What are the standards you hold yourself to and why?

I went through SFAS as a young man, sure of my abilities but largely untested. I had never wanted anything the way I wanted to pass that test. I devoured every book I could find on SF, prepared myself physically and mentally as best I could, put every part of my life towards that one singular goal. To the young soldier I was, becoming a green beret was like becoming one of King Arthur’s knights of the round table, and I would have much rather died than failed.

When I was selected, the sergeant major told us all “for the rest of your lives you will be judged and tested by all you meet, because no matter what else you do in life, you will always be US Army Special Forces. Never betray the regiment. Never let it down. Uphold the standard in everything you do.” This resonated with me, much more than any creed or code of conduct. It wouldn’t be enough to do the minimum in anything ever again. That wasn’t what we did. It wasn’t who we were. We were the ones who did more, and did it better. Excellence in everything was the standard, and I meant to uphold that.

The standard was about more than just skill or effort though. The pipeline for special forces is intended to produce experts in guerrilla warfare. Because of the classic SF mission, the training is meant to develop free thinkers who know what rules to break, and when to deceive. But, as a seeming paradox, it also demands nothing but the highest integrity. As an example, during the unconventional warfare “Robin Sage” training exercise I recruited a resident who was not a role player into our guerrilla force and used him as transport so that we could make our hit times. He wound up invited to our victory feast at the end of the exercise, and our cadre applauded our ingenuity. The harsh counterpoint though is the student who was caught cheating and was released from training, never to return. We were taught to never fight fair, but we were also taught to be honorable despite the ruthless nature of our profession.

This is what enables special forces soldiers to accomplish amazing things. A green beret would rather die than embarrass the regiment. And he would rather die than let down his teammates. It’s not an infallible system. We have our fallen, and our failures. But they are few, and the culture is unrelenting about weeding them out and casting them aside. They become persona non grata, unwelcome among their peers.

SF allowed me into a modern warrior class the equal of any historical one that the world has ever known. I was able to fight alongside heroes the equal of any from legend. The regiment gave me an entry ticket into a world most know of only from books and movies, full of experiences far beyond the norm. And all the regiment asked of me, of any of us in return was that we always uphold the standard, in not only skill and ability, in not only effort and commitment, but in honor and integrity as well.

Find your standards. Find your purpose. Something worth the commitment to excellence and integrity. And then you will find the best of yourself.