farmgirl
03-25-2004, 03:07 PM
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/sportsNews/view.bg?articleid=29590
Tiger to get a taste of Army life: Woods to spend week training with Special Forces after Masters
By Doug Ferguson / Associated Press
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods sometimes adds green to his wardrobe in April, but that usually means a jacket from Augusta National -- not fatigues from Fort Bragg.
The day after the Masters, the world's No. 1 golfer will swap his spikes for Army boots.
Instead of retreating to his lavish home in Isleworth, Woods will stay in the barracks at Army Special Forces headquarters and spend a week in military training.
"If I was never introduced to golf, I would be doing something like that," Woods said. "Hopefully, something in the Special Ops arena. It's the physical and mental challenge of it all. We'll see what happens."
No one is more curious than his father, an ex-Green Beret who trained at Fort Bragg, N.C., during the Vietnam War, and then taught his son to take no prisoners on the golf course.
"He's a very independent individual, and he plays an individual sport," Earl Woods told The Associated Press. "Quite frankly, he's not in the business of people telling him what to do. This will be a broadening experience for him."
This is clearly a case where father knows best.
Earl Woods first trained at Fort Bragg in 1963 following a tour in Vietnam, and he was assigned to a Special Forces unit at Fort Bragg before leaving for another tour in 1970.
He did not remember the years he was there, only the schedule he had to keep.
He was up every morning at 5:30 for inspection, where a single thread out of place on the uniform meant push-ups. That was followed by physical training, including a run in boots he had spent the night spit-shining for inspection. Then it was time to change clothes, work all day until dinner at 7:30 p.m., and start over in the morning.
"He'll learn a lot more respect. He'll learn a little bit about dedication," Earl Woods said. "And he'll learn an awful lot about himself, and how he can handle it. He'll come out a lot stronger than he went in."
Why would the world's best golfer, who earns close to $90 million a year, sign up for this working vacation?
Earl Woods only wonders what took him so long.
"He probably wants, in the recesses of his mind, to walk the steps I walked," the father said. "He was always inquisitive about the training I put him through, the mental-toughness training. He wanted to know where that came from. I equated it to experiences I've had in the military, especially in Special Ops.
"Now, he wants to experience it."
Woods is to arrive at Fort Bragg on April 12, spend four days of training and conclude his week by conducting a junior golf clinic for families at Fort Bragg.
Soldiers will train him in weapons and military tactics before sending him on a mission as part of a Special Forces team, Bragg spokesman Lt. Col. Billy Buckner said. Also in the works is a lesson in skydiving and a tandem jump with the Army's parachute team.
"I don't think they're going to put me through the ringer as what they would do," Woods said. "But hopefully, it will be close."
Tiger to get a taste of Army life: Woods to spend week training with Special Forces after Masters
By Doug Ferguson / Associated Press
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods sometimes adds green to his wardrobe in April, but that usually means a jacket from Augusta National -- not fatigues from Fort Bragg.
The day after the Masters, the world's No. 1 golfer will swap his spikes for Army boots.
Instead of retreating to his lavish home in Isleworth, Woods will stay in the barracks at Army Special Forces headquarters and spend a week in military training.
"If I was never introduced to golf, I would be doing something like that," Woods said. "Hopefully, something in the Special Ops arena. It's the physical and mental challenge of it all. We'll see what happens."
No one is more curious than his father, an ex-Green Beret who trained at Fort Bragg, N.C., during the Vietnam War, and then taught his son to take no prisoners on the golf course.
"He's a very independent individual, and he plays an individual sport," Earl Woods told The Associated Press. "Quite frankly, he's not in the business of people telling him what to do. This will be a broadening experience for him."
This is clearly a case where father knows best.
Earl Woods first trained at Fort Bragg in 1963 following a tour in Vietnam, and he was assigned to a Special Forces unit at Fort Bragg before leaving for another tour in 1970.
He did not remember the years he was there, only the schedule he had to keep.
He was up every morning at 5:30 for inspection, where a single thread out of place on the uniform meant push-ups. That was followed by physical training, including a run in boots he had spent the night spit-shining for inspection. Then it was time to change clothes, work all day until dinner at 7:30 p.m., and start over in the morning.
"He'll learn a lot more respect. He'll learn a little bit about dedication," Earl Woods said. "And he'll learn an awful lot about himself, and how he can handle it. He'll come out a lot stronger than he went in."
Why would the world's best golfer, who earns close to $90 million a year, sign up for this working vacation?
Earl Woods only wonders what took him so long.
"He probably wants, in the recesses of his mind, to walk the steps I walked," the father said. "He was always inquisitive about the training I put him through, the mental-toughness training. He wanted to know where that came from. I equated it to experiences I've had in the military, especially in Special Ops.
"Now, he wants to experience it."
Woods is to arrive at Fort Bragg on April 12, spend four days of training and conclude his week by conducting a junior golf clinic for families at Fort Bragg.
Soldiers will train him in weapons and military tactics before sending him on a mission as part of a Special Forces team, Bragg spokesman Lt. Col. Billy Buckner said. Also in the works is a lesson in skydiving and a tandem jump with the Army's parachute team.
"I don't think they're going to put me through the ringer as what they would do," Woods said. "But hopefully, it will be close."