SOF

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 4, Day 2

We’ll start our Monday doing a mini-UBRR with Pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, with V-ups and dips. Then we’ll focus on some speed work with the shuttle runs rather than a longer duration.

Have you been breaking in a second pair of boots for the ruck march from yesterday? It needs to be done and will be giving you fewer problems in the long run. We’ll address that as well in some upcoming posts.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1-minute, Crunches

2 x 1-minute, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

10 x 40-meter shuttle run

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 7

Back in the gym this morning for some shoulders and back training before heading out for a run. We’ll break up the routine next week with some more speed interval running, that will help to build up your short area quickness and speed. And we’ll do some swimming which is also very important.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, behind the neck (go as heavy as possible)

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Seated Bent-Over Delt Raise

3 x 10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

3 x 10 Arnold Dumbbell Press

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Getting Selected at SFAS: The Basics – Knowing Your Pace Count

With some new Selection courses starting in the cooler/colder weather, it is a good time to revisit some of the basics that the candidates will need to pass. The Big Three in regard to questions we get here which pertains to Selection concern themselves with physical training, rucking and Land Navigation. And we do get lots of questions about Land Navigation and specifically the Star Course out in Hoffman. We’ll address those in just a moment.

But before we get to that, there are certain tips, such as the Physical Training program which will help you attain the level of physical fitness that you’ll need to not just pass the course but to excel… in our humble opinion. We take it week by week and break it down into a daily workout that should have you in great shape to handle the rigors of the course. I don’t claim to know it all, far from it. But after a decade+ in Special Forces and time as a cadre member in Selection, does have its advantages.

So, I know that many of the candidates who are going to attend Selection have heard horror stories about the Land Navigation course and Hoffman. And, there is a lot of truth in parts of the “legend of the SF Land Nav Course.” Most of the students who fail at either SFAS or the SFQC have done so because they failed the land navigation course. There is no mistaking it. The course is tough, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

But I’m here to tell you it isn’t anything that thousands of Special Forces soldiers haven’t passed before you. It just requires you to be prepared, keep a cool head and know your basics. So, we’ll put the cart before the horse a bit here. We’ll touch on some map reading basics soon but let’s take a look at one of the most basic of skills in moving during navigation, and that is your pace count.

Pace Count: Knowing your pace is very important because there are going to be times, that you’ll need to know exactly how far you’ve traveled, even if you can read a map like a pro or in the case of Camp Mackall, where the terrain features are indistinct. And the terrain will dictate that in many cases.

First set up a 100-meter course on flat terrain. Walk it three times and every time your left foot hits the ground, count it. Take the total number of steps you’ve walked and divide by three. That is your baseline pace count. If you’re on a track or a football field, take a spool of 550 cord and mark out 100 meters. You’ll thank me later.

Now wait until dark and walk the flat course again, three times. Your pace count will probably increase in the dark, keep a notation in your notebook that should always be in your pocket. Mark down what your pace count is for daylight on flat terrain and your night pace count.

Now take your 550 cord out in the woods and try to find some rougher, hilly terrain. Lay out the 550 cord and walk the course again three times in the day and three times in the dark. Did your pace count increase with the difference in terrain? It should have.

Now put a rucksack on and repeat the steps in both the flat terrain and the rough hilly terrain, day and night. Your pace count should increase dramatically with a heavy rucksack on especially once you start hitting hills and thicker vegetation.

Remember, if you plan to use your Ranger beads every time you travel 100 meters. Slide the lowest bead to the bottom. Most of them come with nine beads. After you slide nine down, the next 100 meters brings you to a klick and you can push them all back up to the top. I recommend using them or making your own out of 550 cord, it is a valuable tool and comes in handy so that you don’t have to remember exactly how far you have to go and how far you’ve gone.

A couple of things to remember if the weather turns to shit, and it will, the rain, snow or sleet will cause you to take shorter steps and increase your pace count. Exhaustion will do the same thing. As you get tired during the course or during a field training exercise, your level of exhaustion will increase your pace count even if moving during daylight hours in open terrain.

In time, you’ll become a seasoned pro at this and will know just by the conditions that you are dealing with what your pace count will be. And it will change over time. My pace with just web gear on flat terrain was 62 back in the days of Phase 1 at Camp Mackall.

But with a rucksack and a heavy load, it went up to 73. But I noticed after I had been in Group for a while and your rucksack becomes a part of your body, my pace counted lessened to between 68-69 depending on conditions. You’ll find that you will have similar results.

Another tip on pace counts. If you plot your point and you have 4 kilometers (klicks) between points, don’t try to keep a pace for the entire distance. Pick out a terrain feature or road intersection as an attack point. Use deliberate offset (More on that later) to find it. Keep your pace count to that attack point and make a notation with a grease pencil on your map case. If any of your fellow students or training partners have been in either the Ranger Regiment or an Airborne or Light Infantry unit, they’ll probably have some experience doing this.

It is a great way to check your pace and see how close you come out. By the time you finish SFAS and the SFQC, you’ll find you pace counts and distances are coming really close to the distances when you plot them on your maps.

Remember, keeping a pace count is just an added tool at your disposal. Knowing how to read a map and the surrounding terrain features is an easy way to quickly, and confidently find your way anywhere. And… as the old saying goes, if you can navigate in Camp Mackall, you’ll be able to navigate anywhere.

But failure to keep a pace count can really hurt you if become disoriented, especially in the dark. It is a valuable tool that every successful SFAS candidate should use while you’re out on the course.

So, when navigating, keeping an accurate pace count is not only a helpful aid but essential. Don’t be “Ned the Navigator” and wind up miles off the course because he wasn’t paying attention. That will get you a red face when the cadre has to search for you and usually ends up with the candidate doing the long walk to the trucks back to Ft. Bragg. The last thing you want to see is your rucksack in the hallway.

We’ll get to some more Land Navigation tips and some important Map Reading do’s and don’ts in some of our upcoming articles soon. Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to email me and I’ll be happy to answer them. Either privately or in a post such as this (without giving up names).

Keep Grinding, No Days Off… DOL

Photo courtesy of DOD

Coalition-Backed Syrian Troops Kill 20 ISIS Fighters at Tanf

U.S.-led coalition and its Syrian partners killed more than 20 Islamic State fighters and captured 17 others Wednesday in fighting outside U.S. base at Tanf, the coalition said Thursday.

It was the second combat action around that key US base and coalition officials took issue with what they described as ISIS has been able to move freely through Syrian regime-controlled territory with a Russian military presence.

“Despite the presence of Russian-backed, pro-Syrian regime forces in the area, Daesh still finds ways to move freely through regime lines and pose a threat,” coalition director of operations Brig. Gen. Jonathan Braga said in the statement, using an alternate name for ISIS. “We shall continue to work by, with and through our partner forces to deny Daesh the ability to regroup and reorganize.”
Given its location, the base has been seen as an important outpost as the United States, Russia and Iran jockey for influence in the region. Iran in particular is said to want to control a route running from Iran to the Mediterranean that would runs through that area.
Reports citing unnamed U.S. officials said the convoy had about 10 vehicles and got within 55 kilometers of the base. The United States has established a so-called deconfliction zone of 55 kilometers around al Tanf.
“Though Daesh has lost over 98 percent of the land it once controlled, this exchange is evidence that Daesh still poses a threat to the people of Syria,” the statement. “The coalition remains committed to standing with our partner forces to see a lasting defeat of Daesh.”

During the summer, the area around Tanf has been the scene of several operations. US airstrikes hit Syrian-backed militias inside the 55-kilometer zone around the US base and coalition troops shot down an Iranian drone.

To read the entire article from The Hill, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Iraq Executes 38 ISIS/al-Qaida Fighters on Terrorism Charges

Iraqi government officials said that Iraq hanged 38 jihadists, 37 Iraqis, and one Swedish citizen, belonging to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaida for terrorism offenses on Thursday in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison.

“The prison administration executed on Thursday in the presence of Justice Minister Haidar al-Zameli, in Nasiriyah prison, 38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaida or Daesh (IS) accused of terrorist activities,” said Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory against IS after a three-year campaign by government forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition to retake territory seized by the jihadists.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced repeated concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which it ranks as one of the world’s top executioners behind China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
“Iraqi justice is failing to distinguish between the culpability of doctors who protected lives under ISIS rule and those responsible for crimes against humanity,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East director.
HRW said it regretted what it called the inconsistent application of a 2016 law granting amnesty to suspects who can show they joined IS or any extremist group against their will and have not committed a crime.
“Execution of fighters who surrender or are hors de combat is a war crime,” HRW added.

Human Rights Watch made a case for many Iraqis who were forced to join the Islamic State against their will during the IS invasion of 2014 where they took a large percentage of Iraq before the government struck back and drove them out in subsequent operations.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 6

Friday is always a good day to for Leg Day at the gym, the lighter weight in the squats but higher reps help with endurance. Weighted sled push builds up some explosion. The leg work in the gym will bode well for you in Selection and in SOF units in your future if you are successful in your quest to get Selected.

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

Training:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

4 x Sled push heavier weight or Fireman’s Carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

3-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Boston Tea Party, December 1773, Set in Motion Rebellion in the Colonies

On a cold December evening in December 1773, American colonists, members of the Sons of Liberty protested the British Tea Act by disguising themselves as American Indians and threw an entire shipment of tea from England into Boston Harbor.

This political protest and the subsequent reactions of the English government, set in motion a series of events that would eventually kick-start the American Revolution in nearby Lexington and Concord in April 1775.

Background: The Tea Act, passed by Parliament in April of 1773 infuriated the colonists as they felt the English government was unfairly putting the financial burden of the failing East India Company on the colonists of America. “No Taxation without Representation” became the rallying cry for political movements including the Sons of Liberty which began in Boston but had other groups in New York, Philadelphia, and other colonies.

Europeans had developed an affinity for tea in the early 1700s and that carried over to the American colonies. English Parliament granted a monopoly to the East India Company to the importation of tea into England. Parliament sought and was granted permission to carry that over to the American colonies in 1721. The Dutch smuggled tea into America and the cost was much cheaper. The East India Company was losing huge amounts of money. So Parliament passed the Indemnity Act which lowered the tax on tea consumed in Great Britain, and gave the East India Company a refund of the 25% duty on tea that was re-exported to the colonies. To counter their loss of taxes, Parliament decided to make up the money on the American colonies.

They passed the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, which levied new taxes, including one on tea, in the colonies. The colonists, at this time considered themselves Englishmen, were infuriated as Parliament was levying taxes on them while they had no representation in Parliament.

This created a firestorm in London, because, according to the British Constitution, citizens could only be taxed by their elected representatives. Since the colonies had no representation in Parliament, they felt the taxes were illegal.

In late 1772 because of the Indemnity Act, sales of tea plummeted and the warehouses of the East India Company (EIC) were overflowing with tea no one was buying. The East India Company was on the verge of bankruptcy. So Parliament allowed the EIC to import tea directly to the colonies. They tried to hide from the colonists that they were still paying a tax on their tea. But once the colonists found out it sprang them into action.

But the irony of the situation was that the price of tea in the colonies was now cheaper than even the smugglers were charging. Some of the biggest colonial opposition figures such as Samuel Adams considered the British tea monopoly to be “equal to a tax” and to raise the same “Taxation Without Representation” issue whether or not a tax was applied to it.

Situation Coming to a Head in Boston: In Charleston, SC and New York, colonists had succeeded in forcing the tea consigners, appointed by Parliament to resign. Therefore customs officials seized the tea. In Philadelphia and New York, the protests stopped the tea from being unloaded and the ships returned to London with the tea in the ship’s holds.

A replica of the Dartmouth is in Boston Harbor at the Boston Tea Party Museum.

Boston however, was another matter. Governor Hutchinson, forced the two tea consigners (his sons), not to resign. The tea ship Dartmouth arrived in Boston on November 29, 1773. Law stated that the tea must be offloaded within 20 days or the Customs officials could seize it. Samuel Adams called a meeting and thousands of colonists attended at the Old South Meeting House.

Adams put 25 men watching the Dartmouth to see if the company tried to offload the tea. Hutchinson refused to let the Dartmouth sail back to England without paying the duty of the tea in her hold. Meanwhile, two more tea ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver arrived in Boston Harbor and anchored near the Dartmouth. A fourth was supposed to arrive but a storm diverted it to Cape Cod.

On the final night of the Dartmouth’s deadline, Adams led a meeting of over 7000 colonists as the Sons of Liberty were preparing for a night of lawlessness that would push both parties inexorably toward war.

Boston Harbor December 16: While Adams was firing up the colonists at the Old South Meeting House, plans had already been made to take matters into their own hands. While Adams made a show of trying to keep the meeting going, about 150 members of the Sons of Liberty, slipped out and began drifting towards Griffin’s Wharf.

They elaborately disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians to avoid identification.The act of wearing Indian dress was to express to the world that the American colonists identified themselves as “Americans” and no longer considered themselves British subjects. Many left Boston soon after for fear of reprisal.

One hundred and sixteen men were positively identified as members of the Tea Party but many others stayed anonymous. Sixteen of the participants were teenagers and only nine were over the age of forty.

George Hewes recorded his own journal of the event: “It was now evening, and I immediately dressed myself in the costume of an Indian, equipped with a small hatchet, which I and my associates denominated the tomahawk, with which, and a club, after having painted my face and hands with coal dust in the shop of a blacksmith, I repaired to Griffin’s wharf, where the ships lay that contained the tea. When I first appeared in the street after being thus disguised, I fell in with many who were dressed, equipped and painted as I was, and who fell in with me and marched in order to the place of our destination.”

The men boarded the ships and began the work of bringing all 342 tea chests to the sides of the ships and dumping them into Boston Harbor. The entire operation took over three hours. Only two of the chests that night survived. One of them is on display now at the Boston Tea Party Museum. The value of the estimated 92,000 pounds of tea tossed in Boston Harbor was around £9,659 which was reported at the time. That is worth around $1.7 million dollars today.

The Robinson Half Chest is one of only two remaining original tea crates that were thrown into Boston Harbor.

English Reaction: The events in Boston galvanized Parliament, even those who had been sympathetic to the colonists’ cause. Parliament passed what was known in England as the Coercive Acts but became known in America as the Intolerable Acts.

The Intolerable Acts were actually a series of separate acts designed to punish the colony of Massachusetts and the people of Boston for trying to usurp their authority.

Prime Minister Lord North said, “The Americans have tarred and feathered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and authority; yet so clement and so long forbearing has our conduct been that it is incumbent on us now to take a different course. Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over.”

The first act closed the Port of Boston until all of the tea was paid for and the King’s government was satisfied that order had been restored in Massachusetts. The second took away the charter of the colony of Massachusetts and stated that all positions in the colonial government were to appointed by the governor, Parliament or the King. Local meetings were restricted to only one per year unless the governor called for one.

The third act stipulated that any officials of the crown accused of a crime in the colony of Massachusetts would be tried in England or another area of the Empire since they couldn’t be guaranteed a fair trial in Massachusetts. (British soldiers were acquitted in 1770 of murder during the Boston Massacre when tried in Massachusetts) And the final was the Quartering Act which colonists were forced to house British soldiers in their homes.

Rather than isolate what were considered radicals in Massachusetts and force the colonists to concede authority to Parliament over their lives in America, it had the opposite effect. The other colonies, fearing the same could happen to them, banded together in support of Massachusetts. The began correspondence with one another and sent delegates to the Continental Congress. Banded together, they still hoped that their issues with England could be solved.

About a year later in April 1775, at the small village green in Lexington, a local militia stood up to the British army in what is known as the “The Shot Heard Around the World”, and the American Revolution began.

Photos: Wikipedia, Boston Tea Party Museum

Advocacy Groups Sue US Military To Get Sexual Assault Records

Two advocacy groups, Protect Our Defenders and the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center are suing the U.S. military for records pertaining to sexual assault and the military justice system.

The groups filed suit with the Federal Court in Connecticut against the Department of Defense as well as the Department of Homeland Security “to release records related to gender disparities within the military justice system and the military record correction boards’ handling of cases involving sexual assault and harassment.”

The groups have filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests with the various military services and the U.S. Coast Guard for information pertaining to sexual assault and the military justice system, but they argue the services’ responses to those requests are often “insufficient” or incomplete.
“The military has resisted efforts to end the epidemic of sexual assault and retaliation within its ranks, despite years of Congressional attention and reform,” Col. Don Christensen (USAF-Ret.), president of Protect Our Defenders, said in a press release. “Service members, Members of Congress, and the public deserve to know if the military unlawfully discriminates against female service members and survivors of sexual assault.”
The records requested by Protect Our Defenders and the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center are separate from the sexual assault data released publicly by the Department of Defense, Christensen told ABC News.
Last month, the Department of Defense published the number of sexual assault reports made at U.S. military installations around the world for fiscal years 2013 through 2016.
In May, the department released their annual sexual assault report which estimated that the number of sexual assaults decreased 26.6 percent between 2014 and 2016, from 20,300 in 2014 to 14,900 last year.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees, spoke in favor of the suit stating that the victims of sexual assault are often being re-victimized by the system and are owed justice.

To read the entire article from ABC News click here:

Photo courtesy VA

Deployed Troops in Afghanistan Get First Look at New Star Wars Film

For the troops deployed overseas in Afghanistan, they are getting treated to a little bit of Hollywood magic ahead of the rest of the world. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which is already one of the year’s most anticipated films doesn’t open until Friday, but some service members are getting an advanced screening of the movie this week.

The special screenings follow similar events for previous entries into the Star Wars canon in 2015 and 2016.
The latest entry in the popular film series will make its debut on overseas military installations thanks to a partnership between the Army & Air Force Exchange Service and Walt Disney Studios, officials said. The film will be shown in at least six countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
“The Last Jedi” will premiere on Dec. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq; Bagram, Afghanistan; Azraq, Jordan; and Camp Beuhring, Kuwait, according to AAFES. Additional showings will follow through Christmas Day at various locations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
“We are thrilled to give service members a chance to see ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ a full day ahead of its U.S. release,” said U.S. Army Col. Scott McFarland, Exchange Europe and Southwest Asia Region Commander. “Our Middle East screenings of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ in 2015 and 2016 were very well received. We are excited to once again be able to offer a much-needed break from the harsh day-to-day reality these service members face while on deployment.”

Some of the troops will be getting a special challenge coin of the Millennium Falcon as well. DOD officials refused to answer FOIA requests from certain media members asking if it was a conspiracy to hide Chewbacca while he was on leave in Afghanistan and it not counting against the current troop strength.

To read the entire article from The Fayetteville Observer, click here:

Photo courtesy US Air Force

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 5

All the workout can be done outside this morning. We are going to max out on pushups, sit-ups, and crunches today before we head back out on the rucking trails. There is no time limit on any of the exercises, obviously, the goal is to get them done as quickly as you can. Stretch well before and after and ensure you hydrate well during the ruck march.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

100 Pushups (no time limit)

100 Sit-ups (no time limit)

100 Crunches (no time limit)

Rucksack march: Go as hard and as fast as you can for 1 hour. Do this without running. See what your distance is and make a notation. This will give a goal to achieve in later training sessions.

Stretch well after completion