SOF, SMU and Other USA Service Opportunities

25 Jul 2023

When I was 15, I knew I wanted to serve my country, and I even lost 100+lbs & did unoffical workouts with U.S. Navy Special Warfare hopefuls who took the Physical Screening Test (PST) at the recreation center I worked out at. I wanted to enlist as either the Navy Diver (ND) or Special Operator (SO/Seal) rating. Unfortunately, my ADHD/Dyslexia/ASD among other things disqualified me. All of those Stew Smith or the official sealswcc Physical Training Guide work outswere for naught.
I even convinced my mom to sign my enlist form after I turned 17.

Looking back though, I’m somewhat glad I got rejected, because even the fitest people I trained with who had auto qualifying PST scores either got injuried or dropped on request (DOR/quit). They ended up being assigned as an undesignated sailor. Undesignated sailors scrape paint, paint boats/ships and other jobs. They were angry, bitter and that’s how a lot of hopefuls turned out from what I read on Reddit, military.com and so on. At least I was fortunate enough to work in technology at 18 and not have to wake up early to chip paint.

If I didn’t get disqualified, then I wish I would have enlisted in the U.S. Army, because they have three Special Mission Units such as Task Force Orange (ISA etc.), Delta Force (CAG, The Unit), and the Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC). The Navy, and the AirForce only has two Special Mission Units (24th STS, and Development Group). Also the U.S. Army has a lot of shooter MOS’s such as Rangers, Infantryman, Special Forces, and so on. The Army also has the 17c MOS which is their cyber security MOS and allows for young soliders to earn a TS/SCI clearance and be attached to Task Force Orange or the 75th Ranger Regiment. I called the Task Force Orange recruiter office, and they confirmed they allow 17c to attend selection, and that if selected it would be possible to be their last PCS.

NSWDG (Naval Special Warfare Development Group) requires three years of service and good performance evaluation. If you are medically dropped from BUD/s, then sometimes it takes two years and good evals to be considered to even go back. You can Google “NSWDG Navy” to see the recruitment PDFs.