Speaking of SF

[ilovelamp]

Special forces? I'm not sure what it even stands for.

[audette]

disclaimer - DH is not SF, nor do I know anyone in SF (I do know a couple people that support SF, but aren't SF themselves...)

As far as I know, SF are servicemembers that volunteer from regular forces, and the volunteers are then tested and checked out and trained and all that jazz, and, eventually, if they pass everything, they can be selected for SF.

From what I know, they tend to be a bit more insular within the military community, and they tend to have shorter (and more frequent) deployments.


That's really all I've noticed/heard. Others might be able to provide more details.

[iluvmytxrgr]

SF can be confusing. Most people think of Delta or SEALS when they think of SF. However, the main mission for most SF units is training. A lot of guys go into it thinking they will be running awesome missions all the time and then end up training special units from other countries and never run a "combat" mission their entire time in SF.
It all depends on the unit you are in.

[basilosaurus]

In the AF it stands for security forces. So I get all kinds of confused reading these posts until I remember they're not just talking about your random police squads.

[Dumbledork]

I'm confused on what it is you're asking. In the Army, SF means Special Forces, and it's basically what Audette said. You can finish selection and not be picked up. DH tried for selection, but his course was too full and they sent him home day one. They did that thing, I forget what it's called, during his PT test where even though he was still doing perfect push-ups and sit-ups, they kept saying the same number over and over. A buddy of ours is currently in selection and has been for about a year. A nestie that no longer posts has an ex-dh that was SF. There are only a handful of bases that SF are stationed at.

DH is SF support right now. He used to be "big Army" but he requested to go support about a year ago and couldn't be happier. They do things quite a bit different than big Army and he loves it. He's deploying for a year soon, but generally they do the 6 month thing.

Of course, as sibil said, if you're thinking AF, not Army, none of this answered your question.

[basilosaurus]

It's entirely possible your H works with special operations forces (SOF). I generally hear people refer to either special ops or something that incorporates SOC. Like, out here we have SOCPAC, for pacific special operations command. where you are should be USSOCCOM. Easy

SF is still security forces.

Edit: There's also AFSOC. That's more likely for you.

[basilosaurus]

More for you. Bookmark this. It's a good start for a lot of basic acronyms en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Air_Force_acronyms_and_expressions

I asked H for some other details that might help you. What ensued was a kind of boring 20 minutes as he waxed poetic about the positions, what jobs they do, how they work with joint forces, and then examples of them. I'll just highlight a few things.

Terms/ positions you might have heard: CCT and PJ, air commando

If you want I can expand a bit on the jobs they do. H didn't shut up

[basilosaurus]

Well, it's entirely confusing. Don't worry about that. Even H, after nearly a decade on AD (plus ROTC time) still has to look up acronyms. They even build acronyms into their acronyms.

Don't feel bad about posting your questions. You're young and inexperienced, but you take advice well and want to learn. Or, if it makes you feel better, you can always PM someone. I'm more than happy to ask H questions on your behalf. The man is insane with random knowledge, and he'll research anything he doesn't know.