How to DOMINATE Special Forces Training

Special Forces Assessment and Selection has a 70% attrition rate. But why do people drop? So many act like it’s a mystery, or you need to wait to experience it to find out. In this article, I’ll share how hard SFAS is, attributes that research shows separate the selected from the rest, and how to get selected.

Special Forces Attrition Rate

Historically, the selection rate at SFAS has been around 36%.

Special Forces Fitness Requirements

The fitness standards for Special Forces are

• 5-mile run in 40 minutes
• 3-hour 12-mile ruck
• 28 hand-release push-ups
• 15:12 2-mile run
• 6 pull-ups

The assumption is those with next-level strength and endurance are destined to succeed. But while physical fitness is essential, what the data shows about intelligence and other traits will surprise you. 

Rucking and APFT Predict SFAS Success

SFAS Study – 1991

A 1991 study found ruck march times (r = .43) and the APFT (r=.25) were both strongly correlated with success at Special Forces Assessment and Selection, but rucking was more impactful.

SFAS Study – 2010

In a 2010 study, candidates who ran faster than the first standard deviation (which we’ll say is going from average to the top 15% of the class assuming it’s a normal distribution) were 90% more likely to be selected. A lot right? Well, those faster than the first standard deviation of ruckers were found to have 9 times (yes, 9 times) greater odds of being selected than the average. 

How Important Is Intelligence for Special Forces Training

SFAS Study – 2010

Aside from rucking’s outsized effect on selection succes, the 2010 study’s other revelation was that cognitive ability tests ranked ahead of running, pull ups, the APFT, and obstacle course in terms of prediction selection success. 

Candidates who performed 1 standard deviation above the mean on the TABE (adult aptitude test) and DLAB (which tests potential for learning a foreign language), were 139% and 88%, more likely to be selected.

The top performers on the APFT were 86% more likely to be selected.

Here’s what the researchers chalked this up to:

The Army relies heavily on cognitive ability tests to inform decisions about recruiting, selection, occupation, and training. The value of the cognitive ability tests used in this research was demonstrated in their ability to predict Soldier selection and to account for a substantial amount of the total variance in our Soldier sample. This suggested that a Soldier’s cognitive ability to maintain awareness, to think, to judge, and to adapt, played a key role in completing SFAS and being selected for SF training.

The role of cognitive ability, though important during the SFAS process, tends to be even more important when Soldiers begin their advanced training following the completion of the SFQC. Leaders and trainers at SWCS report that the greatest mental challenges are presented to Soldiers during tactical training and language classes. The Soldiers who persevered and demonstrated physical toughness during SFAS and the SFQC, but who scored relatively low on cognitive ability tests, will be challenged most during language and other advanced training.

Though they may attempt to persevere through these new mental challenges, it is not uncommon for Soldiers with less cognitive capacity to be withdrawn from SF training because of their inability to grasp knowledge, concepts, and skills that require higher levels of cognitive ability.

This underscores the importance of the cognitive ability tests to help determine longitudinal success throughout the entire SF selection, training, and operational pipeline.

Scott A. Beal, US Army Research Institute

SFAS – 2019 Study

However, just several years later this study was repeated with even more detail. In the 2019 study, they found cognitive abilities to be a significant predictor, but not to the same degree. 

Here are the predictors ranked along with their odds ratio. The higher the odds ratio the more strongly its correlated with selection success.

1. Rucking – 4.78
2. Running – 2.18
3. Land Navigation – 2.44
4. APFT – 2.22
5. Obstacle Course – 1.65
6. Full Scope IQ – 1.56

Interestingly, the TABE score had a 2.39 odds ratio in 2010 and then a 1.46 odds ratio in 2019.

3 Takeaways To Prepare For Special Forces Training

This is where people say the research is overkill and your time is better-spent training.

Your top priority should not be to decipher the impact of doing 5 more hand-release push-ups, or if being a lefty or playing chess increases your chances of getting selected.

But there are major nuggets of wisdom that I’ve pulled from the research and incorporate in my athlete’s training.

Rucking Performance Is Key To Selection Success

Number one is that rucking performance is far and away the greatest predictor of success.
95% of candidates are not aware of this, and for that reason, they don’t know HOW to train for special forces and maximize their chances of success.

But even for those who do know this fact, they don’t know what drives improved rucking performance – and a hint it’s not just rucking more. 

Crush Your Timed 5 Mile Runs

While it’s not as important as rucking, running is a major factor. You won’t make it to day 1 with a slow run time.

Calisthenics Are Overrated

Calisthenics do not have close to the same effect on selection success as rucking or running.

This should inform how you train.

I love weighted pull-ups and weighted push-ups, but if you’re doing a program with hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups every day, it’s worth understanding the why behind such high volume calisthenics, especially when there are other aspects of training that are far more important. 

How Important Is Mental Toughness In Special Forces Training

What about trying hard and having a relentless never-give-up attitude? That has to count for something right?

If you have poor fitness scores and are mentally tough, the odds are still overwhelmingly against you.

In 2019, the researchers measured “grit” across 5 attributes. 

The odds ratio for grit score and ambition odds were 1.22 and 1.25. Statistically significant, but to a very small degree

I want to be clear that I am not downplaying the importance of grit. 

Instead, I want you to focus your energy on what we know drives improved outcomes at selection. Everyone believes they’re gritty – no one signs an 18X, special warfare, or BUD/S contract who thinks they’re going to fail.

Body Composition and Special Forces Training

What makes a massive difference is high levels of lean mass and low body fat percentage. 

Candidates in the top quartile of lean mass have a 58% selection rate, and those in the top quartile of lean mass have a 52% selection rate.

Just take a look at these two charts. Bigger and leaner candidates outperform the rest.

For a full guide to body composition and preparing for special forces training, check out this article.

5 Keys To Get Selected

At its core, selection across all branches comes down to five things. Ultimately, there are two which are most important and they are directly correlated to lean muscle mass and body fat percentage.

Endurance

The first is endurance. There is a minimum threshold of endurance you need to get your foot in the door at BUD/S, SFAS, or A&S. And if you’re fat or overweight, every extra pound of dead weight you carry is slowing you down.

Strength

The second is strength. Once you do get to selection, you need to be strong enough for logs, boats, and heavy load carriage. Remember, everything at selection is fixed weight. Whether you’re 200lbs or 150lbs, you’ll be rucking with the same weight. You get no kudos or pat on the back for being small and frail and keeping up with the big guys.

Endurance and strength are the two non-negotiables. Without these, you get no contract, you don’t join the military – you don’t even make it to day one. 

Character

The third is character. You’re signing up to join a team and brotherhood. The assessment and selection process is designed not just to see who survives and to let them join the team. It’s to protect the honor and seal of the community and ensure the right people are let in. Peer evaluations and interviews are designed to weed out the bad apples.

Situational Awareness/Intelligence

Fourth is situational awareness and intelligence. You could be put in high-pressure positions where others’ lives are in your hands, and you need to make split-second decisions. Being able to think quickly on your feet and problem-solve is a must.

Willpower

There is no question that you need grit and willpower to be successful.

Implications for Special Forces Training

With this knowledge, here’s a roadmap to maximize your chances of success in Special Forces.

I’ll get to the training in a minute, but first I want you to take out a pen and paper. The point of this exercise is to have this information somewhere you can visualize it.

Step 1

First is, is your goal to be a special operator – write down yes or no. There are no in-betweens.

Step 2

Now, I want you to think about your sleep and nutrition from this past week. Write down how it was on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is terrible and 5 is perfect.

Step 3

Next, think about your consistency and effort this past week for your strength and endurance training where 1 is terrible and 5 is perfect. Write it down.

Wake Up Call

If you don’t have all 4s or 5s on that paper, then you need to have an honest talk with yourself.

Do you actually want to put in the work and do what others won’t so you can become a special operator, or do you want to continue to daydream with no action plan or steps to get there?

I’m not saying you can’t take rest days, eat out, or go out with friends. You can and should do those things. But training and good sleep should be baked into your schedule.

There is NO excuse for anything less than a 4. The reason why is that, if you’re not training, if you’re not putting in the work or consistently getting good sleep, you are NEVER going to see results.

Habits Of Selected Candidates

The simplest expression of this is the data on body composition. Someone who is fat, today, does not possess the willpower or attributes of someone who gets selected. Why? You could say it’s because it makes them slower.

On the other hand, you can say the behaviors associated with being overweight are a lack of self-control and discipline.

And I realize life is not always fair. Some are genetically gifted. There are those kids who have raw speed or talent, or maybe some are just built to be strong like linebackers.

But training for selection is based 100% on merit. 

I’ve worked with guys who’ve done it, and if there’s one thing I’ve taken away from my time coaching is the patterns in successful candidates. You hear a lot of stories where people say you would be surprised who gets selected.

But I’ve not found that to be the case. It’s the guys who do the work, hit every workout, communicate, ask for more work, and trust the plan that get selected.

Bonus Tip

My bonus tip is that success does not happen by chance. 

You don’t become a top 10% performer at selection by chance. It’s achievable if you’re willing to put in the work – but no one else can do it for you

Read my Comprehensive Guide To Rucking for Selection.