I found some stuff on the special forces and I though I would share with all of you.
It is very interesting.I went to wikipedia such to see what they had to say about the special forces training and I found this.

The Special Forces (Special Forces, SF, or Green Berets) are the foundational branch of the larger elite special operations forces (SOF), which is now a part of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), a component of United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Special Forces units are tasked with eight primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, psychological operations and information operations. The first two emphasize language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops. Other duties include coalition warfare and support, combat search and rescue (CSAR), security assistance, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining and counter-drug operations; other components of the United States Special Operations Command or other U.S. government activities may be the specialize in these secondary areas[1] Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works[2] and doctrinal manuals are available.[3][4][5]

Their official motto is De Oppresso Liber (Latin: "To Liberate the Oppressed"), a reference to one of their primary missions to train and assist foreign indigenous forces.[6]

This has MacGyver wrttien all over it.

Here is more info on it.Keep reading it gets better.I love this stuff.


Selection and training


Entry into Special Forces
Entry into Special Forces begins with Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS).[21] Getting 'Selected' at SFAS (Phase 1) will allow a candidate to continue onto the next four phases of the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) (aka - 'The Q Course'). If a candidate successfully completes these next four phases he will graduate as a Special Forces Soldier and will be placed into a 12 man Operation Detachment Alpha (ODA) Team.
[edit] Pipelines to SFAS
A version of SFAS was first introduced as a selection mechanism in the Mid 1980's by the Commanding Officer at the time; Brigadier General James Guest.
Today, there are two ways that an individual can obtain orders allowing him (Army Special Forces is closed to females) to attend SFAS:
• As an existing soldier in the US Army with the Enlisted rank of E-4 (Corporal/Specialist) 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. Here an individual who either has no prior military service or who has 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 often referred to as the 18-Xray or 18X Program because of the Initial Entry Code that appears on the recruits orders.
[edit] Pre-SFAS courses
In preparation an Initial Accession (IA) recruit will generally undertake upwards of six months of fulltime training prior to attending SFAS. This initial training comprises three parts:
1. Infantry One Station Unit Training (11X-OSUT) at Fort Benning, Georgia is essentially an Infantry-focused Basic Combat Training (BCT) and comprises:
• Firstly, 1 week (although sometimes two weeks) at the 30th AG Reception Battalion where a recruit is administratively prepared for entry into the United States Army.
• Then 10 weeks of an Basic Combat Training.
• And finally the recruit attends five weeks of Infantry Advanced Individual Training (AIT).
A recruit will graduate from this 16-week period with the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of 11-Bravo or 11B (Infantryman).
2. After Infantry OSUT, a recruit will attend the Basic Airborne Course (BAC) (aka - Jump School) held at the United States Army Airborne School also situated at Fort Benning, Georgia. BAC is a three-week course designed to train a soldier in the skill of military parachuting. Should the soldier graduate this course - and not all do - he will receive orders authorizing him to wear the coveted 'jump wings' military parachutist insignia.
3. Finally the recruit will attend the Special Forces Preparation and Conditioning (SFPC) Course I on Temporary Duty (TDY) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. SFPC is a four-week course with the purpose preparing both Initial Accession and non-combat arms Current Duty SF candidates for Phase I of the Special Forces Training Pipeline: Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS).
SFPC I focuses primarily on improving a candidates functional strength and cardiovascular fitness levels, military forced march ability (Rucking), and military Land Navigation skills; three major reasons for candidate attrition during SFAS.
[edit] Special Forces Assessment and Selection
SFAS is an evaluation that now lasts 14 days. As of December 2007 a shortened SFAS of 14 days was tested and finally approved.
Enlisted selection at SFAS is normally around 30-35%. Many will not even complete the course instead choosing to Voluntarily Withdraw (VW), some will become injured and be 'Medically Dropped', and not all who complete the course will be selected; a 'Board' may decide that a candidate is simply not Special Forces material or not yet ready to attempt the next phase in training.
Selection Outcomes
• Those who do quit or who are Involuntarily Withdrawn by the course Cadre due to obvious inadequacies are generally awarded an NTR or Not-to-Return status. This will generally end a candidate's opportunity to ever become a Special Forces soldier. Existing military candidates will return to their previous units and IA candidates will be transferred to an infantry unit as an 11B Infantryman.
• Generally candidates who are 'medically dropped' and who are not then medically discharged from the military due to serious injury are allowed to 'recycle' as soon as they are physically able to do so.
• Individuals who complete the course but are 'Boarded' and not selected are generally given the opportunity to attempt selection again in 12 or 24 months but at this time this reattempt period can be heavily affected by deployments.
Current Duty candidates usually return to their previous units to await being admitted to the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC). Because of the training backlog that the current Special Forces growth mission (33% over 5 years) has caused this wait can be anywhere from one to six months. Because an Initial Accession (IA) candidate lacks a 'previous unit' he will normally enter the Q Course immediately.
Active Duty candidates who successfully complete SFAS but are not already Airborne qualified are assigned a class date to attend Basic Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia prior to reporting to Ft. Bragg.
[edit] MOS, group, and language selection
Upon selection at SFAS all Active Duty Enlisted Current Duty and IA candidates will be briefed on the
• The five Special Forces Active Duty Groups
• The four Special Forces Military Occupational Specialities (MOS) initially open to them
• And the numerous languages that each Special Forces Group specializes in
They will then fill in what is often referred to as a 'Wish List'. In this list an enlisted selected candidate will rank in order of preference the MOS he desires to be trained in (Bravo, Charlie, Delta, or Echo) and both selected enlisted and selected officer candidates will list in order of preference the Group he wishes to initially serve in (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th) and the language he desires to be trained in.
Language selection is dependent on the candidates Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) test score and which Group they are placed into. Different Groups focus on different areas of responsibilities (AORs) which require different languages.
A Board will immediately convene to assign each enlisted and officer candidate his MOS, Group placement, and Language. The MOS, Group, and Language that a selected candidate is assigned is not guaranteed and is based upon the needs of the Special Forces community, but it is understood that generally 80% of selected candidates are awarded their primary choices.
Upon successful completion of the Q-Course the recently graduated Active Duty Special Forces Soldier will be given orders to Permanent Change of Station (PCS) to the group they were given after SFAS.
Both Current Duty and IA National Guard (ARNG) selected candidates will have already negotiated their MOS and Language selected and had it written into their enlistment contract prior to SFAS.
Upon successful completion of the Q-Course the recently graduated ARNG Special Forces Solder will return the National Guard Group that he initially enlisted into (either 19th group (West coast) or 20th group (East coast)).
[edit] Special Forces Qualification Course
For various reasons 20% of selected candidates will not complete the demanding Q Course Training. Ultimately out of every twenty candidates who attend SFAS only one will eventually earn the right to wear the Green Beret. The Q-Course offers some of the toughest and longest training in the US military with training running as long as 26 months or more.
When a candidate does enter the Q Course, he is assigned to the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg. IA Candidates and Current Duty candidate who have not already attended the Warrior Leader Course, will attend the 3 week Common Leadership Training (CLT) course. The goal of the CLT is to provide the candidate with the basic skills required to perform as a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) at the rank of E5 (Sergeant); the minimum rank level of any Operation Detachment Alpha team member. IA canidates and Current Duty non-combat canidates will also attend the 3 week long Special Forces Preparation and Conditioning Course II, designed to reinforce and perfect the basic infantry skills in small unit tactic (SUT) and patrolling.
Phase II is a 13 week block of instruction in Small Unit Tactics (SUT), Prisoner of War training - Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE), and lethal hand to hand combat & element of surprise disarming techniques.
After Phase II, recruits begin Phase III called the "language blitz" this is a recent change to the pipeline. Depending on the language assigned to the recruit, it is either 9 or 15 weeks of language training. After which they are required to attain a minimum rating in their assigned language.
Following the completion of Phase III, recruits then begin Phase IV for specific training within one of the five initial Special Forces specialties: 18A, SF Officer; 18B, SF Weapons Sergeant; 18C, SF Engineering Sergeant; 18D, SF Medical Sergeant; and 18E, SF Communications Sergeant. 18A, 18B, 18C, and 18E training courses are 15 weeks long, and the 18D training course is 48 weeks long.
The recruits finish their Special Forces training by participating in ROBIN SAGE, a 4 week long large-scale unconventional warfare exercise (Phase V) before being awarded the Special Forces tab and Green Beret.[22]
[edit] Further training
After successfully completing the Special Forces Qualification Course, Special Forces Soldiers are then eligible for many advanced skills courses. These include the Military Free Fall Parachutist Course, the Combat Diver Qualification Course, the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course, and the Special Forces Advanced Reconnaissance and Exploitation Techniques Course. Additionally, Special Forces Soldiers may participate in special operations training courses offered by other services and allied nations throughout their careers.

I think it's also very likely that back in the 80's when this idea of MacGyver being special forces was conceived, the term Special Forces referred to Navy Seals, Marines, Commando' and the like. It seems to have changed somewhat over the years.

Is it possible that MacGyver was Special Operations and not Special Forces? Is it actually specifically mentioned in an episode that he was Special Forces?

Bomb disposal, strikes me as being more special operations, especially if they where running along behind the lines cleaning up land mines and unexploded grenades and such.

I remember back in the day I wanted to go SF, and I know Mac was supposed to have been in SF of some kind, and when I did the math for all the jobs he had, there is just NO WAY he could've done all they said he did lol. Isn't there an official timeline floating around here somewhere? He went to college (2yrs, maybe), vietnam, race car driving in europe, logging, etc. etc and the years for each exceded his age at the onset of the show.

yes. It's on our web site

Yeah, unless he got early discharge from the service (we will never know ) then he should've been in a LOT longer than 3 years (time between high school and Western Tech). I think SF is only for career (4+ years) soldiers now, but it could have been different then though. And i didn't seeing logging on the list, I know he said that in an episode. (I guess that would fall under 70's odd jobs)
And I thought the Afghanistan mission he was on when his mom died was the one from "To Be a Man." When he talked about Nam with Charlie in Countdown, I got the impression he meant actual Vietnam.

Mac's mother died in 1971, To be a man was in 1985.

I can't help wondering if that is what the writers where referring to but completely botched up (or just didn't even stop to think about) the dates.

For a long time I was under the impression that it was indeed during the To Be A Man ordeal that his mother had passed away.