Sections

SpecialOperations.com

The Definitive Spec Ops Resource

THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION

Norwood

Don’t rely on gear to get you selected or succeed on a team.

Wars and battles were fought and won before the cool gloves that can work a smartphone. Special Operators are gear junkies. For that niche product line of tactical gear and clothing, SOF personnel are the ultimate consumers. It’s a kind of fashion for operators. Even the kind of gloves you buy and wear can distinguish you. In turn, some of the things you buy and wear becomes a personal statement. But, when you’re at selection it will not be the boots or gloves that fail you. You’ll do that all on your own. The gear makes it easier and can help you. Honestly, the SOPC Sole felt like a lifesaver for me. But, I wasn’t going to finish last in a ruck or in the bottom half. The gear cannot replace your training and preparedness.

I’ve so many guys approach gear like it’s an evangelical tool that can save them from themselves. But it won’t add a whole minute to your ruck mile time. Rucking mile repeats with your ruck is the best way to improve your overall time, as much as it sucks. Learning to “suck” is fundamental to being an operator. If you think you’re walking into a life akin to a professional athlete you’re both right and wrong. In the states, there are some elements of that lifestyle. However, you must be prepared to live as the people do of whatever country you inhabit.

We torched a wheelbarrow to turn it into a grill in Afghanistan. We were consistently air dropped frozen food but at no point had a freezer that could house them. Those are easily the best moments of my experience, the austere ones. But, if that’s not something you’re interested in, do not go to selection. Because, once you’ve learned to not only embrace but love the “suck”. You can rightfully accessorize with flashy gear. By that time, you’ll know what you like and what you need, too.

Worry about the basics: shoot, move, communicate.

SOF SELECTION PT PREP 1/30/17

SOF Selection PT Prep for January 30th, 2017. Here at specialopations.com, we’ll focus on gym and out of the gym training for general health as a teammate and Selection. The goal is for the sessions to range from 45 minutes to an hour and a half on average. But, the longer movements and rucks will take two hours or more to complete on the weekends. For serious endurance, there may be some events over the year that require four to eight hours to complete. Below is today’s workout.

Training:

Run 5 miles (record your time)

Then, head into the gym:

5 rounds:

5 x Front Squat (hard but doable weight)

10 Pull-ups

4 rounds:

5 x Standing Arnold Press

25 x Push ups

30 x “V”ups

 

SpecialOperations / SOFREP weekly ruck announcement

What would have been as early as this Sunday is postponed because of the short notice posting. However, a ruck march hosted by yours truly – will occur every week and all readers are welcome. If you’re interested please, leave your email and express interest in the comments below.

When: SUNDAY 2/5/2017 @ 1 P.M.

Where:

Rock Creek Park, 

Western Ridge Trail

  • Total Distance:  ~5 -6 miles
  • Elevation Gain:  335 ft.
  • Elevation Descent: -203 ft.

Parking:  Parking locations can be found on the Map My Run link listed below

Wear long pants or shorts that you feel comfortable Rucking. Bring a smart watch that records your heart rate. Bring a container of war and whatever sports fuel gels or bars you’d like to experiment.

Must Bring:

Ruck: at least 35lbs.

Hiking or Military boots, no tennis shoes.

Cell phone in case of emergency.

Water.

 

The First Few Days at Selection

The first few fearful days at Selection are nerve-racking but eventually subside. The first few days at selection are disorienting and scary because you have no idea what’s coming and how you can prepare. You’ll become a number over night. You’ll be addressed as candidate followed by whatever number you get. God help you if you get to number one. To my knowledge number one has never made it and been selected.

There will be no sense of control over your schedule, how you’re treated, what you wear (you’ll be instructed to wear what they tell you). The only thing you can do is perform and whatever is asked of you. But, that’s not always enough for most. Many lay on their cots and try to figure out how they can pass this thing they call selection. But, the truth is the best thing you can do when you’re laying on the cot is relax.

Stop worrying about what could be and just live in the moment when you need to. No one is going to jump out at you like a horror movie and beat you. Whatever outlandish rumors you’ve heard aren’t true. It’s still an army leadership training course. Be a student and pass above the Army standard 70%. You do not have to be a marathoning bodybuilder to make it in SOF. To get in, you just have to finish selection and get selected.

My advice, something I wish I had done – take a book and – read it.  You’ve got the choice between a Bible, the Ranger handbook or a novel. There will be plenty of Ranger handbook’s floating around, and you don’t need it to get selected. Take a great novel. Find an escape; there’s a lot of down time between training events. For that reason, something that takes you to another time or place but is motivating might work. For example, a game of thrones of other adventurous fantasies might get your mind off of selection but still into a motivated state of mind.

Although, at first selection is awful and you’re unsure what is happening to you. You eventually get used to it and selection is where you are – and not a prisoner. You’ll even know a little bit about the cadre and their personalities. It will become less mystifying and more predictable and follow the course of events you’ve heard of and read about.

Featured image courtesy of DoD.

SOF Selection PT Preparation Training: New weekly ruck and Today’s workout (1/26/2017)

On this site: there will be a daily workout intended for those preparing for selection. You can follow daily or use it as a filler for when you’re in between training plans. We prefer daily because the intention is for these workouts to progress in sophistication and intensity. But it will be sport specific most of the time with an emphasis on rucking and running. However, there will be cycles when we spend a month or more using the weight room more than the pavement (running).

SUNDAY – In Washington, D.C. will be SpecialOpeations.com / SOFREP inaugural weekly Ruck March. The first ruck march will begin at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. and the exact location will be posted Friday, here and SOFREP.com.

Next week – Monday (1/25/2017) we’ll begin a ruck and running centric program designed for those seeking to prepare their bodies for the rigors of selection.

Leading up to this week, today through Friday will be simple running workouts.

Here’s today’s SOF Selection PT Workout:

Run 5 miles as fast as possible and record the time.

Then, do 100 Push-ups, 200 Crunches, and 50 Pull-ups.

SOF Fitness: Masters of Chaotic Schedules

Maintaining fitness in SOF isn’t easy and not for the faint of heart. Your schedule is going to a complete mess and your stability the same.

You aren’t always going to be able to work out at a gym. In fact, you might end up confined to a hotel room. There is consistent chaos to your schedule as a Green Beret. It all varies on your team, projects your on, where you’re headed and who you’re working for but your time isn’t ever really yours. It’s just the way it is. You might even have a team that’s generally out of shape for a variety of reasons. OR, you’ll be on a team of extreme fitness studs, and you can’t keep up.

Whatever you’re expecting in SOF, understand that no matter how hard you work you’ll never be the fittest guy in the room. You’ll fight for your life and end up the average. But, that’s OK – because it’s all about hanging with the pack. There is only ever an issue when you can’t hang. But, being honest – fitness varies from unit to unit. In a Special Forces Group, it can shift from team to team. Each team in a company has a different infiltration method – and often that dictates their training.

Equally, important and more to the point is that you’re schedule is going to be extremely hectic. Even when you find yourself in downtime, it could change in an instant. As accustomed as I became with being fit and having consistent access to a gym and trainers I eventually also became comfortable with the opposite. That’s where diet comes in – because your diet is the bedrock of your fitness. If you have to work as hard as possible to negate your diet – you’re not making nearly as many gains in your health if you just became a more disciplined eater.

One place the chaos is present is in the “Q” or Qualification course. There are consistent periods of time where you know your daily schedule and can plan around. For example, while you’re learning a foreign language. Every day in the language school, you know what you’re doing, and you know your schedule. It’s easy to figure out when to work out and find the time to do so. However, once you’re sucked into training in the field, you can kiss a schedule goodbye. The same goes for some deployments and often the first few weeks of them.

You’ll be in constant state of getting your bearings and adapting to new environments. As important as it is to be fit – it’s just as important never to lose sight of the importance of physical fitness. Because in that chaotic schedule many Green Beret’s will set aside their physical fitness. Because if the sh*t hits the fan that fitness is the core attribute, you’ll need to save your buddy’s life.

Featured image  courtesy of the U.S. Navy (photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Shauntae Hinkle-Lymas/Released).

How to deal with your team if you’re a political outcast

Politics are always a hot button issue and it is unavoidable in the team. Political leaders will send you abroad and change who is in your sight picture

Earn and keep their respect. Stand up for yourself. Learn to articulate your point of view in a reasonable way and become a true pragmatic thinker. Take the opportunity to understand why others disagree with you. Most important, do your job and don’t complain. Your politics won’t matter on the battlefield. But their confidence in you will.

So, to be brief on this one – just learn to deal with people. Because when you get to a team for the first time – it’s going to somewhat abusive. They’re going to make fun of you and it’s not going to stop until they feel you’ve proved yourself. In that process, if you reveal a large chink in your armor or they discover you’re a political idealogue it might affect your relationship with them. It’s not your first impression that counts the most but your first few months as you deal with the harassment.

I felt compelled to write this article now because it seems that politics is more polarized than ever before in my young life. Life outside is reflective of life, inside. Except, there simply are more conservative and republican voters. That’s important to understand for people joining from more liberal areas that are accustomed to a full-bore or semi-echo chamber. Understand that if you’re perceived as an extremist one way or the other that reputation will follow you.

If this applies to you – this is a great opportunity to just take a break from the constant outrage or, if your party wins, the jubilation. The ups and downs aren’t relevant to you as a Green Beret. It comes back to a simple fact that you need to do your job, do it well enough – and maintain the appropriate level of fitness.

Inauguration Day and the ‘Q’ course.

You won’t be too busy to miss out on real life while you’re training to become a Green Beret. You’ll spend more time not training than you know. The Special Forces Qualification Course is a marathon, not a sprint. There’s time between trainings and, naturally, plenty of time out in the field, too. Don’t get me wrong; you’ll do your time in areas of North Carolina. But, you’ll also pull a good amount of duty sitting on your hands in the barracks. You need to prepare for both and not waste your time.

If you think that you’d be too busy to watch the inauguration when you’re going through the Special Forces Qualification course, you’re wrong. I watched it, and I don’t think I had a single thing to do that day. While we were off work – it’s a misnomer that the entire ‘Q’ course takes place in the field. It doesn’t, and there’s a lot of time spent waiting for various training classes to begin. That’s what got most guys in trouble when I was there more than anything else.

Leaving young and brazen soldiers to their own devices, they get in trouble. DON’T GET IN TROUBLE. It’s critical advice. When you’re not in training, keep training on what you know you need to do. You need to know the basics of Small Unit Tactics and Military leadership and decision making. Also, what’s critical is your fitness and your ability to carry a ruck over a distance. Don’t let your fitness and most important, your rucking slip away from you. When you have the time, you need to be training harder than ever. Becuase the PT you will or won’t do at Small Unit Tactics will be a part of your evaluation.

Whenever you’re in training the other students are studying you looking for weaknesses. It’s not malicious, but they’re trying to protect their destiny. There’s a big sign out at there at Selection that reads, “The Brotherhood Starts Here.” It does start there in a shared experience but not in a treehouse sense. Don’t forget that you have to take care of yourself to make it through the ‘Q’ course because no one else will, and that’s not what they’re looking for in a Green Beret.

Featured image courtesy of Military.com.

New Contributor Norwood Introduces himself

Hey, Everyone, My name is Norwood and I’ll be contributing to this site. I’m an ex-Green Beret and write at SOFREP.com. There we began a SOF Selection PT Prep program but felt that it might be best to host those workouts, here. So, I’ll be focusing on a few things in my writing.

– Selection Preparation – both mentally and physically.

– PT and Rucking Gear, as well as tactical equipment (in that order).

– Hosting Sunday Ruck Marches and broadcasting them in the DC Metro area. 

– Interviewing other SOF selection graduates for advice and tips.

– Interviewing SOF operators about life in SOF.

I hope you guys like the work and writing and I look to forward to helping where I can.