to all Marines, what do you think about this guys answer about special forces.?

Question

this was posted earlier by some guy.

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Well he's simplified things a bit at the least.

While there are a couple of SF enlistment oppurtunities... that doesn't mean you are going to be a member of any of the special forces UNTIL you complete primary training in a 'regular' MOS or job. THEN you get the CHANCE to try out for special forces training. The cut out rate is very high.

The only exception to this I believe is enlisting as a PJ or Parajumper in the Air Force. That MOS is considered special forces and you can enlist directly into it.

Otherwise, for the Army, Marines, or Navy - good luck. A LOT of people apply for SF training. Most don't make it.

However, he probably is still technically young enough. The age cut-off for most of the special forces is in the mid-thirties. But most of those people have been serving on active duty for a number of years before they apply and get accepted to try out.


*To be an Army Ranger - you CAN get the chance to apply for Ranger school written into your enlistment contract now. But again, you have to join the Army first, complete Basic Combat Training, your training in a regular MOS (job), pass an assessment course (very tough) and then make it through a very tough school. The cut-out rate again is still very high.

Can read about what the school is like here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ranger_scho...



The 110 score he was talking about was probably his composite GT score. A subset score of parts of the ASVAB. A score of 110 in that area is the minimum cut-off score for a lot of oppurtunities in the Army. For example to be considered for any officer commission or special forces in the Army - you have to score a 110 or higher in the General/Technical categories on the ASVAB.

Sorry to use so many acronyms.

By the way - since some Marine will eventually get on here and start bragging: The Marines don't even have anything all that special when it comes to special forces. Recon is about it and it is equivelant to an Army sniper. They are scouts. But they aren't even Airborne qualified. Not knocking what they do - just get tired of hearing MC people that have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to being in the SFs. Army (Rangers) and Navy (SEALs) are where it's at when it comes to traditional special forces. And Army is it when it comes to non-traditional commando style special forces (i.e. "Green Berets" and "Delta" forces).

Source(s):

"De Oppresso Liber"

here was my answer

this is for the guy who posted below;
Regular battalion Recon is not technically part of special forces command, but they are far more trained than Army snipers and Rangers.
Force Recon is joining Special forces command and if you were to ask any SEAL or Army SF they would tell you they have ALWAYS been considered Special Forces.
And as to not being airborn qualified, they wear the combat diver badge and the gold jump wings as their version of the Trident.
so, in conclusion, you are an idiot.

Answer 1

What do I think about "this guy's" answer about Special Forces?

Total B/S. Why?

1. As stated a few times in answers above, "this guy" is referring to Special Forces when he is talking about Special Operations. Someone who is in a Special Forces unit or any of the other units in Special Operations Command would not have made such a mistake of reference.

2. "This guy" has no clue about Marine Recon.

Some of the answers above, apparently by some fellow Marines, in support of Marine Recon, fell a little short of target. Please allow me to walk some rounds onto target and fire for effect.

All Marines must successfully pass the Basic Reconnaissance Course to become Recon Marines. The east coast version of this school, Amphibious Reconnaissance School - ARS, has closed down and combined with BRC. BRC has moved it's HQ from Coronado to Camp San Onofre, near the School of Infantry, on Camp Pendleton. The amphibious portion of BRC is still conducted at Coronado.

One can not compare BUD/S with BRC. BUD/S is more like Marine SOI, BRC and Marine Combatant Divers School (with heavy overtones of Marine Boot Camp) all rolled into one school.

Before the Marine Combatant Divers School existed, some Recon Marines would be sent to complete the 2nd Phase of BUD/S as one of the several SCUBA Schools available to all Recon Marines.

Historically, there are two Marine Recon units. Battalion Recon and Force Recon.

The lineage of Force Recon of today began with Amphibious Reconnaissance dating back to World War II.

The mission of battalion Recon is to provide close and distant reconnaissance to an infantry battalion or MEU commander, as well as to conduct specialized direct action missions, as is mostly the case in the current theater of operations, ie. Afghanistan and Iraq.

The mission of Force Reconnaissance is to provide distant and deep reconnaissance to an infantry division or MEF commander, as well as to conduct highly specialized direct action missions.

Battalion Recon Marines are jump and Combatant Diver qualified though, generally, they are either one or the other, not both.

Battalion Recon is not tasked with sniper missions but some Battalion Recon Marines have gone through Sniper School.

Force Recon Marines are generally more experienced and have had more time in service than Battalion Recon Marines.

The training path for both Bn. and Force Recon are almost identical, the only difference being that HALO/HAHO qualification is available to only Force Recon Marines.

With the activation of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), all of the active duty Force Reconnaissance companies were deactivated.

These Force Recon Marines were sent to two different places.

Half were assigned to Deep Reconnaissance Platoons in the Recon Battalions to continue the Force Recon mission in support of the MEF commander.

The other half went to Marine Special Operations Battalions in MARSOC to provide the same Force Recon mission in support of the DOD.

The MSOBS are actively conducting combat operations in support of the global war on terrorism, as are the Deep Recon Platoons and the Recon Battalions.

Finally, in response to "this guy's" statement:

"Not knocking what they do - just get tired of hearing MC people that have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to being in the SFs. Army (Rangers) and Navy (SEALs) are where it's at when it comes to traditional special forces. And Army is it when it comes to non-traditional commando style special forces (i.e. "Green Berets" and "Delta" forces). "

I'll knock what "this guy" does. I just get tired of kumquats like "this guy" coming across as some type of an authority on a subject about which they obviously know nothing.

Answer 2

How do I think you'd do? You never know until you're there, bub. Seriously, you sound active and physically fit, and that will give you an advantage over many of the new recruits. An incredibly large portion of training is devoted to physical endurance, and your chances of success (and not just getting by, but doing well) will increase dramatically if you are in good shape. You also sound like the kind of person the military wants and needs...a good citizen, responsible, outdoorsy, smart and cultured. Socializing does count for something, because being able to build good relations with others and inspire them is a quality that good leaders have. The only skill you mention that doesn't really matter for anything is paintballing. It's fun, but in terms of military skills, it's worthless. The only redeeming thing (possibly) about it is that you might be able to adjust fire to hit a moving target. That's it, though. On the flip side, any military skills you learn might make you a better paintballer. ;) So start talking to recruiters now, or maybe in a year. Talk to your folks about it, because you'll need them to be on board with your decision if you're under 18 (and even if you're over 18, it's nice to have them supporting you). Take care of your body and your mind in that time. You'll take the ASVAB, which is like a big SAT that covers a variety of topics...there are websites out there that offer practice tests. Your ASVAB score will determine all of the jobs available to you in the military, and each branch has their own ASVAB. Like Emin said, the Army has more options as far as Special Forces go. You could go to airborne school, Ranger school, Special Forces school, take the combat diver's course, air assault school, the list goes on. If you have Netflix at all, you should check out the show "Surviving The Cut." It's a great program, and each episode features a different elite training course. They show Ranger training, Air Force pararescue school, Marine Recon training, Marine Scout Sniper training, Navy EOD training, and Army Combat Diver course. Good luck, man. There are a lot of opportunities out there. I'm sure you'll do well at whatever you decide.

Answer 3

I'll keep this plain and simple. Marine Force, Amphib RECON, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, SF, Airborne, and Air Force Paras are all elite. They ALL train hard, they ALL know their SPECIALIZED skills, they ALL take and give their best, they ALL have left a legacy of fear and death, and they ALL have had someone make the ultimate sacrifice. Their esprit de corps runs high in each branch and in my book I have not run a mission with any one of them that was any better than me or my men. I think what is most important is that ANYONE of them, no matter what branch insignia he was wearing, would lay down his life for the other. THAT'S what the term "Special" means. Being able to HALO or jump from a bird, run through the jungle on the enemies own turf with four to six professionals and get what needs done...DONE... is SPECIAL. I don't give a damn what uniform you're wearing. I'm retired SF/Airborne/ Ranger who has seen two sons go off to the Marines, one grandson to the Army, one grandson to the Naval Academy and I'm proud of them all and razz their young asses for joining anything but the Army but I would fight and follow them to hell because they are good at what they do. If the Combined Chiefs of Staff would combine the Special Forces/Ops, Hell, this country would have a whole new military branch to join. Don't forget, it was the SF who took all of the flak from conventional thinking people who never understood the need for EACH branch of the service to have their own unique unit. Before that, it was UDT, submariners, paratroopers, Rangers, OSS, fighter pilots, and Marine Raiders who were the bad asses and they had to prove their worth in their day. Personaly, I'm VERY proud to have worn the Green and the Black berets and my jump wings and I was just as proud to see any other "special" military-man do the same.

Answer 4

Not sure what the point is. He is right about one thing, too many are thinking they can just enlist right in the Seals or Special Forces, Recon, or other such units. You have to complete basic, be qualified and experienced in a certain MOS, get recommended for the school, and then vie for the spot and successfully complete the training. All of the above forces are extremely competitive and the training has a high washout rate.

Answer 5

You wouldn't take your girl out in a dump truck and you wouldn't haul a load of gravel in a corvette! Every unit in the military is there for a purpose, and they are doing it well. I can tell that some of these mental midgets that have answered have no idea of what they are talking about. I've served in Airborne, Ranger, and SF units. They all have different missions and are organized and trained accordingly. I have trained with Marines, Marine Force Recon, SEALS, etc. and have found them all to be highly professional and motivated. If you asked one of them guys who the most bad @ss is, they would probably tell you that it's "one of the other guys", because at that level and maturity, they don't care what other people think. I had a CSM tell me once that the meanest SOB in the military is a Master Chief Boatswains Mate. I didn't believe him until I ran into one. My face still hurts.

Answer 6

I would consider those in Marine Recon more my brother, a compatriot and someone that I could relate to in a conversation than 99% of the human population.

Everybody has a job to do and all have a core mission. It overlaps but each service is really good at certain things. Actually the guy was completely on target. He said the truth in a nice way. Taking issue implies much.

Those who disagree... it implies hard core private or someone who could not make it. This is because those who could would understand the answer.

Answer 7

I think it's funny as heck watching the Army and Marines snipe at each other.

Like a bunch a pre school children saying " my daddy can beat your daddy up ".

Does anyone really think an extra 10 days of training 3 months after you enlist, really makes a difference by the time your a Corporal ?

Or after you have went thru a pre deployment training cycle, deployed and came back ?

People need to get a grip, do their own job, and stop worrying about the other services.

We all know, every service is gonna snipe at the other branch's untill that big meteor slams into earth 800 years from now.

So why take it personal ?

Just snipe back !!!!!

After all, i can't help it Soldiers and Marines, didn't know how to read well enough to enlist in the Air Force !!!!!!!!

There, now you can snipe at the Air Force..

Have fun sniping !!!!!!!

Answer 8

Be wary of the use of special forces as a general phrase. There is only one special force and they are known as the green berets. Those high end units are special operations or "spec. ops."

Although the training is intense, actual practice hasn't always worked out as planned. Sometimes they are even worse than general units (the desire to use defective equipment or equipment that has a worse rating than general equipment), spray and pray shooting and elitism/group think causing poor planning or creating undesired reactions. They are also still only human.

Answer 9

hh:

Your comparison of Rangers and Marine Infantry isn't at all accurate.

First of all, Rangers do 13 weeks of Army Infantry school, then 3 weeks of airborne (airborne school is not part of Ranger school as you imply), 3 weeks of Air Assault (helo) then 4 weeks of Ranger Indoc Program (RIP) and then the 64 day Ranger school you mentioned.

All in all you are looking at 225 days of training.

Army Ranger = 225 days of training
USMC Infantry = 54 days of training

Now tell me they are equal.

hh:

Oubviously everyone has their own biases based on thier experiences. I worked with 1st MEU during Operation Cobra Gold last year and my Army leg Infantry unit rucked them into the ground. One of the 1st MEU guys, Halber was his name (good dude) said that they had spent the last 4 months on at sea and had gotten out of shape. How much quality training can be done on a boat?

RIP is not deployment training. If you want to argue this point, do a little more research. RIP is the school that Soldiers who are going to be assigned to Ranger Btn, have to go through to earn the right to then go to Ranger school.

Like the USMC the Army trains year round as well. 4-16 week field problems in the Mojave desert are common and yes we run in boots and ruck in the heat etc. (notice didn't add this to my training numbers, its just a given).

The majority of training occurs after initial schools at the unit level and at proving grounds such as NTC, JRTC, etc. I'm not trying to lure you into a pissing contest, I just have never seen a Marine that was any better at his job than a soldier; but they will all be the first to stick thier finger in the air when the media is around.

In my experience, the guy running around telling people how great he is usually isn't even close to what he claims.

Anyway, I'm not going to comment further because oubvously I cannot open your mind to the idea that Marines aren't inherently better people or stonger people than Soldiers.

Lastly, making fun of patches and berets is fine if that's the best argument you can make. Of course, its a good thing the 1st Cav came in and bailed you guys out of Fallujah...things were starting to get ugly.

Answer 10

well after reading this article i must remind you that fighting with a slingshot was the first and preffered method for the army. Before that it was the good ol johnny small and johnny tall combo. and before that there was the blaster rifle. Special forces you say? i've been in them for ten years, best years of my life. Until i got both legs chopped off in the pacific gulf war. ever since then its been downhill for me. although the pension is fine. these so called delta forces couldn't catch a mosquito if it bit them. much less a hawk 10-33 helicopter. hope i helped you CHAMP.