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Training > SFAS
Special Forces training is long and hard.
There are several phases of training to go through before one becomes a
"Green Beret". The first step is to be "selected" in the
Special Forces Assessment and Selection course or SFAS.
Special Forces Assessment and Selection is three weeks long. You are
mentally and physically stressed and evaluated by Special Forces
instructors for suitability to continue training in Special Forces.
There are many reasons why you may not be selected
during SFAS. One reason is you may not be physically ready for the
course - meaning your physical fitness is not what it needs to be. A
second reason is that you may suffer an injury that prevents you from
completing the course. A third reason is that you are just not mentally
tough enough - the heart and mind is not there! The cadre may feel your
are not quite Special Forces material or that you are not ready for the
SFQC just yet.
But hopefully you will show up for SFAS prepared
for the rigors ahead of you. The info and links below may be helpful
in your preparation.
Websites with Info on SFAS
"What is SFAS?" Learn about SFAS and the Thor 3 Training Program to
prepare for SFAS.
https://goarmysof.com/sf-training/
Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS),
National Guard.
www.nationalguard.com/special-forces-assessment-and-selection
SFAS, Enlisted Special Forces -
WordPress.com
https://enlistspecialforces.wordpress.com/sf-training-pipeline/sfas/
SFAS, USAJFKSWCS Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/insideswcs/sets/72157625737150591/
Articles about SFAS
October 24, 2020.
"Predicting Success: US Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection
(SFAS)", Tier Three Tactical.
March 16, 2017. Passing SFAS - Team Week, Be Prepared to be
Tested, Special Operations.com.
https://specialoperations.com/30559/passing-sfas-team-week-prepared-tested/
SFAS Videos on YouTube
Special Forces Assessment and Selection, USAJFKSWCS, DVIDS,
November 14, 2018, 4 mins.
www.dvidshub.net/video/640200/special-forces-assessment-and-selection
How to Pass Special Forces Assessment & Selection (SFAS) & Become a
Green Beret, Mr Guns & Gear Channel - YouTube, August 13, 2018.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d_WtaWG59w
Another Disappointing Day as SFAS Cadre, YouTube.com, October 28,
2014.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdYQEdzVEA
SFAS: Special Forces Assessment and Selection, GX Magazine,
February 19, 2014, 4 mins.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQs00Wja0mw
Two Weeks in Hell. Discovery Channel video documentary on SFAS.
Produced in July 2010. When it was filmed SFAS was two weeks long; shortly
before the one-hour program aired on TV SFAS was increased to three weeks.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4DYstzDAJo
Pre-SFAS Workout. California Army National Guard.
Books, Papers, and Publications about SFAS
Gucciardi, D. F., Lines, R. L. J., Ducker, K. J., Peeling, P., Chapman, M.
T., & Temby, P. (2020). Mental toughness as a psychological determinant of
behavioral perseverance in special forces selection. Sport,
Exercise, and Performance Psychology. Advance
online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000208
Emily K. Farina et al, "Physical performance,
demographic, pyschological, and physiological predictors of success in the
U.S. Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection course", Physiology
& Behavior, Volume 210, October 15, 2019. Retrieved on October 25,
2020 from
ScienceDirect. Read online or download PDF (12 pages).
"A History of Assessment and Selection",
Special Warfare Magazine, Volume 29, Issue 2, July - December
2016.
https://www.soc.mil/SWCS/SWmag/archive/SW2902/A%20History%20of%20Assessment%20and%20Selection.pdf
"Selected!". Be prepared for
the U.S. Army Special Forces Selection & Assessment Course. Learn to
use your mind as a weapon. By Josh Henkin and Anthony Humpage,
September 2009. This 61 page document, located on the website of the
Special Operations Recruiting Battalion (SORB), provides important
information on how to physically and mentally prepare for SFAS. Some of
the topics include a recommended fitness program, footcare, preparation
for running tests and rucksack marches, heat acclimatization, hydration
and electrolyte management, and more.
www.bragg.army.mil/sorb/Text/SELECTED_EBOOK.pdf (link no longer works)
"Developing Physical Capability Standards That are
Predictive of Success on Special Forces Selection Courses", Military
Medicine, 178, 6:619, 2013.
Access
here.
Beal, Scott A., The Roles of Perserverance,
Cognitive Ability, and Physical Fitness in U.S. Army Special Forces
Assessment and Selection, U.S. Army Research Institute, July 2010,
PDF, 27 pages.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a525579.pdf
Bartone, Paul T. et al, "Psychological Hardiness
Predicts Success in US Army Special Forces Candidates", International
Journal of Selection and Assessment, January 25, 2008.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2008.00412.x
"Get
Selected for Special Forces". A book by LTC Joe Martin
available on Amazon.com. (Sep 2005).
Special Forces Assessment and Selection
Program Development for Force XXI, by Major Daniel G.
Burwell, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, 1999.
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a367697.pdf
Prescreening Methods for Special Forces
Assessment and Selection, May 1999.
The Special Operations Proponency Office (SOPO) at the U.S. Army John F.
Kennedy Warfare Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) requested help from
the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Psychological Application
Directorate (PAD) and the U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) in
identifying prescreening tools that could be used to identify which
soldiers have the greatest chance for success in the Special Forces (SF)
selection and tralning pipeline. This information would allow SOPO to
minimize recruitment of soldiers with little chance of completing Special
Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS), and allow slots to be filled by
soldiers who have a greater probability of success. PDF, 39 pages.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235010591 and
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a365003.pdf
Special Forces Assessment and Selection,
by Sean P. Feeley, Thesis for U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey,
California, December 1998.
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/32625
Brooks, Judith E. and Michelle M. Zazanis,
Enhancing U.S. Army Special Forces Research and Applications, ARI
Special Report 33, U.S. Army Research Institute, October 1997, PDF, 87
pages.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a339086.pdf
Russell, Teresa L. et al, Development of a
Roadmap for Special Forces Selection and Classification Research,
United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social
Sciences, October 1995, PDF, 269 pages.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a317151.pdf
Hudgens, Gerald A., Frank J. Malkin, and Linda T.
Fatkin, Stress Evaluation of a Special Forces Assessment and
Evaluation Course, Technical Memorandum 6-92, U.S. Army Human
Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, August 1992,
PDF, 63 pages.
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA256793.pdf
Pleban, Robert J. et al, Selection and
Assessment of Special Forces Qualification Course Candidates: Preliminary
Issues, U.S. Army Research Institute, ARI Research Note 88-37, April
1988.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a196245.pdf
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Once you are selected in SFAS you can then attend the
Special Forces Qualification Course.
Members of the Army National Guard can attend SFAS without leaving their
current unit. Once they attend SFAS and get selected then they can
then transfer to the
National Guard Special Forces.
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