The sharply critical message was sent earlier this week to a wide swath of the Army’s Special Forces community. The nearly 6,300-word message declared that the school’s senior officers and enlisted leaders are primarily interested in advancing their careers by meeting demands for greater numbers of Green Berets and enforcing "political agendas."
Maj. Gen. Kurt Sonntag, commanding general of the school located at Fort Bragg, on Thursday defended the process for selecting Green Berets and rejected a number of the claims in the email. He said he stands firmly behind the "quality of every soldier we are sending to the operational force," in a statement delivered to "men and women" of the Special Warfare Center and School.
Sonntag also said comments in the email "warrant further evaluation" and that is being done through "formal inquiries and a number of existing institutional forums." He wasn’t more specific, however.
The anonymous email said the push to hit unrealistic quotas has led to a "dangerously less capable" force as dozens of flawed Green Beret candidates are nonetheless graduated. The message said instructors who’ve sought to hold students accountable for their academic, physical and character performance have been instead muzzled or punished.