Thursday, April 24, 2014

Thursday Thirteen - US Army Special Forces!



Captain Landon Donovan, the hero in HER PERFECT MATE (X-OPS Book One) my upcoming release from Sourcebooks, is Special Forces, so I thought I'd give you a little primer on SF!

1. The United States Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear - Green Berets.

2. They're a special operations force tasked with five primary missions:  unconventional warfare (the original and most important mission of Special Forces), foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism.

3. Other duties include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, counter-proliferation, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, information operations, peacekeeping, psychological operations, security assistance, and manhunts.

4. Most of their operational techniques are classified.

5. As special operations units, Special Forces are not necessarily under the command authority of the ground commanders in those countries. Instead, while in theater, SF units may report directly to a geographic combatant command, USSOCOM (Unites State Special Operations Command), or other command authorities.

6. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits from the Army's Special Forces - Just like the Department of Covert Operations (DCO) a super secret part of Homeland Security in my X-OPS Series.

7. The main mission of the Special Forces was to train and lead unconventional warfare (UW) forces, or a clandestine guerrilla force in an occupied nation. The Special Forces are the only U.S. Special Operations Force (SOF) trained to employ UW.

8.  Special Forces personnel qualify both in advanced military skills and the regional languages and cultures of defined parts of the world.

9. SF team members work closely together and rely on one another under isolated circumstances for long periods of time, both during extended deployments and in garrison. Because of this, they develop clannish relationships and long-standing personal ties.

10. Special Forces are divided into five active duty (AD) and two Army National Guard (ARNG) Special Forces groups. Each Special Forces Group (SFG) has a specific regional focus.

11. There are 5 Active Special Forces Groups (Units): 1st SFG out of Lewis-McCord; 3rd SFG out of Ft. Bragg; 5th SFG out of Ft. Campbell (where my hero and his A-Team are from); 7th SFG out of Eglin; 10th SFG out of Ft. Carson; 19th SFG (NG) out of Draper; and the 20th (NG) out of Birmingham.

12. A Special Forces company normally consists of six ODAs (Operational Detachments-Alpha) or "A-Teams".[18][19] Each ODA specializes in an infiltration skill or a particular mission-set.

13. SF Schooling Includes: 9 weeks of Boot Camp, followed by 4 weeks Advanced Individual Training and Infantry School. After graduating they attend:
Army Airborne School – 3 weeks
Special Operations Preparation Course (SOPC)  - 4 weeks
Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) – 3 weeks in
Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) – 34 -76 weeks depending upon MOS Specialty
Live Environment Training (LET) -  Immersion Training in foreign countries – varies in time.
Depending on MOS within SF, completing these schools can take 14-18 months


Blurb:

Their attraction is more dangerous than any weapon of mass destruction.

He's a High-Octane Special Ops Pro

When Special Forces Captain Landon Donovan is chosen for an assignment with the Department of Covert Operations, he's stunned to find his new partner is a beautiful woman who looks like she couldn't hurt a fly, much less take down a terrorist.

She's No Kitten

Ivy Halliwell isn't your average covert op. Her feline DNA means she can literally bring out the claws when things get dicey. She isn't thrilled to be paired with yet another military grunt, but Landon is different. He doesn't think she's a freak-and he's smokin' hot. Soon they're facing a threat even greater than anyone imagines...and an animal magnetism impossible to ignore.


You can meet the SF hero of HER PERFECT MATE Captain Landon Donovan here!
http://paigetylertheauthor.com/BooksHerPerfectMate.html 



HER PERFECT MATE officially releases May 6, but is available for Pre-Order Now!











*hugs*

7 comments:

Heather said...

An informative post. Your last point illustrates perfectly why so few who apply actually complete training. My T13

Alice Audrey said...

Great info. Thanks.

Jennifer Leeland said...

Wow! I didn't know they spent that long in training. Great TT Paige.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a grueling process! :)

Paige Tyler said...

Heather - Yes!

Alice Audrey - Thanks!

Jennifer - I know, right?! Thanks!

Brenda - Totally!

*hugs*
Paige

Blondie said...

Great information. There are some real unknown heroes in this country that fight for things we don't even know about. Their commitment and dedication is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
May 6th seems soooooooooo far away.

Paige Tyler said...

Blondie - So true! I figured that it was time to show the Army SF some love in the romance genre! So glad you're excited about the book!

*hugs*
Paige