Green Berets preparing to Open Up Recruitment

The U.S. Army is set to begin recruiting for Green Berets directly from outside the service for the first time in 30 years.

"In previous years, we have only taken people who were in the Army,'' Major Gen. Dennis D. Cavin, the Army's recruiting commander, said in Chicago during a stop at the Army's advertising firm, Leo Burnett USA.

A would-be Green Beret had to sign up for the infantry and then win approval to train for the elite special forces unit, Cavin said. "They couldn't sign up for special forces off the street,'' he said.

But now, with "different types of engagements and potential conflicts we may face, we are trying to ensure that we have an adequate number of trained personnel in the pipeline,'' said Capt. David P. Connolly of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

In a trial to begin next month, the new recruitment tool for the Green Berets would start with just 400 soldiers, Connolly said.

In 80 weeks, would-be Green Berets are trained in unconventional warfare and reconnaissance techniques, including ways to fight terrorism.

To qualify to enter the unit, they must show higher mental and physical qualifications than the average soldier. The Army recommends a special five-week training program before entering, since trainees are required to manage such physical feats as climbing a rope as high as 30 feet, swimming in uniform and carrying 50-pound rucksacks cross-country.

Overall, the Army met its recruiting goal for a second straight year in 2001, recruiting 75,855 active soldiers, Cavin said, after falling short in 1999.

The Sept. 11 attacks and the fighting in Afghanistan had a "minimal'' impact on recruitment, Cavin said. Army recruiters got more phone calls, walk-in inquiries and Web visitors after Sept. 11, but many were ineligible to sign up, he said. Some were former service members who "wanted to once again put on a uniform and help the nation during a period of dire need,'' but they were too old to qualify, Cavin said.

Others previously had been rejected and were trying again, but were turned down once more, Cavin said, noting, "We have not lowered the standards."