Special Forces recruiters prep Fort Bliss Soldiers for SFAS

By Stephen Baack, Fort Bliss MonitorAugust 4, 2011

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1 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – From left, Spc. Joshua Mathis, Sgt. Andrew Morgan and Sgt. Micaela Mastran perform lunges up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, on the morning of July 26, 2011. A timed and modified ruck march followed the lunges. The Soldiers a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – From left, Staff Sgt. James Keller, Pfc. Torrey Leggett and Pfc. Nassal Braimbridge work their way up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, with extra weight July 26, 2011. Leggett is seen here a second after catching the pole from... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Soldiers take turns carrying objects up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, during a ruck march July 26, 2011. Most of the Soldiers in the group are preparing for Special Forces Assessment and Selection at Camp Mackall, N.C. (Pho... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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5 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Spc. Joshua Mathis takes his turn carrying a log up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, on the morning of July 26, 2011, alongside other Soldiers planning to attend Special Forces Assessment and Selection at Camp Mackall, N.C. Th... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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6 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Sgt. Micaela Mastran, a medic assigned to 31st Combat Support Hospital, regains her composure after finishing a ruck march up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, that had her and other Soldiers carrying logs, tires and sandbags J... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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7 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Sgt. Nick Anderson runs down McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, on the morning of July 26, 2011, during the last few seconds of his physical training session with other Soldiers slated to attend Special Forces Assessment and Sel... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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8 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Staff Sgt. Luis Alamaguer helps another Soldier haul a tire up McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, on the morning of July 26, 2011. Alamaguer is taking part in Fort Bliss Special Forces Recruiting Station’s training cycle that is... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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9 / 9 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT BLISS, Texas – Sgt. 1st Class John Ranger leads an after-action review with Soldiers near the top of McKelligon Canyon in El Paso, Texas, on the morning of July 26 after a physical training session during which Soldiers carried tires, sandbags a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BLISS, Texas (July 26, 2011) -- There are 79 Special Forces recruiters in the Army, whose job includes accepting applications, answering questions and briefing Soldiers on the SF career field.

For Sgts. 1st Class Rob Usnick, John Ranger and Travis Evans, Special Forces recruiters for Fort Bliss, their job goes beyond signing up candidates. Usnick and Ranger have committed themselves to mentoring and training with those interested in joining the elite ranks that include Special Forces operators, Cultural Support Teams and Military Information Support Operations.

As part of helping candidates prepare for the nearly monthlong Special Forces Assessment and Selection at Fort Bragg, N.C., Usnick and Ranger conduct a rigorous physical training regimen that typically starts two months from a Soldier’s ship-out to SFAS. The PT is part of a 10-cycle-per-year program that includes review of basic Soldier skills like land navigation.

“We do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Usnick said of the training. “These guys deserve the best. We want to give them every chance they can to be successful.”

“What we try to do is give them the highlights,” Ranger said of their mentoring. “We try to -- for lack of a better term -- prep that battlefield for these guys, get their focus to the best of our ability, to the best of their ability and set them off on the right foot.”

The Soldiers, who come from units across Fort Bliss and whose jobs run the gamut from administrative clerk to infantryman, have received authorization to break off from their own units to do PT with this special group of Soldiers.

“You can see all these guys -- you don’t see anybody crying or anybody quit,” said Staff Sgt. Luis Alamaguer, supply noncommissioned officer, referring to the PT sessions. “Everybody wants to be here. Everybody wants to do this.”

Alamaguer, dripping with sweat, had just finished a PT session at McKelligon Canyon during which members of his team took turns carrying a log, a sandbag and a tire held by a steel pole -- all uphill with weighted ruck sacks and after having completed an extended set of lunges. The two teams each had a team leader who decided when his Soldiers alternated and how the work/rest cycles worked.

“It’s always very hard,” Alamaguer said of the PT. “Out here, the main thing is … you’re not competing against any of these guys. You’re competing against yourself. That’s the bottom line. All the time, you don’t want to quit, but you’re fatigued -- really, really tired -- but you see everybody else going and you’re just telling yourself, ‘I can do this. I’ve got to do this.’”

Sgt. Micaela Mastran has plans to one day be part of Military Information Support Operations, formerly referred to as Psychological Operations. Mastran, a medic assigned to 31st Combat Support Hospital, decided she wanted to make the switch to special operations while serving in Afghanistan.

“After all those things you see there in the CSH, I just came to the conclusion that if I want to be a good medic, I really want to prevent all of those things -- all the injuries and all the amputations,” said Mastran, who has been doing PT with the group since May.

Mastran describes the rigorous PT as a love-hate relationship.

“You’ve got to love it to come here, but it’s hard,” she said. “Days like this … it’s a fight within yourself. You see your own limitations.”

For Pfc. Torrey Leggett, who plans to attend Ranger School, it’s particularly motivating to have the recruiters out there with them.

“They motivate me because they don’t have to be out here with us,” said Leggett. “That’s what keeps me going. That’s why I give it my all. They mentor me and motivate me. That’s all I need to make it through.”

With a course start date of November, Leggett has plenty of time left for the PT regimen he loves but considers challenging and painful.

“It’ll bring the man out of you, I’ll tell you that,” said Leggett.

Ranger pointed out, however, that there can be a “fine line between strong and stupid” during a regimen that is often a balance between quickly improving one’s fitness level and preventing injuries. Usnick said Friday usually serves as a sports day and that the Friday before a candidate leaves for SFAS, Usnick’s advice to them is not to “lift anything but a fork.”

With all the help Ranger and Usnick offer those slated to attend SFAS, they stressed that the mentorship and training are not meant to be a play-by-play, but rather preparation and familiarization, for SFAS.

“The minute it didn’t happen like you expected it, you’re shattered,” Usnick said about the dangers of providing such a play-by-play.

Offering more information would be counter-productive, Ranger said, because SFAS changes constantly and the nature of Special Forces is volatile, at times unregimented to the point of frustrating those who are used to strictly planned training cycles -- like military police. Ranger said Special Forces, as a whole, seeks physically and mentally stable Soldiers who are “outside-the-box thinkers,” and come from different branches of the Army and walks of life to tackle this unconventional career field.

“When you come to a place like Fort Bliss, some of these guys -- unless they’ve worked with them downrange -- I’m probably the only SF guy they’ve ever seen,” said Usnick, who admits his imposing figure matches what most people think of when they hear the term “green beret.” “It’s hard to explain to them that we don’t want all 11Bs from 1st Armored Division. Then, we’d just be high-speed infantry with beards and long hair when we deploy. We want that S-1 person, we want that fueler, we want that 13F, we want that Humvee mechanic.

“That’s what makes SF so badass, in my opinion, is the simple fact that we do recruit from everybody, and the guys on our team come from all walks of life, different branches,” said Usnick, who is an Air Force veteran. “It’s what really makes us, you know, special, in my opinion.”

While SFAS may be one of the most difficult tests a Soldier ever attempts, Usnick said it’s a mistake to think it’s all downhill after selection.

“It never stops,” said Usnick, who added that during the Special Forces Qualification Course, Soldiers are “constantly assessed,” and PT days with SF units are often competitions. “You can’t be lazy. John and I are getting ready to retire and guess what? We’re out here every day with these guys. It just never ends.”