Is 18A (Special Forces) a Good MOS?
United States Army · Military Occupational Specialty
Quick Facts — 18A (Special Forces)
AIT / Training
62 weeks
Training Location
JFK Special Warfare Center, Fort Liberty, NC
Career Field
Special Forces
Verdict: Not enough data
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Score Breakdown
About 18A Special Forces
Commands and leads Special Forces Operational Detachments, companies, and battalions. Directs unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, and direct action operations across the full SF mission set.
62 weeks
JFK Special Warfare Center, Fort Liberty, NC
Special Forces
Recruiter vs. Reality
What the Recruiter Says
Become a Green Beret officer. Lead Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha teams in the most demanding combat and advisory missions the Army conducts.
What It's Actually Like
SFAS will introduce you to a form of suffering that is genuinely educational. The Q Course will build on that education. Robin Sage will take everything you've learned and test it in conditions that are simultaneously fake and exhausting. And then you'll get to a Group and realize that the real test of an SF officer is managing a team of CW3s and senior NCOs who know more about their specialties than you ever will, in a culture that respects demonstrated competence above all else. SF company command is as close to genuine small-unit tactical leadership as the Army offers field-grade officers. The Group and SOCOM staff world is real and bureaucratic like all Army staffs, just with better coffee and more interesting clearances. The character of your career is heavily shaped by which Group and which area of focus. Most 18As will tell you the hardest part was convincing the team to trust a captain. The contractor market after SF is legitimate and financially significant.