Hoo-ah: Soldiers to earn the coveted Berets during Jan. 30 graduation ceremony

Newly minted Special Forces Soldiers will join the Special Forces regiment as they graduate from the Special Forces Qualification Course (241st SFQC) at the Crown Coliseum Jan. 30 in Fayetteville.

Soldiers from the 241st SFQC have spent the past year or more learning the skills required of apprentice Green Berets, including individual specialty skills, unconventional warfare methods, and language and cultural expertise.

The guest speaker at the graduation ceremony is scheduled to be the Honorable Michael Vickers, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities. Vickers is a notable member of the Special Forces regiment.

After graduation, the students will be assigned to the Army’s seven operational Special Forces Groups, including the two Army National Guard Groups, and will deploy in support of U.S. national security interests.

During a 4 p.m. Regimental First Formation Jan. 29 at JFK Memorial Plaza, the graduates will don their Green Berets for the first time; welcomed into the brotherhood of the Special Forces regiment. During the ceremony, three prominent members of the regiment will be inducted as Distinguished Members of the Regiment including one of the few living Medal of Honor recipients who have earned the Green Beret.

Retired Col. Ola L. Mize distinguished himself during a particularly fierce engagement with Communist Forces near Surang-ni, Korea, in June 1953. Then a sergeant, Mize rallied his men during the defense of “Outpost Harry”, defending against a determined enemy, actions which led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarding him the MOH in 1954. Mize later joined the ranks of the Green Berets and served in Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), eventually commanding the 3rd Mobile Strike Force Command (Cambodian Troops).

The Special Forces Regiment will also honor Lt. Col. Charles A. Aycock and Command Sgt. Maj. Ronnie A. McCan, two stalwarts of the Green Beret community.

Aycock’s career in Army Special Operations spanned across five decades and included service in the Active Duty, National Guard, Army Reserve and Army Civilian corps. During the Vietnam War, he participated in numerous classified operations while assigned to units still shrouded in secrecy. He is also credited with developing the first military freefall training manual. Aycock capped his career with 15 years of civilian service supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McCan’s thirty years of uniformed service is distinguished by leading Special Forces Soldiers in the 1st and 10th Special Forces Groups (Airborne) as well as the 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion (Airborne). He later leveraged his experience to help nurture future Special Operations Soldiers by serving as the command sergeant major for the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) and the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. McCan currently serves as the president of the Special Forces Association