Do you have to enlist to be special forces or are you recruited in basic?

There is no "talent spotter type guy". EVERY post will have a Special Forces recruiter. After AIT, you can walk into the SF recruiter office and discuss your options. It isn't hard. They are ALWAYS looking for interested Soldiers. After completing 68W AIT, you may have a better chance of making it through the SF medic selection. You will still have to be VERY physically fit. At the very least, you should enlist with a 68W Option 4 to go to Airborne School after AIT. That gets you that much closer to meeting the entry requirements for SF selection.

In the past you had to first enlist and then after serving two years in your current MOS you could then submit a package for consideration and being selected to enter training. Upon graduation then that would become your new, primary MOS with your old MOS becoming your secondary one. Those that washed out of training would be sent back to doing their MOS. The Army has made temporary changes to this process twice now. At one point back about 15 years ago or so they were allowing some to directly enlist into it if they could pass the rigid physical and PT requirements before enlisting. More recently they took a similar approach when they decided they needed a more robust and larger force in this because of all the places we are involved in militarily. That and also there were some special forces Reserve units stood up and so they were recruiting people for direct entry into those based on they passing the physical and PT requirements. However these types of initiatives are temporary really. The Army balances them and their needs against the problems it creates with those already in special forces who had to get there by the more conventional route of enlisting and applying after two years of service and then also making it through training where the failure or drop out rate is quite high. Many of those that have made it the conventional way feel resentment because they had to serve two years first in some other MOS and then take the chance of not being selected for training and changing over. That process also has a very high number of people not being selected and they then stuck in their original MOS.

You don't get recruited by SF. They aren't interested in anyone who doesn't have the drive to seek it out themselves.

You can go in as any MOS you want, then locate the special operations forces recruiters on your post, and put together a packet for a school date so that you can go to SFAS.

it doesn't work that way

special forces doesn't recruit, they do not come to you, you have to apply, just like everyone else.