The US military has plenty of specialized units with varying missions and each has their own niche carved out thru years of intense training. Whether it be the Army, Navy, Air Force, or the Marines, each service has their own specialized units. For this piece, we’re going to deal with the US Army Special Forces, popularly known as the “Green Berets.”

If you’re reading this perhaps you’ve already decided that Special Forces is for you and you’re getting ready to prep for Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) and a chance to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course or “Q” course.

This article won’t deal with the ‘how-to’ tips that will help you get thru selection, although we’ll touch briefly on that subject. First, let us separate fact from fiction. We’ve all heard the wife’s tales and myths of the Special Forces soldier, right? “You have to be 10-feet tall and bulletproof.” “SF guys have to have the athletic ability of NFL players.” Yadda, yadda, these are total fabrications.

There isn’t any big secret about passing selection, in fact to those of us who worked out there the saying used to be, “the answer is so simple that it is hard.” It is all about you the individual. Selection is 70 percent mental and 30 percent physical. You don’t have to look like an NFL linebacker to pass the course. I certainly didn’t and the vast majority of guys I finished with didn’t either.