18 May 2010
By Captain Alexandrina Bojilova, NZSAS Psychologist
“Failure is essential in life! We can only extend ourselves to the limit of what we know. Failure is what you don’t know and when you get there the knowledge is yours to have.”
I have talked about what it takes to come to selection and how to fight the gremlins towards completing selection. Now, I want to focus on perceived failures and to challenge your views about what not completing selection actually means.
Over the years, I have interviewed dozens of eager, committed and passionate candidates who say they have “put it all on the line for that one go.” They come physically and mentally prepared, having undergone extensive training and made personal and professional sacrifices just so that they can come to selection. For many, selection is the culmination of years of planning, training and confidence-building as a soldier.
The stakes are often high with some saying “the ‘Mrs’ is letting me do it just this once so that I can get it out of my system”. For others this is the point of no return because they don’t see themselves as belonging to the greater Defence Force anymore. After months and sometimes years of preparation and planning comes the ‘day of reckoning’ at the selection start line. All the ‘what if’ moments, doubts and anticipation come to an end as candidates reach that point of no return. You can’t go back and do an extra day of training, your body is as fit as it can be and you can’t go back and re-negotiate another go at selection with ‘the Mrs’.
Here is the dreaded scenario: Selection starts and then… it’s over! The knee has given in, you didn’t meet the timing on Day 1, the blistered feet have become too much to bear, your navigation was wrong and you arrived three hours overtime at the last checkpoint, you had too many doubts and they over took. You have ‘failed’ to complete selection.
Not completing selection can be very disappointing. For some it can be the first perceived failure in their career and a real confidence crusher. For others, returning to their unit can be quite challenging as they may have to face ridicule and judgement from their peers (who may have never attempted selection themselves). In fact, for many, the fear of failure and the fear of being treated as a ‘wannabe’ is a significant deterrent for not attempting selection in the first place.
What I would like to stress, however, is that success in selection isn’t necessarily whether you have completed the selection course. The greatest success is in what you come out of selection with. Namely, are you more self-aware, do you know your gremlins better, have you seen your limits and pushed yourself beyond them?
Psychologists like to make predictions. For example, we like to know what type of person best fits the role, what level of intellect is required to achieve a certain level of complexity in tasks and even what will be the ‘make or break’ test for an individual, based on his/her personality and other characteristics. One of the greatest pieces of research I have been made aware of recently attempted to find the best predictor for success in the SAS selections across American, British, Canadian and Australian Special Forces Units Selection. The researchers found that over and above personality type, intellect, physical fitness and background, amongst others, the best predictor of whether someone will succeed in selection is whether they have attempted (and failed) selection in the past. Needless to say, this is not intended to encourage candidates to attempt to fail selection. Rather, it is to help you understand what ‘failing’ selection can actually deliver to those who attempt it.
Selection is a unique experience that is designed to strip away your fitness and your physical training and test your commitment, resolve and mental resiliency. Many fit and capable people have attempted and failed selection in the past. The moral of the story is, if you have not tested your limits you wouldn’t know where they are. Hence, those who have attempted (and not completed selection) are better prepared to tackle it because they know their breaking points and realise they can overcome them. They develop greater self-awareness that one can only develop through experience. They have learned to recognise the dark moments in selection and their personal strengths to overcome these.
If you have attempted selection in the past and haven’t completed it, this may be a good time to pat yourself on the back and take stock of what you have learned. Once you have done that, ask yourself if it is still a goal of yours, submit your nomination and employ that precious learning in completing the selection course.
For those of you who have never attempted selection but have the badge in sight, now is a good time to start tailoring your training towards developing greater self-awareness and mental resiliency. Ensure that you push yourself to the limit and then start to train your mind to dominate your body in developing the ‘never give in mentality’. Ensure that your training gives you greater knowledge of your strengths and awareness of your barriers. Test yourself, push yourself, learn your limits and then overcome them. Learn to test yourself and to expect the impossible of yourself. This is when you will learn invaluable lessons which will make you not only a better and fitter soldier, but a better and stronger person— and no-one can take this learning away from you.
Philippe Petit once said something along the lines of “This seems impossible… well let’s get cracking then”. Passing selection is an attainable and realistic goal that many have achieved before you.
The Responsibility of Getting an ‘Operator’ on Target as Quickly and Safely as Possible is Huge, Writes Bombardier ‘S’…
I attended the Air Mobile Dispatchers Course, run out of the Special Operations Training Centre in Papakura. The course was attended by 12 Commando, Police and SAS personnel. The first week covered aircraft safety, dispatching drills for swarm roping, rappelling and hover jumping, as well as planning considerations for helicopter training. As a first time rappeller this meant I had to conduct eight descents to qualify before I could instruct the students on rappelling. The following week was spent instructing 26 students on the Commando Employment Training and SAS Cycle.
When teaching students to slide down a rope in full assault equipment from a helicopter 90 feet high using only their hands and feet, you must be ready to react instantly to every possible situation that may arise. The last two days of the course were spent at Whenuapai Air Base working with 3 Squadron. Each student needed to conduct eight descents of each infil method, starting from light order, building up to full equipment to qualify. Working inside the helicopter is difficult with up to five fully equipped soldiers. At the end of the two weeks and with minimal injuries to the students it was good to have another skill that can be used in the counter terrorist environment. Once you have successfully completed the course you can be called on at any time to dispatch. The skills must be retained through constant revision and training.
1NZSAS Selection Course 31 May–13 June 2010
- Pre-Selection: 31 May–1 June
- NZSAS Selection: 2 June–10 June
- Officer Testing: 11–13 June
If you have shown interest in becoming a member of 1NZSAS GROUP, here is a gauge of your progress so far:
- MED Board complete
- RFL complete within one month of course start date
- R tests complete/ autobiography
- Afnz3 submitted
- Training programme well underway
- Mentally focused
- If you have any issues, call the recruiting cell phone 021743 096