United States Army Special Forces selection and training

If a candidate successfully completes all phases they will graduate as a Special Forces qualified soldier and then, generally, be assigned to a 12-men Operational Detachment "A" (ODA), commonly known as an "A team."

The length of the Q Course changes depending on the applicant's primary job field within Special Forces and their assigned foreign language capability but will usually last between 56 and 95 weeks.

This 6 week performance-oriented course includes physical conditioning, map reading and land navigation instruction; land-navigation practical exercises, and common-task training.

All land navigation courses are conducted day and night under heavy loads of equipment, in varied weather conditions, and in rough hilly terrain.

The MOS, Group, and language a selected candidate is assigned is not guaranteed and is contingent upon the needs of the Special Forces community.

Successful Active Duty candidates usually return to their previous units to await a slot in the Special Forces Qualification Course.

Dubbed the Orientation and History module, the course falls under the auspices of the 4th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne).

This module is intended to provide the soldiers an understanding of Special Forces, their history, organization, attributes, and core tasks relating to their mission.

Lessons include SFOD-A and SFOD-B numbering convention, command and control architecture, joint special-operations area, duties and responsibilities of each MOS, SF planning and organization, core mission and tasks, SOF physical fitness and nutrition.

The lessons include a view of that soldier's cultural lenses, leading to an understanding of the perspective of others as well as the use of PMESII-PT system of regional analysis to deduce the capabilities, people and environment of a given area.

To complete Phase 2, soldiers achieve a minimum of 1/1 Listening and Speaking as measured by the two-skill Oral Proficiency Interview.

The 13-week[citation needed] program provides soldiers in the SFQC the apprentice-level tactical combat skills required to successfully operate on an SFOD-A.

The first phase lasts approximately ten days of academic instruction on the Code of Conduct and SERE techniques incorporating classroom training and hands-on field craft.

The final phase takes place in the resistance-training laboratory (RTL) -- students are tested on their individual and collective abilities to resist interrogation and exploitation, and properly apply the six articles of the Code of Conduct in a realistic captivity scenario.

The purpose of this phase is to train selected soldiers in the critical MOS, skill level tasks, and competencies required to perform the duties of a member of an SF ODA.

Candidates passed the SF Orientation Course, Language, SUT, and SERE before entering Phase IV training.

This phase is intended to train selected officers in the critical branch tasks and competencies required to perform the duties of a detachment commander of a Special Forces ODA.

Medical sergeants specialize in trauma management, infectious diseases, cardiac life support, and surgical procedures, with a basic understanding of veterinary and dental medicine.

18D trainees receive instruction involving lifelike human simulation models and Hollywood-type make-up effects worn by fellow students to conduct training, within safe limits guided by cadre, to simulate potential casualties they may receive and treat while on the modern battlefield or in a potential clinical environment.

Since 1974, Robin Sage, the culmination exercise for the SFQC, has been the litmus test for soldiers striving to earn the coveted Green Beret.

)[9] During Robin Sage, held across 15 rural North Carolina counties, soldiers put all of the skills they learned throughout the SFQC to the test in an unconventional-warfare training exercise.

During the first week, the students are taught the necessary skills to survive and succeed in a UW environment using the small group instruction teaching method.

The students are placed into an environment of political instability characterized by armed conflict to force soldiers to exercise individual and collective problem-solving.

[14] During a Robin Sage exercise on 23 February 2002, Moore County Deputy Sheriff Randall Butler shot and killed 1st Lieutenant Tallas Tomeny, 31, wounded Staff Sergeant Stephen Phelps, 25, and detained civilian volunteer Charles Leiber.

After leaving Leiber in his patrol car, Butler led Tomeny from the pick-up passenger seat to the truck bed where Phelps was riding.

The soldiers, under the assumption Butler was aware of the ongoing Robin Sage training, attempted to bribe him with "Don" (Pineland currency), which looks similar to Monopoly money.

Phelps moved from his position in the pick-up truck's bed, grabbed the bag with Tomeny's service rifle, and ran for cover in the direction of the woods.

Press releases are now issued before an exercise commences, and law enforcement officials participating in the training are required to wear a distinctive uniform.

[18] On 27 October 2009, a federal jury in Greensboro, North Carolina, awarded $750,000 to Phelps after he sued Butler and the Moore County Sheriff's office.

[19] Butler sued the US government for $5 million for "emotional distress" and "post-traumatic stress disorder" as a result of shooting Tomeny and Phelps; the case was dismissed.