SAS were also famous for this. They needed to blend in when operating in Northern Ireland so looked like a 20-something youth in Ireland would in the 70s-80s (long hair, beard, side burns, etc). They referred to themselves as “Mexican Bandits”.
I would assume the same is true for Special Forces nowadays, except their aim is to look like a 20-something in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Thought that’s what SAD was for…
Though I think they’ve improved their physical fitness since the days of Phoenix et al in Vietnam. At least according to accounts from guys like Carlos Hathcock and Bob Kerrey describing guys from the Agency.
Always sounded like a really interesting job. A lot of it in the Chinese sense (RIP Johnny Spann), but interesting none the less.
No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
No inspection ready unit has ever passed combat.
FWIW, I remember reading that the SF guys who were deployed as “advisors” in Afghanistan would grow beards because the locals don’t take clean shaven folks too seriously - a big ol’ soup catcher is a symbol of manliness/wisdom/seniority there, something like that. So for them it was a mix of blending in and staying on mission, since part of the mission was gaining the locals’ trust.
Delta Force sometimes eschew uniforms altogether to get closer to the escapee/snatchee/killee. To then insist on traditional grooming and uniforms would make little sense. Do the Green Berets and SEALs also sometimes use purely civilian clothes?
On the topic of looking in extraordinarily good shape; they certainly are in that shape but they often just look generally ordinary/fit in loose clothing. E.g.: Here is Schwarzkopf being guarded by a Delta Force computer science teacher on casual Friday: http://www.americanspecialops.com/images/photos/delta-force/delta-schwarzkopf.jpg Here he is heading for his fishing cabin right after work http://www.americanspecialops.com/images/photos/delta-force/delta-close-protection.jpg
Kobal, twice now I’ve seen a documentary on GIGN selection and training where the instructors use “tu” with the trainees while selection and training is being conducted*. That’s the last place I’d expect the informal “tu” to be used. Any light you can shed on why that happens?
It’s not uncommon for hierarchical superiors to use “tu” while expecting their underlings to keep to the “vous” - establishes social dominance and all that, while the officer/boss gets to adopt a fatherly persona. So that could be it.
Beyond that, the “vous” is falling out of popularity more and more, even in work settings. These days we follow suit with the American practice of calling coworkers by their first name and generally making believe like we’re all chums rather than fellow wage slaves :).
That being said I’m really unfamiliar with army practices and culture in general, so that’s all conjecture on my part.
He doesn’t look huge and ripped, sure. But I’ll bet that guy is wiry and can probably run a really long way. There is more than one way to be in extraordinarily good shape.
Yeah but the point is, take away the gun and he looks more like a math teacher than any of my math teachers. Trig isn’t something most people will instantly associate with “being in good shape”. Outside of exam periods, he doesn’t look like your average civilian’s notion of “someone dangerous”.
Very… unintimidating outfit.
Keep in mind that these pictures are 25 years old. In that era, the “wild man look” had not yet been established (for elite soldiers, anyway). Also, even elite soldiers usually did not “bulk up” in the gym in the early 1990s.
FWIW, the guy in question in those photos, (Retired) SGM Michael Vining, was ‘famous’ for being fairly low key even in a group that tried to fly under the radar. I’ve read one of his hobbies was stamp collecting, of all things. I’ve also read his nickname was “The Accountant.” Whether either actually were the case, or apocryphal, who knows?
That said, if I may use the USN colloquialism, the guy was a plank owner for 1st SFOD-D, a unit where one of their main personnel screening mechanisms is making their applicants hike 20 plus miles a day on very little sleep, day after day after day. I’ve no questions about his drive or his fitness.
It’s one of my favourite stories: when I came back from Afghanistan our service flight flew into a civilian airport and we had to go through normal civilian customs with our baggage, just after an international flight of tourists and kids processed. I’m a civilian and like most of the military guys, I had time to clean up in Cyprus on the way home but there were special operators among us, only slightly recognizable as humans in man-jammies with bad-ass combat beards. I could have brought in enough afghani black hash to last the rest of my life. The customs guy processed me without even looking at me while handing me back a passport, asking questions while looking over his shoulder at the two dirtbags behind me. I’m guessing they thought they’d land at the base and be processed through customs there so kept up the full filthy mufti for their comrades. I got out of there before everybody started talking about secondary searches and stuff.
Oh, and beards, I can’t speak for Iraq but in Afghanistan yeah, the men don’t respect you unless you’ve got a beard. I mean, they respect the hell out of your guns but if you have to actually deal with them and claim to have any influence you grow a beard, and if you want to ride in a civilian vehicle ever you grow a beard. It’s often safer to live in a low-profile compound away from military assets and the kind of suicide attackers they attract, so with a full beard and the proper local clothing, you won’t immediately stand out at a glance or in a passing vehicle. You don’t HAVE to, but it just makes things easier, especially if you’re not in uniform and rolling with a convoy with a QRF.
It’s amazing how many self-proclaimed ex-Special Forces are hanging out looking derelict in bars in Thailand. They probably number more than the actual cumulative total of Special Forces! The thing is over here, every now and then he really is telling the truth. Occasionally.
Back then and there, I became welcome in SF bars, even though I wasn’t SF. I found the juke box was a good indicator of who was what among the old timers. I’d look at their eyes when someone played something by Marlene Dietrich or Edith Piaf.
As for when one’s afloat, whenever you’re in a situation where sea showers are a necessity, a whiskerino contest makes a lot more sense than having to shave every day.
