Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Some jobs are so dangerous that serious injury or death is a constant threat, even in training. As the face of modern warfare continues to change, America increasingly is depending on its special operations units. These units consist of small groups of highly trained men with extremely specialized missions.

Tragically, within the past year, two members of America's special operations forces have died while training in the waters around Key West.

An Army Green Beret died in March 2009 while training at the Underwater Operations School on Fleming Key, and just last month a Navy SEAL died during an underwater training mission somewhere off Key West.

The 27-year-old soldier, Staff Sgt. Mark M. Maierson, and the 26-year-old Navy commando, Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Ronald Tyler Woodle, stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Dam Neck, Va., respectively, were both members of their branch's most elite and highly skilled units. Both of these decorated service members were Airborne qualified -- a distinction shared by all of the military's special operators.

The warfare training for special operations units is rigorous, and the dangerous vocation is one of choice. Special operators are all volunteers -- their units are unique in the military in that soldiers can choose to opt out. They rarely do.

The demands of the job are exceptionally high, and relatively few soldiers are capable of -- or willing to -- meet them. The work is often covert, they must leave their families with little notice, their pay is meager and the physical strain takes a significant toll on their bodies -- but they drive on.

In wartime, we are regularly touched, as individuals and as a community, by the sacrifices made by those who put themselves at risk in the service of their country. But we think it important to remember that those who are training for that job -- especially those striving to become the most elite soldiers and sailors on the planet -- also make sacrifices, including the loss of life.

It's something to think about when we see those green parachutes in the sky, or the Special Operations insignia.

-- The Citizen