Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior

Top positive review

Excellent book about Green Beret SFAS and Q-Course written by former Navy SEAL!

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019

Dick Couch is an excellent writer whose credibility is without question. His years in SOF as a Navy SEAL lends authority and perspective that can't be obtained from a writer lacking such a background. Couch's view is honest and straight-forward. The book is a detailed look at Army Special Forces' SFAS and Q-Course training. It illustrates why Green Berets are among the best and most highly versatile and effective soldiers in the United States military. A great read for anyone interested in SOF in general and Army SF in particular. Highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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Chris

book’s good but kindle format not

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021

The book’s good but kindle format is not. It won’t close as “finished” until I complete a review. Two words.

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From the United States

Mr. Colorful

Excellent book about Green Beret SFAS and Q-Course written by former Navy SEAL!

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

2 people found this helpful

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Sir Sabot

Insightful with regards to OPSEC this is the best book i've ever owned

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

I have been looking into RANGER school for some time now ever since I was denied my school date due to "paperwork mishap" in AIT. Ever since I have been looking to aim higher for my career. I read this book every morning during my guard shift and I can barely put it down to perform the appropriate customs and courtesy's the job entails. I have had the distinct pleasure of working and training with one of the groups mentioned in this book and have used it to plan my approach to the Special Forces selection and training. Dick Couch really goes into every possible detail about the trials and tribulations each individual in his ODA experiences. He clearly explains all the way through the "X-ray" option of enlisting all the way through the Q-course and selection as well as in depth descriptions about the individual MOS training. I now know what I want to focus on most and aim for when I go to selection. I think every American should read this book so they can really get a grasp on the training these people go through to make them one of the best. It might make some appreciate the freedoms they have that we as military forfeit, and they as special forces soldiers protect on a first hand basis. I only wish Mr. Couch would write a book about Delta Force.

Def. a 5+ star rating, I have already told a few friends to pick up a copy because I don't want to let mine go.

7 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Special Forces, Making of Green Berets

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

An excellent book by a former Navy SEAL, and CIA operator detailing the making of a Green Berets soldier who he accurately points out is the most important asset our military has in the Global War On Terror & Radical Islamic Extremism. A must read for anyone who is thinking on volunteering for Special Forces & for those in conventional units to grasp & understand their capabilities & necessities to win & be successful in today & future wars & conflicts.

3 people found this helpful

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Delta88

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought this book for myself and another one for a friend because I enjoy my copy very much. If you want to find out what it takes to become a Green Beret this book will let you know what you have to endure to become one. Incidentally, I was recruited to go through Green Beret training when I was in the Army but turned it down. After reading this book I know I would have not made it. The training is extraordinarily tough.

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halda

Fascinating look at what it takes to earn the Green Beret

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2007

Verified Purchase

I believe this is the first comprehensive look at the entire U.S. Army Special Forces selection, qualification and training process; certainly the most updated (as of around 2004-5). Couch, a former Navy SEAL, is full of praise for the abilities and character of those young sergeants and junior officers who earn their Green Beret. And while the prose at times lags with over emphasis on procedure, it is still a fascinating look at a world very few of us will ever experience.

The main strength of the book is that it's more than an anecdotal telling of what these candidates had to go through. Couch also explores what the SF cadre instructors and trainers bring to the process as well. For instance, I was surprised to learn that there was little of the shouting and hazing that I suppose I'd expect to read about. Instead, Couch shows that throughout all four Phases, the cadre sergeants and officers are extremely considerate AND dedicated military professionals.

Although this kind of experience is no longer for me, I believe this is an excellent book for those contemplating a military career in Special Forces. Couch spends a lot of time on each Phase, as well as each Special Forces specialty (communications, engineering, weapons, medical, etc.).

There's also a section devoted to the preparation officers undergo to become ODA leaders, although I felt this was where Couch was at his most dryly procedural, whereas I wanted to read more about their field exercises. Finally, the book concludes with a satisfying overview of Robin Sage, the final Phase IV unconventional wargame exercise.

Strongly recommended.

85 people found this helpful

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Idaho Glee

Very Informative

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed this book and feel like, as a civilian, I have a tiny bit of insight into how the process works. The book is well written and doesn't divulge too much. Protection of our military is job #1.
I do recommend this book.

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Family Medicine MD

Only special people can become a member of the special forces.

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book wonderfully illustrates the courage, strength, and intelligence required of a special forces recruit. I especially liked the analogy that a special forces warrior is a member of the peace corp. on steroids. The individual stories of the different recruits that Mr. Couch followed made the difficulty of the training process that much more personal. The intense pressure that a recruit who wants to be at the command level must endure is incredible. This book should be required reading of any man who wants to join the special forces. I really enjoyed it.

7 people found this helpful

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the-man

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

Dick Couch as always has a captivating way of writing that puts you in the perspective. I've read at least 3 of his books and this one might be the best. Compared to the seal books, this one has less on the managing and administrative side in my opinion and is hard to put down.

Not to mention that the training he writes of is classified and hard to find any info on. Dick Couch is just one of those authors that makes feel blessed to live in his time....

If you are interested in going SF, it would be a travesty not to read this, and you're definitely a "no go" as far as your intel gathering.

4 people found this helpful

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Rama N. Toulon

Why did I wait so long to read this?

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

I must have seen this book in almost every PX or Surplus store and I never picked up. Suffice to say, seven years later and I am still in the military and I picked it up. And first and foremost, Mr. Couch definitely doesn't sell you anything. He's no-nonsense and all about business. I love his personal thoughts and his ability to see past Inter-service Rivalry and bring out the facts. He illustrated the importance of Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and he gets to the point.

It definitely reawakened why I wanted to be in the Army and got me off my ass actually considering going to SFAS.

Great Read!

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Told me what I wanted to know

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was born May 1941, seven months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. That, coupled with other events like Korea, made me internalize the idea that boys grew up to go to war. So I went from the Cub Scouts, to the Boy Scouts, to the Explorers, into the US Army. And I loved it. When Vietnam started hitting the news in 1962, I had already been in the Army for four years. I immediately volunteered for duty there, but I was turned down because I had the wrong MOS (specialty). I was a Nike Hercules radar operator. So I tried again, this time requesting a transfer to Special Forces (I was then an operations/intelligence specialist). After not hearing anything for a year, I followed that request up with a tracer on my application. I was told there was no record of my application ever being received. Later, an officer about to get out of the Army confessed that he never submitted my application because I was doing such a good job for him....

I left the Army in 1966 and entered law enforcement - ultimately retiring in 1995, but I always wondered if I could have made it through special forces training and cut it in places like Vietnam. Couchs' book answered that for me. Although I had scores high enough for OCS, and I'm pretty sure I could have "pulled the trigger", I don't think I would have made it through training for the green beret as Couch describes it. Not only that, but this book as well as many others describing what soldiers had to go through in Vietnam made me realize that I was probably extremely lucky I never made it there. God bless all those who did.

4 people found this helpful

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