[Travis McGee]

Everything you said is spot on, but I'd also add that no matter what a guy's quals were 15-25 years ago, they don't mean much if he's been a couch potato in Lalaland for the last 10-20 years.

Plus, we used to say that somehow, ten percent of ANY group that makes it through selection (BUD/S, whatever) will be screwballs.

So what you might find at the hiring end is a screwball who somehow made it through BUD/S or SF school 20 years ago, got out, and hasn't had a tactical thought since then.

In that case, give me a 25 year old one hitch Ranger any day. At least he'll be tough and will listen with both ears.

In any event, I would certainly want to put prospective volunteers through a minimum of a 7-10 day mini selection course stateside before sending him anywhere. If this isn't being done, then how the hell do you know if the guy is up to speed at all? I sure as hell know enough to know I'm not!

[Squantos]

Well said ........as many years as I did and continue to do my job if I went active duty again I'd have to go back thru the basic school or I endanger myself and others around me. Folks should'nt let their desire to get back to the lifestyle and action cloud their knowledge that they are NOT up to par as they were so many years ago nor would they be an asset. There are those that can and those that can not. We as veterans "must" be smart enough to know if we are a burden or an asset to a given task and have the cajones to acknowledge it.

Stay safe !

[Criminal Number 18F]

One more thing,

most of these jobs require a current, active security clearance. It takes time to be granted if you have been out of the system for a while (I have a friend in exactly that position, too; he can't go to refresher training until his clearance comes in).

You will get better jobs and more money with an active TS/SI than with a Secret clearance, also. A secret clearance usually is nothing more complicated than a criminal records and credit record check. (It's called NACLC). If nothing curious is found they don't often even talk to the individual. A TS/SI requires quite a number of personal interviews (subject, references, employers, neighbours) and costs significant money. Best result on S was about 90 days, TS about a year. Worst result: I've seen investigations that wobbled along for four years and are still inconclusive. It doesn't seem to matter whether the individual has some problems or not.

One sign of an undercapitalized, borderline operator is that they won't do clearance paperwork on a guy (whoever requests the investigation has to pay for it) but will ONLY take people already cleared.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F