Special Forces after West Point

[BillSL]

I guess that all depends on what you call "action." It has been said on this forum many times that if you're looking to kick down doors and shoot bad guys in the face for a living then enlist.

Precisely! That's what I meant!

I was saying that I am assuming the OP means he wish to joins the "Delta Force" because he wants (insert the Officer's equivalent of "to kick down doors"). IF THAT IS SO, my research has yielded that the closest you can get to that would NOT be in Delta.

However, if the OP is looking for a more administrative job, my REALLY-short research has yielded that Delta Officers do not go to the frontlines (like the enlisted Delta operators), so it COULD make more sense.

I am assuming that the OP wants (insert the Officer's equivalent of "to kick down doors") because apparently that's what many people want.

Anyways, I could be wrong.

 

[Art.Perea]

Precisely! That's what I meant!

I was saying that I am assuming the OP means he wish to joins the "Delta Force" because he wants (insert the Officer's equivalent of "to kick down doors"). IF THAT IS SO, my research has yielded that the closest you can get to that would NOT be in Delta.

However, if the OP is looking for a more administrative job, my REALLY-short research has yielded that Delta Officers do not go to the frontlines (like the enlisted Delta operators), so it COULD make more sense.

I am assuming that the OP wants (insert the Officer's equivalent of "to kick down doors") because apparently that's what many people want.

Anyways, I could be wrong.

I do want to kick down doors, I mean, come on, who doesn't? but I realize as an officer it would be more administrative. I want to go on some missions, but then I want to start planning and running operations, rather than going on them. I'm not looking to just blow everything away and play with cool toys.

 

[LineInTheSand]

Before you can join the Special Forces, you must spend some time on a SWAT team, followed by some time as an FBI agent, and finally as a CIA spy. Once you've done all of that, checked those boxes, you are officially allowed to be a Green Beret. Try to go to medical school during that as well, it beefs up your application package. Also, marry a babe.


That's how it works right?

 

[cb7893]

Sniping vs. kicking doors down

At some point, one has to choose between shooting them in the face from 1000 yards and kicking down the door, then shooting them in the face. You
can't do both.

Would probably be good to discuss this with a priest, rabbi, mullah or psychiatrist.

 

[scoutpilot]

At some point, one has to choose between shooting them in the face from 1000 yards and kicking down the door, then shooting them in the face. You
can't do both.

Would probably be good to discuss this with a priest, rabbi, mullah or psychiatrist.

So your take is that a desire to join a direct action SOF unit is indicative of a mental health issue?

 

[BillSL]

I do want to kick down doors, I mean, come on, who doesn't? but I realize as an officer it would be more administrative. I want to go on some missions, but then I want to start planning and running operations, rather than going on them. I'm not looking to just blow everything away and play with cool toys.

Haha, got it! And I agree with the bolded part!

At some point, one has to choose between shooting them in the face from 1000 yards and kicking down the door, then shooting them in the face. You
can't do both.

Please... in Arma 2 you can fly a chopper over the area of operation, HALO out of the cockpit, land in the mountains, shoot someone in the face from 1000 yards away, run a little, kick down some doors, shoot some more people in the face, steal a tank and drive back to your operations base. In just like, 5 minutes or so. Hehe.

 

[USMA2016]

I do want to kick down doors, I mean, come on, who doesn't?

I have no burning desire to break a perfectly good door. This doesn't make me a bad American or a terrible future cadet and officer. I know that I do not belong in any SOF and that my talents could be better used elsewhere in the military. So, to answer your question, I don't.

 

[cb7893]

So your take is that a desire to join a direct action SOF unit is indicative of a mental health issue?

On the contrary, a huge majority of us post WWII males at some point have felt that desire. If not that, then they wanted to be Maverick, shooting down how many MIG's on one sortie. He would not have pulled it off had he not been psychoanalyzed by Kelly McGillis.

In my case, it was Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape" jumping barbed wire on motorcycle or William Holden drinking martinis on the beach with a beautiful British nurse in "Bridge over the River Kwai".

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways."

I took Scout's and BillSL's posts to be helpful, funny nudging of OP along in the process of developing self-awareness. I was just trying to get in on the fun.

Scout, on the serious side, you said it. You don't join SOF. You are selected. I've got to believe they only select folks who have given up childish thinking and reasoning.

Keep the posts coming. You too BillSL.

 

[waynexc1]

Short answer: no, you can't enter immediately.

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Read these books, you'll love them and get quite an education at the same time:

Kill Bin Laden -Dalton Fury (fun fact: Dalton Fury is a pseudonym and the author chose that name not only for anonymity but also because "Dalton Fury" has the same initials as "Delta Force")
This book touches on Delta Force and what it takes to be selected, to make it, and be in it along with telling the story of when they almost got Bin Laden the first time.

Chosen Soldier -Dick Couch
This title is literally a step-by-step account of the Special Forces training pipeline from SFAS all the way through to getting the tab. It's a little dry, but it is also very informative.

Informative text by Couch. Fits stories and experiences of SF major I know that ran with my dad.