No secrets to Army special operations selection criteria

By Dave Chace
USAJFKSWCS PAO

	File photo The U.S. Army Special Forces Accessions Board screened more than 800 candidates earlier this year before announcing those selected to attend the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in hopes of becoming special operations Soldiers.

This year’s crop of officers selected as candidates for Special Forces, Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs training were announced this past April, following a selection process managed by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center & School, based out of Fort Bragg.

In this process, this year’s Army Special Operations Force Accessions Board screened over 800 individual files, exceeding the number of training slots available to candidates. Applicants for each respective branch were judged and selected based on how well they demonstrated the attributes, trainability and suitability required. 
The board reviewed each candidate’s official military personnel file, as well as an Army special operations resume and recent APFT results. 

“Officers selected for SOF training clearly demonstrated the potential for promotion and company command in their basic branches,” said Lt. Col. Michael Lwin, the Psychological Operations branch chief at SWCS.  Furthermore, he said, the majority of the best-qualified applicants had more than one Officer Evaluation Report in their file, and scored higher than 240 on their most recent APFT.

“The majority met or exceeded the Army’s physical fitness standard of excellence,” he said.
The board viewed special skills, abilities and experiences as positive indicators for possible assignment to the Army’s special operations branches.  In various cases, experiences such as languages skills and foreign work or study contributed to an officer’s consideration.

Common problems with applicants’ packets included outdated official photos and APFT results, and missing Defense Language Aptitude Battery scores.  The DLAB is a test designed to gauge an individual’s ability to learn a language, not test their current fluency in a specific language.  No prior language training is necessary to score highly on the DLAB.  This web-based test is available at military posts across the world.

“While these deficiencies by themselves did not result in non-selection, the board considered them when rating the quality of the overall file,” Lwin said.

The DLAB is used to determine which languages a candidate is qualified to learn during their training.  All officers going to a special operations unit is trained in a designated language.
Officers selected for Special Forces will be slated to attend a 19-day iteration of Special Forces Assessment and Selection at Fort Bragg.  If selected to continue their Special Forces training at the conclusion of SFAS, candidates will PCS to Fort Bragg for about a year of advanced training before earning their green beret.  This training will include courses in language and culture, individual and small unit tactics and leadership, ending with Robin Sage, a four-week unconventional warfare exercise conducted across central North Carolina.

Officers selected to transfer into the Psychological Operations or Civil Affairs branches will attend either the pilot or initial assessment and selection courses for their desired branch after the completion of other required training. Those selected by the board will be contacted and slated for training by their respective future readiness officers at Army Human Resources Command. 

Civil Affairs teams and units help military commanders by working with civil authorities and civilian populations in the commander’s area of operations to lessen the impact of military operations on them during peace, contingency operations and declared war. 

Psychological Operations is a vital part of the broad range of U.S. political, military, economic and ideological activities used by the U.S. government to secure national objectives. PSYOP is the dissemination of truthful information to foreign audiences in support of U.S. policy and national objectives.

The 95th Civil Affairs Brigade and 4th Psychological Operations Group are the only active duty units for their respective branches.  Both units are located at Fort Bragg, and report to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Officers commissioned in fiscal year 2008 who are interested in applying for next year’s board can find the most current information at the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion website at http://www.bragg.army.mil/sorb/.

According to Lwin and his fellow branch chiefs for Special Forces and Civil Affairs at SWCS, officers interested in applying for next year’s board should focus on maintaining and updating the basic packet requirements., including their official photo, APFT record, DLAB score and their Officer Record Brief to include their most recent deployment experience, if applicable.

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