RECON, SEALS, Special Forces....Just a recruiting gimmick and its working...??

questionman

Yes I think that it is a gimmick because when I was in the Naval recruit training center in Great Lakes, I have met a few recruits who enlisted for the opportunity of making the team only to have their dreams dashed prematurely after being informed that they had a certain color-blindness.

Wouldn't you think that it would be more efficient to screen for this trait before they were even put on a plane/train/bus to Great Lakes? Not to mention more tactful and insightful?

I'd imagine a dialogue between them would go something like this:
Navy: "I'm sorry you can't be a seal, you're colorblind."
Naive recruit: "I had no idea."
Navy: "Yeah it's um, a very <cough> rare form of colorblindness ... But don't worry! If you are assigned a different job you can re-apply from within and you will have an advantage over the guys who are just off the street, and the Navy will just gloss over your colorblindness. Remember, the Navy takes care of their own first."

So yes, you're right they reel 'em in and shelve them into some other job as soon as they can. No need for them to even waste their time going to Coronado!

I agree that it's cheap, but it's also a learning experience for those kids naive enough to fall for it.

Ducati 996R

Yep it's convienient for recruiters but video games have nothing to do with the army except that one that the army came out with.

Anyone who tries out for SEALs, or Special Forces without reading about them first doesn't take it seriously enough to get the job in the first place.

jeeper_peeper321

Well, as to seals, most of thier members, come from right out of A school's. Not from the fleet.

I did read that only 2% of the 18x enlistees, actually made it thru SFAS, no word on how many of those finished all training. As of a couple of months ago, there had been around 750 people enlist under the 18 x option.

But surprising, the failures, were spread pretty equally between, Infantry OSUT, Jump School, (SOPC) and SFAS.

IE: over 80% never made it to SFAS, but surprisingly, around 50% never made it to (SOPC).

But then the failures, go to a infantry unit, so it helps recruiting, and SF does pick up 15 to 20 new members.

I don't really know how the Marines are handling Recon.

But it is no different than many other jobs,

There are alot of highly technicial jobs that have high failure rates also.

All they can do, is give you a chance, no one can make you put the effort necessary to pass the training.

Walt D

Your right but the "whole story" is in the hands of more than just the recruiter. The whole experience of becoming a GI needs to be understood and the recruit should know the odds and his personal responsibility for making it into those slots and succeeding.

G.I. Reaux

That's a damned good observation. Based on the questions posted here, there is good evidence that you are on to something. Following one questioner's history, it appears that he wants to be an Airborne Ranger Sniper/Medic (I'm not kidding--I couldn't make this up), but is wondering if he gets his run-time down to an 8-min mile if he will be ready for Ranger School (that's what the literature says folks--they run 8-min miles). He has been asking such questions for nine months, and as far as I can tell is no closer to signing an enlistment contract than he was in June. At the same time he constantly refers to his recruiter as an idiot. So, before we bash on the recruiters too hard, remeber the mindset of the recruit that they are having to deal with. They want the instant gratification of filling the "cool-guy" role from their favorite video game, without taking a realistic self-assessment: "Is this something I really can/should do...am I fit enough...do I have the drive...might I be better off getting some experience before trying to be an elite Special Operations type?" A recruiters job is not to assess these so, cheap tactic or not, if the option is there, it falls back on the recruit. They are old enough to sign the contract, they should better have done the research.

Kicking Bear

It is a good thing to enlist knowing you will get a guaranteed shot at that. Not all "A" schools give you the chance to try out for those schools. Some guys enlist in the Navy as cooks thinking that they will be like Stephen Seagal in Undersiege - only problem is, you can't be a cook and go into the Teams. So it is a nice program to ensure you are on the right track - but when it comes to that kind of commitment, you need to read all the fine print.

Trident89

I don't think its wrong of the military, those who want it, will get it, those who just want the title of "SEAL" or "Special Forces" are usually the ones who get that swift reality check at Indoc. I will admit that it seems a bit of a selfish ploy on the recruiters part that most SOF recruitment events take place where usually teenage guys who's knowledge of the military is limited to SOCOM Navy SEALs and Rainbow Six games i.e (skate demo's, video game conventions etc.) Personally I don't like all the media and franchises and hollyweird attention the SEALs get, especially now that a movie is coming out based on Lone Survivor. Also although I would have agreed with you Lavadog on the 99% a few years back, nowadays they are going to great lengths to prepare these guys for nearly everything they can expect in the SOF training program and they are seeing great results. Check out this site to see some of the improvements and statistics.

Yak Rider

It's not wrong, but I believe the military should be FORCED to provide potential recruits current statistics on the odds of making it all the way through the pipeline. A recruit really needs to understand that when he enlists with a "SEAL Challenge" (or whatever they call it) the odds of him making it are less than 1 in 100.

I'm constantly amused by the SPEC OPS questions that are asked here. Sometimes I'll see a show about one of the SPEC OPS units on A&E, Discovery Channel or History Channel and note a big increase in questions here.

I've always chalked these questions up to a bunch of 14 year old boys who live in a fantasy world.

desertviking_00

You have to recognize that naivete is almost at epidemic proportions in our society. If it were not, you would never see another Nigerian e-mail scam letter showing up in your inbox.
A British author once spent four years touring this country. He didn't stay in five-star hotels. He really got around the country, observed the people and took notes. His analysis is worth thinking about: The U.S. has a growing problem of more and more people masquerading as adults while still mentally in 7th grade.
Some of these questioners on this site remind me of a shipmate of mine in boot camp at Bainbridge, Maryland some fifty one years ago. He wrote a letter to his parents and told them he joined the Navy because it was such a clean outfit. Now he wanted to come home because he just found out who kept it clean.

slayter19

yeah dude i agree, all of a sudden all the infantry spots in the marines are taken, i personally blame cod4, anyway my mos is infantry lol but its what i always wanted and im waiting 2 years before i even trying out for recon

Brad V

I disagree with your assessment . Since when do we go to the front of the line for anything in life? We need to earn our chance to be there. That holds true with simply making it through boot camp, let alone being one of the selected few to be accepted into Recon, SEALS, or Special Forces.

If the applicant has any grit at all and he fails, there's always the next time. The one thing the has going for him is time. Let him get a little experience first, as a line company grunt, or whatever MOS he has chosen. He can re-apply when he has kicked some of the sand out of his boots.

Personally,I don't believe any newly minted graduate of boot camp is ready or deserving of a shot at the elite corps until he has spent the time learning how to be a Marine, soldier, or sailor !

YCKMA

I don't recommend anyone joining if they haven't done their research yet. You can't blame the recruiters because of your own stupidity if you haven't even done any research on the job you want yourself.
You can easily read about just how hard the training is for these elite groups just by googling about them. I'm going into the Air Force fresh out of high school & I want to be a Combat Controller but I did not make a firm decision until I knew exactly what I was getting myself into & if I was even capable of passing the training. The second step after doing your research is to take the ASVAB.

scubasniper

Lava Dog how are ya brother? Ok, I can only speak of the SF contract given by the US Army. I know NOTHING of the SEAL contract whatsoever. The Marine Recon contract is simply letting Marines out of SOI try out the Recon Indoctrination. Once they pass then they still have 6 months of trial and probation before they're even allowed to begin the pipeline. I know this due to the Marine Recruiter I shoot with on the weekends, and I've still got a lot of Recon buddies pretty high up now. Anyway, the SF contract for the Army is a pretty doable deal. You go through basic, then AIT(Army SOI), once done there you go to Ft. Bragg to train up for 5 weeks. If you make it through that, which is not overly difficult, then you're back to Ft. Benning to do jump school. Any trained monkey that can run in boots will pass Jump School. Once done with that, it's back to Bragg for another 8 weeks of training before going out for SFAS, Special Forces Assessment and Selection. This is a 3 week kick in the nuts that is the do or die time in getting picked up for SF. There is a 30% pass rate, as there was before they began the SOPC program, (SF contract), about 5 years ago. If you pass and get selected then you begin your Q-course for SF. This last approximately 1.5 years. 2 if you get picked up for Special Forces Medic. The numbers haven't changed as far as pass/fail for SFAS and Q-course. In order to get the contract from the Army you have to be able to pass the Army PT test with a higher score than simply passing. Bottom line my brother is this, the Armys SF contract hasn't changed the numbers because the ones passing would pass if they started out in the regular Army first, or went the quicker route.

Stellaluna (bat girl)

I know someone in SF and all I can say is...be careful what you wish for.

Chris K

One of the responses cracked me up. Darrell M was lecturing you:

"why are you letting video games influence your decision making process?
first off if you let video games become that much of a influence in your life, you will not be able to pass the mental examination. second off it is up to you to ask questions and understand what is going be happening with your career/ i have looked online into these professions and it is clearly spelled out you will have a low probability of completing theses schools successfully. so if you don't know it is your own fault."

"Decision making process." lol. He thinks you're a game freak wannabe.

DOOM

Not for a second. I live in a world in which personal responsibility never ends. If you can't hack it in SF training, you shouldn't be enlisting for it. Besides, anyone can make it through these schools; he just has to want to. I also question your 99% attrition rate among fresh recruits.

Articled

Stellaluna - you know a couple of people actually! ;D

I don't think it's wrong to offer the oppurtunity in contract - if anyone is even semi-serious about it, they will look up their chances of making it through or otherwise research it and know what they are getting themselves into.

The ones that don't are doomed to failing themselves in life anyway.

For the ones that are serious, at least they can know when they sign a 4+ year contract - that at least they'll get that chance to try and attain their dream.

For the people that are really serious about SF and maximizing their chances - there is another option open besides the traditional pipeline and the 18X enlistment option - that has been in place for over 20 years. That leaves very little to no commitment if you do not make it through selection (SFAS) as well... I bring this up just to point out, where there's a will, determination, and a little intelligence - there is a better way. The smart ones will figure these things out and make it in - the ones that aren't serious and don't do their homework are probably going to fail and not make it in: as it should be.

darrell m

why are you letting video games influence your decision making process?
first off if you let video games become that much of a influence in your life, you will not be able to pass the mental examination. second off it is up to you to ask questions and understand what is going be happening with your career/ i have looked online into these professions and it is clearly spelled out you will have a low probability of completing theses schools successfully. so if you don't know it is your own fault.

no i don't think he is a game freak wannabe chrisk but you might be. i was lecturing no one. it was a statement of fact if you let video games influence you that much you have a serious problems. your response to me cracks me up because you have no clue.

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