a rank that assured him his days as an operator was over. He left the Navy joined the guard and went through selection for the same unit and to the best of my knowledge is still in.

[The_War_Wagon]

First Female Soldier Graduates Special Forces Qualifications Course, Earns Green Beret

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...s-green-beret/

I don't even know what to say, commies allowed to graduate from West Point and now this.

You NEED a green beret, to work the stove?

[BoringGuy45]

So why the NG angle? She joins the NG and then says, heck, I want to be SF. Is that common?

I got no experience about nothing, but from the outside it just seems strange.

IF some 18 year old kid told me he joined the National Guard and he's going to be a Green Beret, I'd think that was the biggest bullshit sell by a recruiter in history.

I had asked a former SF guy about this awhile back. For the most part, most of the 19th and 20th SFGs are former active duty SF guys, but you CAN join the National Guard and, if one of the two NG SF groups has a company in your state's guard, you get an 18X contract (it's called something else for NG, but it's essentially the same thing). One of the nice things about the NG 18X is that you're pretty much guaranteed your choice of Group and MOS, unlike AD, where you'll be asked your preference but assigned to whatever they need you to do.

I was also told that if you want to go SF in the Guard, don't expect one weekend a month and a two weeks a year; it'll be quite a bit more than that. It's not near the commitment of active duty, but it's a LOT more time commitment than the rest of the Guard, and a lot higher chance you'll get activated and deployed. You may be in the Guard, but you're still a Green Beret, so you'll need to keep your skills sharp. If you get activated, you'll have the same long, intense train up that active duty SF groups get before they head overseas.

I'm repeating what I was told from a few years ago, so things might be different, or I may have misunderstood. If someone is more in the know about this, feel free to correct me.

[chuckman]

One of my friends went through selection for the Tier 1 army unit while he was in the National Guard. He then served 17 years there and he told me about an officer in the Navies Tier 1 unit, that after he reached a rank that assured him his days as an operator was over. He left the Navy joined the guard and went through selection for the same unit and to the best of my knowledge is still in.

If that guy's initials are KH, I know him....

[titsonritz]

Does she look like the wife of a Russian beet farmer?

[26 Inf]

I had asked a former SF guy about this awhile back. For the most part, most of the 19th and 20th SFGs are former active duty SF guys, but you CAN join the National Guard and, if one of the two NG SF groups has a company in your state's guard, you get an 18X contract (it's called something else for NG, but it's essentially the same thing). One of the nice things about the NG 18X is that you're pretty much guaranteed your choice of Group and MOS, unlike AD, where you'll be asked your preference but assigned to whatever they need you to do.

I was also told that if you want to go SF in the Guard, don't expect one weekend a month and a two weeks a year; it'll be quite a bit more than that. It's not near the commitment of active duty, but it's a LOT more time commitment than the rest of the Guard, and a lot higher chance you'll get activated and deployed. You may be in the Guard, but you're still a Green Beret, so you'll need to keep your skills sharp. If you get activated, you'll have the same long, intense train up that active duty SF groups get before they head overseas.

You guys do know there are Reserve SOF units in every branch, don't you? Some examples: Air Guard - combat controller, pararescue, TACP; Marines - 4th RECON BN; Navy - SEAL teams 17 and 18; Army - 19th and 20th SF Groups.

Here's a blurb from the Army NG SOF site:

Guard Special Forces live throughout the United States and train with their units one weekend (three to four days) per month, plus an additional two to four weeks of training per year. Deployments are also less frequent, generally once every two to three years for six to 15 months, allowing Guard Green Berets to live as both civilians and Special Forces team members.

I worked/trained with 12th SFG (deactivated now), 19th SFG, C Co 4th Recon BN, and the East Coast Reserve SEAL Team while I was a Reserve Pathfinder from late-70's to 1989.

The SEALS were the sloppiest jumpers I ever jumped with, they thought they were too high speed to rope jump.

The reserve airborne units during my time period got extra active duty for training days, and extra Unit Training Assemblies (drills) we called them AUTA's. For example once a quarter my unit did a four-day drill which during which we jumped into a training area, Fort McCoy, as an example, did our training and then on Monday returned to Wichita, generally jumping into a drop zone near Wellington, Kansas. Additionally, we would often get additional AT time, usually another 4 or 5 days.

During those days we were usually funded for any course that would be considered as supporting our ARTEP tasks. I'm not sure how it is today, back then Reserve/NG SOF stuff was as choice as you wanted to make it.

I trained with some other units that were duds because their AGR's were lazy, and the unit command didn't want to do more than the minimum. As an example, in our platoon. we were generally able to finagle enough AUTA's to do voluntary 'airborne proficiency operations' (AKA as hop and pops) several times a year. I've made as many as five jumps in a day before all the chutes were burned. This wasn't an easy thing to accomplish, you had to arrange aircraft, get rigger support, get medical support, secure training areas, etc. in addition to the admin stuff that routinely goes along with a drill. The few times we drilled with other reserve/NG airborne units they were like, 'wow, we don't do that.'

As I said, unless things have changed, there is a lot of opportunity on the NG/Reserve side of the house in all branches.

[BoringGuy45]

You guys do know there are Reserve SOF units in every branch, don't you? Some examples: Air Guard - combat controller, pararescue, TACP; Marines - 4th RECON BN; Navy - SEAL teams 17 and 18; Army - 19th and 20th SF Groups.

Yep, I knew that. Army National Guard SF is, I believe, the only reserve SOF unit that a person can join without prior service in the active duty unit.

[SteyrAUG]

I've said this before and I've gotten shit on both sides. I think so long as standards are maintained, I have no issue with women in any unit in the Military. Now when I say that I want to also say that if 100 women enroll and only 1 meets then standard, then only that 1 female should be allowed to serve in the unit, but if none meet then standard then none should serve and etc. Just maintain the standard, and if standards need to be raised and anyone, regardless of sex should have to also rise to meet that challenge.

With this, I would also mention that you need to constantly review standards and push to ensure that the standards align with the mission.

This is where I am.