On the shores of the Emerald Coast, candidates from all walks of Air Force life approach the sand, covered in salt and grit, their uniforms soaked with seawater as the warm Florida sun beats down on their red faces.

A team of cadre, armed with clipboards and overbearing presence, shout commands at the candidates to confuse them, stress them out and push their bodies to the limit.

Before the group has a chance to evaluate their situation, the instructors push them through more assessments, continuously asking each candidate one important question: Do they have what it takes?

Special Tactics career field training pipelines are some of the most physically and psychologically challenging in the Air Force. To ensure the correct individuals are on the battlefield, a group of Special Tactics Airmen weed out the cross-training candidates who don’t meet the high standards, putting them through a weeklong selection process to select only the best-qualified individuals.

This team of cadre is known as the Recruitment, Assessment and Selection (RAS) team at the Special Tactics Training Squadron here.
What’s little known is that cadres of the RAS team are from Special Tactics career fields, so they know firsthand what it takes to make it through the training pipelines.

Read More- Shadow Spear

Image courtesy of Shadow Spear