Green Berets: The Quiet Professionals

(CBS)  One of the president's most significant goals in Afghanistan is to train Afghan soldiers to take over the country's security, and the Army's Green Berets are leading that effort. Few people realize that the Green Berets traditional role is to train foreign armies - the only arm of the military designed especially for this purpose.

They're known as the "quiet professionals" because they work mostly in secret, unnoticed and unrecognized, among the best soldiers America has.

Right now across Afghanistan, Green Beret teams are trying to turn Afghan commandos into the country's best fighters so they can eventually do it on their own.

But they still have a long way to go. How far? "60 Minutes" traveled to Afghanistan to find out.

"60 Minutes" was given unprecedented access to a team of Green Berets, "ODA 7215." For two and a half months, our team lived with them, trained with them and went to battle with them.

For the most part, these "quiet professionals" are camera shy Joes who let their expertise do their talking.

""We're definitely not Rambo, you know? He was a Green Beret. That's not us at all," a Green Beret named Martin told us.

Martin is 6'1" and 220 pounds. He can bench-press almost twice his body weight. And there are eleven other guys just like him on this Special Forces team, tasked with tracking down enemy leaders all across southern Afghanistan.

To film them, we had to agree to only use first names and help conceal their identities with sunglasses.

"Soldiers often say, 'I'm doing my job.' Is that what this is to you, is it a job?" correspondent Lara Logan asked.

"There are miserable times where you kinda look at yourself and you're like, 'What?' You know. 'Why am I running towards the gunfire?' But then there are times where I just couldn't see myself doing anything else," Martin explained.

"Is it who you are?" she asked.

"I think so," Martin replied. "Just as much as people find their calling as artists or musicians or lawyers."

Unlike regular soldiers, these men are allowed to grow beards, a mark of respect amongst the locals. Their uniforms, without name tags or rank, tell you as little as possible about who they are. And they like it that way.

When they're not fighting, their focus is transforming foreign soldiers into a formidable fighting force.

The team's job is to leave Afghanistan with a corps of their own Special Operations Forces - the best of the best.

But the Green Berets are starting from zero: many of these Afghan soldiers can't even read or write. About 100 of them pass through the base every six weeks.

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[SmileysLaundry]

For:

60 Minutes" to be given unprecedented access to a team of Green Berets, "ODA 7215." For two and a half months, our team lived with them, trained with them and went to battle with them...

This story is a C - minus at best. For 2 and a 1/2 months of 'living with them' its paper thin, training and real world accidents happen. Theres no meat to this. Wheres the follow up?

This story sounds and smells like it was pushed out like a school paper the night before the 2 and 1/2 months was up. Send in Christina Amanpour and we would of had a story.

Why not educate the public, show a compare and contrast on how often our own American soldiers have training and real world accidents? So the viewer can have some perspective on how dangerous the job really is an where these individual incidents fall in the scheme of things. I dont see any of the Afghan soldiers being profiled or interviewed for this story?

[dare2defineme]

Who are we to judge the actions of these men from afar? We do not know the daily struggles that they endure in the middle of nowhere. Their actions could very well be justified. For all of those that challenge their actions, why aren?t you over there displaying your bravery? We should be thankful of the men and women who put their rumps on the line for us and do the things that a good majority of us would not want to do: Protect the United States! I am praying that everyone returns safely and that the mission is accomplished? I challenge everyone here to do the same. Try to stop criticizing and start encouraging!!!

[ramos1129]

This is one of the correct ways to fight the war on terror. It is simply wasteful and wrong for us to put USA troops in harm's way when local resources are available.

[twrawls]

I also want to see a follow-up to this story. Once it became known that the two boys had been shot, was an official investigation launched? Did the Afghani government become involved? Was the situation considered a crime scene? Was evidence gathered? Were ballistic analyses conducted? What was the conclusion of the military's investigation? What is the fate of the two innocent civilians who were shot? Or, were they simply considered "collateral damage?" Did Lara Logan interview the two boys' families? Were they afforded legal counsel? What recourse do the families have? Can they sue the U.S. in a court of law for damages? What were the opinions of local villagers to this shooting incident? Just how many civilians have we killed in this fashion? I thought General McChrystal's new strategy was to deploy our troops to protect villagers? How does this incident fulfill that mission?

[dugudr]

I look like there's a bit of quarky things going on. Is it difficult to keep fingers away from the trigger. I wish they go into more detail on how the warning shot came about. I bet he shot in front of the truck. It should have been 10 degree to the side. Speaking from experience as High Commander in Modern Warfare 2.

[mnbrant]

LOL ROFL. Hey I was checking my spam and as it turns out, I am eligible for the Veterans of Foreign Wars aka VFW because I served in Korea. I wonder if they got a no gay, commie, rule there. Probably not. Gotta see how much money they suck out of my credit card first. Ah the Army... I was PFC.

[gidyillb]

Terrific piece, but I wish CBS had expanded on what it takes to become a Green Beret. Lots of "arm chair generals" have written to criticize this piece (and anything to do with war). If CBS had listed the criteria for becoming a Green Beret, these nay-sayers could see how they measure up to that standard (or more likely, how far they fall short). Very few hopefuls make it past a very long, intense winnowing-out period in order to take part in the two year training program that CBS mentions. Many Green Berets come from non-military backgrounds and give up successful careers in order to keep our whole world safe. I, for one, am so grateful to the Green Berets and every member of our military. They make it possible for people to sit in their cozy homes and type critical commentaries on their computers about issues they know very little about!

[mnbrant]

green beret was recruiting at my unit.

[blackwater66-2009]

I served with the 5th SFG in Vietnam. God Bless these brave warriors !!

De Opresso Libra

[edgy44]

Were you the cook, or the houseboy? Both?

[cowardlyimbecile]

I'll help you surrender, edgy. We need to get on all fours.

[chillicotha]

Two comments: Lara Logan, though she may have a stellar bio., was awful. One of the most boring pieces I've seen on the usually interesting 60 Minutes. Steve Kroft should have been there and Lara should have done Beyonce. Lara is not colorful and unforgettable in the way your other female and male reporters have been. I wouldn't recognize her if she knocked me down. Is she a big sponsor's niece or something?

Also, I'm concerned in the way network and cable news is treating this Afghan war as though it were a conflict that MUST BE and therefore deserves a big share of your news dollar. It isn't something that MUST BE. The Taliban are a bunch of testosterone-laden, violent locals, like a lot of our street gangs. They're fighting each other. It's a civil war. So what are we doing there, again taking our best and brightest into danger for little valid reason? We need that talent and money back here. There are unseen forces here and abroad making tons of money from this all military conflicts. Isn't it about time the country says, Enough of These Foreign Wars? You guys in your business greatly enabled the Iraqi War and now you're doing it again in Afghan.

[NinthSt78]

Outstanding article. The old classic movie 'Green Berets' from the 60's along with 'Deer Hunter' are two of the best ever. They show the human and emotional dimensions there very well.

[zack20]

Ok, I know 60 Minutes is promoting Lara as your new correspondent, but this story, had to be one of the most confusing pieces I have seen on CBS for a long time. Issue # 1. Voice Delivery, sounds as though I am listening to a small TV market reporter. Lara your voice track needs work. I know you cut your teeth in war correspondence, but this is not the same as knowing how to put together a story that flows with audio and video, and knowing how to track a video piece.
Issue # 2. This story contained video, interview, your question, video. No real natural sound breaks to help pacing, no interview location changes. Issue #3. Setups were extremely confusing! This story jumped around like a jack rabbit. Take a look at how Bob Simon crafted his story. It flowed with the video and sound and was understandable!

[eduardogarcia]

Logan has been using her looks and her flirtatiousness to get where she is today. The only reason she's taken seriously is her willingness to be around the action, I mean war action of course (snicker). She cannot seem to do an interview with a man without giving them all that come on baby look and trying to be ultra sexy voiced all the time. It's really distracting to the story and annoying. Very overrated.