The FNG

During Ranger School, a young Lieutenant who aspired to be a Green Beret asked Quint how someone short in stature like himself made it through SF selection. Quint, who was 5’7”, 165 lbs, quipped, ” It’s easy. You just have to be stronger, faster, and more durable than the big dudes.”

At Quint’s Memorial, a teammate told a story illustrating this statement.

Monserrate in Columbia is a 10,000’ plus peak overlooking Bogota, the Capital city, which is around 8000 ft. in altitude. On top of Monserrate is a beautiful, ancient church built in the 17^th century. Most visitors take a tram to the top, but there are also thousands of steps, aged and worn over the centuries, that many locals (and some intrepid visitors) climb to make the pilgrimage to this holy site. The views from the top are just as breathtaking as the trek to get there.

 I will go there someday and climb Monserrate.

When Quint first reported to his Company at the 7^th Special Forces Group as a newly minted 18D (SF Medical Sergeant), he discovered they were deployed to Central America. After his in-processing, Quint joined them in Panama. He was bounced around as a “rent-a-medic” for a while. He was first sent to a team whose senior medic was attending an 18D refresher course in the States. Once that medic returned from training, Quint was moved to a new team in Columbia.

His new team routinely ran the 1.5-mile path up the incredibly steep (25-30% grade) 2,000-foot climb as part of their morning “PT” (Physical Training). In typical SF fashion, everything was a competition—always trying to beat the previous time records.

When Quint arrives in Columbia as the “New Guy,” he joins them on this legendary run, ignoring their advice to take a few more days to acclimate to the lung-crushing altitude.

Quint took off up the mountain quickly, taking the lead, but his new teammates smiled inwardly, knowing that the altitude would soon crumble and humble the enthusiasm of this eager ‘FNG’. They had seen the mountain and thin air take its toll on the unsuspecting many times before, and this time would be no different.

Or so they thought.

Quint made it up the mountain first, shattering the existing team record, not by seconds, but by minutes.

He still holds the fastest time for that deployment.

One teammate shared. “We’d hate him if we didn’t love him so much.”

The story quickly spread. Quint’s physical fitness, quiet, unassuming demeanor, and proficiency in medical skills soon had several ODAs actively vying to draft “the new guy” to their team.

Quint’s “FNG” syndrome was short-lived.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16

Son, I’ll see you at the top.

_______________________________

This first appeared in The Havok Journal on October 16, 2024.

Tab Taber is a Gold-Star Dad–father of SSG George L. Taber V, a Green Beret Medical Sergeant from 7th SFG who died during a violent storm on Mt. Yonah while in the Mountain phase of Ranger School in August 2022. Tab journals to process his grief and to recollect memories of his son. Occasionally he shares his written thoughts with The Havok Journal and on Instagram @gltiv. He retired from the Military (8 years Marines;15 years Army) in 2014 and now resides in NE Florida where he runs a 4th generation wholesale plant nursery. He can be reached at tabtaber7@gmail.com.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.