but like how long is the SFAS process? Is it sililar to Hell Week?
First tip I have for you, work on your grammar and watch your spelling. Attention to detail. This is key if you want to become an SF soldier.
Once you finish OSUT and Abn at Ft. Benning, Ga you will PCS to Ft. Bragg, NC. This is what an 18Xer can expect:
Special Operations Preparation and Conditioning (SOPC I - 4 WEEKS): First two weeks, released for the evenings and weekends. Last two weeks you probably will not be released until the weekends because of night training. You’ll do Improcessing/PT Test/Basic Soldering/Land Navigation/PT. Bonus paperwork started (takes about 1 month for the money).
Phase I: Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS – 4 WEEKS): (Lock Down Camp MacKall, No Phones). The purpose of SFAS is to identify soldier’s trainability and suitability for service in Special Forces. The program assesses physical fitness, motivation, and the ability to cope with stress. Activities include psychological test, physical fitness and swim test; runs, obstacle course, and ruckmarches; and military orienteering exercises. At the end of the course, an evaluation board meets to select those soldiers who may attend the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC). Most candidates find SFAS to be physically demanding. You must score a 229 on the Army Physical Fitness test for the 17 to 21 year age group, minimum of 60 points in each event.
LEAVE: Sometimes you will have leave after SFAS.
SOPC II (2 WEEKS): (Released on weekends only) Small Unit Tactics (SUT), Raids, Ambushes, Reconnaissance, and Patrolling.
COMMON CORE TRAINING (19 DAYS)Lock Down Camp MacKall) Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC), and Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course (BNCOC).
Swim Training (2 WEEKS): Soldiers who have difficulty swimming will attend swim classes.
Phase II: Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC – 7 WEEKS): (Lock Down Camp MacKall, No Phone Calls.) Phase II focuses on Land Navigation and Small Unit Tactics. Students conduct training at Camp MacKall, NC to assess individual ability in the two areas of emphasis.
bPhase III SFQC: Military Occupational Skill (MOS) Specific Training: (I won’t include the descriptions)
18B – 65 days
18C – 65 days
18D – 322 days (will not be assigned unless candidate shows high proficiency in medicine and is capabable)
18E – 65 days
Phase IV: Culmination Exercise/Robin Sage (6 WEEKS): (Lock Down Camp MacKall). Students are transported to Camp MacKall where they form Student SFODA and put their knowledge and skill to use in the Robin Sage Field Exercise (FTX). Robin Sage is a 19 day problem solving FTX. During this unconventional warfare exercise, the students are required to apply the lessons learned from previous months of Special Forces MOS training and field training. The exercise involves the students, counterinsurgen and guerrilla personnel (other service members), auxiliary personnel, and cadre. This scenario stresses realism because th student SFODA must train mock guerrilla force in a hostile environment using civilians in the surrounding community as the auxiliary. This exercise ranges approximately 50,000 square miles. By conclusion of Robin Sage, the students have been placed in many situations where they were required to use MOS and leadership skills, and their abilities were tested to work in adverse and ambiguous conditions. (Awarded Green Beret Upon Completion)
Phase V: Language Training (4 to 6 MONTHS): The Basic Military Language Course (BMLC) is primarily a performance-oriented course. Students must show proficiency in speaking, listening and reading. The general purpose of the course is to provide each student with the ability to communicate in a foreign language. For successful completion fo the course, the student must achieve at least a 70 percent average in all four modules, a 0+ or higher on the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) in two of the three graded areas (speaking, listening, and reading). The Languages are divided into four categories:
Category 1: Spanish, French, and Portuguese (18 Weeks)
Category 2: German, Indonesian (18 weeks)
Category 3: Czech, Persian-Farsi, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Tagalog, Thai and Turkish (24 weeks)
Category 4: Arabic, Korean and Japanese (24 weeks)
Phase VI: Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE- 3 WEEKS): (Lock Down). The SERE course is conducted at Camp MacKall, NC. The goal of training in SERE is to teach personnel how to survive if they become separated from their unit; to evade a hostile force and make their way back to friendly forces; and to avoid capture. IN the event that soldiers are captured, SERE training prepares them to resist the enemy attempts at exploitation, to escape from captivity and return home with honor. (Awared the SF Tab upon completion)
Average Total Time from Enlistment to SF Unit 22-37 Months
(Includes wait times but not recycles)
Do not expect to get recycled in SOPC, too many 18Xers coming in, and they aren't wasting any time recycling. SFAS will weed any that shouldn't have made it through SOPC out.