Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Pentagon Searching for Next Generation of Green Berets
Aired February 25, 2002 - 09:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: If you have the right stuff to be one of America's elite fighters of the future, then Uncle Sam wants you. Right now, the Pentagon is searching for the next generation of green berets to fight the terror of tomorrow. And for that, the Army finds itself in some uncharted territory, that is recruiting people right off the street. That's not usually where they go looking for the best of the best.
And joining us now from Louisville, Kentucky this morning, Major General Michael Rochelle, with the Army recruiting command.
Good morning. Thanks for being with us, sir.
GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: Good morning, Paula.
Delighted to with you.
ZAHN: General, before we move on to issue of recruitment, can you tell us what went wrong near Fort Bragg over the weekend when you lost one of your green berets in training. As I understand it, you have four of these missions that go on in a year. A sheriff's deputy wasn't aware of the fact that two of these men he pulled over for a traffic violation were actually in the Army, and what ensued was a shootout, with one shoulder being killed.
ROCHELLE: Well, unfortunately I can't give you much more than what's reported in the press. I'm aware of the incident. Tragic incident, and I'm sure that the local county sheriff's office is very, very sorry it happened. We are certainly sorry. And our hearts go out to the family of the young soldier who was killed. It obviously was a tragic oversight, occurring, as you said, in training, and much more than that, I'm afraid I can't offer.
ZAHN: So let's move on to the issue of recruitment. Usually, you found your green berets from within, right now you're looking for 400 men right off the street. Why this approach?
ROCHELLE: Well, over a year ago, the Army realized that as the Army gets smaller, we have a much smaller pool of individuals in service from which to replenish our special operations forces. So we knew that we were going to have to look at a different approach, a different strategy, and that being to, as you say, recruit off the street, out of the general population, I would like to refer to it. So we were prepared for this. The events of September 11th may have caused us to speed that process up a bit, but we were ready.
ZAHN: So who is an ideal candidate, as far as you're concerned, when you're doing such a broad search?
ROCHELLE: Well, anyone who is capable of meeting the challenge, anyone who is looking forward to the excitement, the adventure, let me give you a couple of examples. Two of our newest recruits were featured in both "The Wall Street Journal" and the "New York Times" recently. Nathan Colburn, out of San Antonio, Texas I believe it is, a lawyer, practicing lawyer, came to it for the excitement and the opportunity to serve. Mr. Eric Leslie, 28 years old, former border guard from Illinois, likewise. Now he specifically says that the event of September 11th prompted him to go after it.
Both of these individuals are well educated thinking individuals, as well as physically qualified, and are looking for the challenge.
ZAHN: Do you to have college degree to be considered for a potential recruitment?
ROCHELLE: You do not. You do not. What I'm telling you is that the anecdotal information that I have indicates that our special forces recruits are generally a little bit older, a little more mature. They are, in fact, well educated, but we are also taking individuals straight off of high school -- out of high school campuses as well, who meet the qualifications, and the qualifications are very stiff.
ZAHN: Quick, I need quick answer to this, how much more interest in the green berets is there now after September 11th?
ROCHELLE: I suspect there's quite a bit more interest. There's certainly an interest in rising level of patriotism across the board. But the special forces green -- Army green berets in particular offer a very unique challenge that has been out there for a long, long time. And I suspect the events of September 11th has only heightened that interest.
ZAHN: Well, we wish you luck and we hope folks watching "A.M." America might be tuned into this and give you a call.
Thank you, Major General Michael Rochelle.
ROCHELLE: Thank you for the opportunity, Paula.
ZAHN: Our pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
