My son will be going to Ft Cambel at the beginning if next year. He is a 15T (Blackhawk Mechanic). He will be going to Green Platoon to try out for the 160th Night Stalkers. Any ideas on what things He will need to help him through this selection process? He already has a good watch for the field, and I am loading him up with good socks and thermals, but us there anything else he will need?

Thanks

I don’t know much about Army aviation but that is a very top tier unit. Good luck to him.

Congratulations to him for making selection. I have no experience with their assessment program, but I appreciated having a good multitool on me on deployments and field ops with a GSAB. The Gerbers I had didn’t take much belt or vest space, and one had interchangeable screwdriver bits that worked really well.

Small tactical flashlight with red-lense option.

Perhaps a flashlight with both red and blue lens options. Blue might be a much better choice for detecting most hydraulic leaks.

I would suggest a good headlamp with the colors mentioned.

A pair of lightly insulated Tactical gloves might be good. KY gets chilly in winter.

Former Dustoff pilot here....what your Son has on the inside is gonna count for much more than what he has on the outside.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: alreadydead,

Most schools of that nature are going to supply a packing list and tell you exactly what they require you bring. In some cases they will even specifically prohibit you bringing anything not on the packing list

I can tell you he has one item already.

As your son heads off to this important event, he does so with all 90,746 of us rooting for him and praying for his success.

Good for him, Nightstalkers are badass.

They should give him a packing list and they’ll discourage bringing extras outside that. However, a headlamp (with yellow NVIS compatible filter, no red/blue anymore) would be super helpful.

He will be given a packing list.

It would be better that you encourage him to work on his physical fitness and land navigation skills.

18 Z 50… May know something about running selection courses

Team work, good attitude, and he should be able to run....a lot. with heavy things.

Good attitude and pay attention at all times. Also some prep in fitness and Land/Night Nav skills. Maybe reading a copy of the Ranger's Manual a few times.

Something for his reading list if he hasn't already read these:

The Night Stalkers: Top Secret Missions of the U.S. Army's Special Operations Aviation Regiment

In The Company Of Heroes: The Personal Story Behind Black Hawk Down

What the movie Blackhawk Down doesn't show is that the base was constantly hit with rocker and mortar attacks in the days afterward, which actually killed several of the Deltas listed as KIA in the movie.

Have they changed green platoon? Didn't used to be a selection course, was a train-up/indoctrination type deal. Not sure if they did RL progression with them or not. The guys were already assigned to the unit. I imagine they could have washed out, though.

I was never assigned to task force, but I did spend most of the nineties at Campbell as a 67/15T and knew some of those guys.

quote:

Originally posted by 18Z50:
He will be given a packing list.

It would be better that you encourage him to work on his physical fitness and land navigation skills.

18 Z 50… May know something about running selection courses

https://api.army.mil/e2/c/down...3/21/365ead6f/cmf-18

Yes Master Sergeant!

A "I won't quit no matter what" attitude.

I'm not familiar with that course, but pretty sure it is like similar "Try Outs" or Hooah schools

Other than following the packing list to the T (NO exceptions. Make sure everything is serviceable. No need to bring anything else):

- Try and find the Syllabus
- PT is probably the biggest no-go item, work on that
o Expect stuff not usually apart of PT tests like pull-ups, 5 mile, ruck march
o Always some kind of weird fascination with a good or top 20% 5 mile time
o No matter what kind of shape you are in. Ruck requires some practice
- Practice Land Nav. 100%, a course like this will include it, Soldiers rarely perform it and easy to fail
- Study-up on EIB tasks
o Remember, most EIB tasks have a very generous allotted time... SMs tend to rush and miss a step or make a mistake = a no-go

https://www.moore.army.mil/inf..._EIB%20Tasks_txt.pdf

EIB task examples

I have a brother in law who just got out of 160th and he suggests sticking to the basics. Invest in good socks but don’t overthink gear.

My BIL is dedicated guy and loved being in the unit both on the regular side and then on the training side. Cardio is key and mindset trumps everything.