100 more join ranks of Special Forces

For the 3 1/2 years Sgt. Alexander O. Dech has been in training, "I haven't had to worry," his mother said. "Now I have to start."

The 239th class of the Special Forces course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School -- all 100 members -- graduated with the pomp and formality befitting their matriculation. The difference between theirs and, say, a college graduation ceremony is that within six months, most of these well-tested students expect to be sent to a war zone.

"There's job security," said Sgt. Dech, 27. "But it's got its inherent risks."

Indeed, three Special Forces soldiers based at Fort Bragg died Monday when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb. As the school honored its most recent graduates, it was planning another ceremony to honor those who had died.

Brig. Gen. Bennet S. Sacolick, deputy commanding general of the Special Warfare Center, gave the keynote address in which he recognized the hard work and self-deprivation the soldiers had been through to earn their green berets.

Staff Sgt. Adonis B. Johnson, 28, appreciated the nod. Before volunteering for Special Forces training, Johnson had already served two tours in Iraq. His wife, Lyvia, also in the Army at Fort Bragg, has been once. They now have a daughter just under a year old.

While much of the country waited to see whether Congress would pass a bailout package for the financial industry Friday, the Johnsons were focused on what would come next for the nation's newest group of elite troops.

"The reason why I stay focused is my family, and everybody else's family," Johnson said. "What we do is keep everybody else safe."