Green Beret Training

The Green Berets, a.k.a. the United States Army Special Forces, is the special operations force of the U.S. Army that specializes in unconventional warfare, counter-terrorism, and a whole lot of other military activities.

Its officers are trained in everything, right from riding a camel to dealing with guerrilla warfare and terrorism. Taking that into consideration, one can imagine how tough the selection and training process for the Green Berets must be.

Forget the training part, the preparation itself is test of your physical and mental strength. The selection process is an ordeal which goes on for 24 days. The preparation course for that will be the ultimate test of your mental and physical mettle.

For getting through to the course, one has to score at least 260 points in the physical fitness test conducted by the army. While this is the minimum score required, it may not be sufficient to get you selected, and therefore, you should aim for 300.

Just to give you an idea of the test, you might be asked to do 100 push ups in 2 minutes or run a couple of miles in 12 minutes or so. Thus, you have to be in a top physical condition to undergo this training ... to wear the Green Beret―the distinct headgear from which the unit derives its informal name.

You are only qualfied for the special force if you are in the age group between 17 to 21. Once selected, the training process, which is sheer sweat and blood with no respite, goes on for around 55 to 95 weeks.

The selected candidates are sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for the first phase of physical training which involves pull-ups, push-ups, running, swimming, obstacle runs, rucksack marches, and orienteering exercises. This is a major test of the brute force that these candidates have.

Needless to say, this part of this training, called Q-Course is equally taxing as the first phase. This course attempts to bring to the surface the leadership skills of the cadets and see how well they gel with a team. This is an extremely rigorous regime and cadets are occupied the whole day, from dawn to dusk.

Another aspect of this training is to simulate real life scenarios and see how the cadets fare. For assisting the soldiers in a mock prisoners of war camps, for instance, the soldiers get Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training, which helps them tackle the enemy in case they are caught.

Post training, soldiers are assigned in groups shoulder to shoulder with ones who commanded them as well as those who were their fellow trainees. Other than unconventional warfare and counter-terrorism, Green Berets also indulge in foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, etc.

For successfully accomplishing the Green Beret training, you don't just need brute force, but also need a lot of intelligence and some diplomatic skills!