When did they stop requiring you make E-4 before your Q course?

[Recursion]

I've clearly been out of the military too long, but in my day you had to be a corporal and generally have finished some advanced training (ranger, recon for us jarheads, etc.) to go through selection. When (and, for God's sake, why) did that change? Any more recent vets than me know?

[OKNancy]

1. Is this relevant?

Records show Snowden’s birthday as June 21, 1983. The 18X is a code for an enlistment option that permits recruits to try to go directly into the Army’s Special Forces, a path previously open only to serving soldiers. Snowden told The Guardian that an injury prevented him from pursing his full Army training.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/edward-snowden-army-discharge-92486.html#ixzz2VolZHOgA

“His records indicate he enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Special Forces Recruit (18X) on 7 May 2004 but was discharged 28 September 2004. He did not complete any training or receive any awards,” the spokesman said

[Recursion]

3. It's just weird. A decade ago you had to be finishing up your first tour to go to special operations

And they didn't have an 18X enlistment option back then. Maybe it's just a sign of how overstretched our military is.

[premium]

2. No idea,

I'm a Vietnam Vet and things were different back then.

[Recursion]

4. I got out in 2005 and this is news to me

Probably just another sign of how overstretched the DoD is?

[Abnredleg]

5. They added an additional entry path a few years ago

From Wiki:

There are now two ways for soldiers to volunteer to attend SFAS:
As an existing soldier in the US Army with the Enlisted rank of E-3 (Private First Class) or higher, and for Officers the rank of O-2 (1st Lieutenant) promotable to O-3 (Captain), or existing O-3s.

The other path is that of direct entry, referred to as Initial Accession or IA. Here an individual who has no prior military service or who has previously separated from military service is given the opportunity to attend SFAS. Both the Active Duty and National Guard components offer Special Forces Initial Accession programs. The Active Duty program is referred to as the "18X Program" because of the Initial Entry Code that appears on the assignment orders. These soldiers will attend Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT, the combination of Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training), Airborne School, and a preparation course to help prepare them for SFAS. This program is commonly referred to as the "X-Ray Program", derived from "18X". The candidates in this program are known as "X-Rays"

The Army did this to generate the numbers required for the expansion of SOCOM

[Recursion]

6. It goes back to 2002, apparently. And he did it *into the Reserves*

*shrug*

It's a different military today...

[historylovr]

7. In my day, in the 80s,

an E4 *was* a corporal, or a specialist, depending. That was the Army. I also had a security clearance as a PFC.

I don't see what this has to do with anything though.

[Recursion]

8. It's still a corporal

You used to have to be E-4 to do the Q course. This is apparently no longer the case, and I find that worrying.

[WooWooWoo]

9. you can do it at E-3 when I was in

2010 to about a month ago.

[Recursion]

10. Apparently now you can enlist directly into it, and with a Reserve contract

Weird.