SOF

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 17, Day 3

Our last week of prep, Tuesday starts with Leg Day at the gym followed by a 4-mile run. Begin with pull-ups, then squats, lunges and the sled followed by a four-mile run.

Leg Day is everyone’s least favorite day, make it your go-to day. Make sure you stretch well afterward and remember to hydrate.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x 10 Deadlifts

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 Planks with Shoulder Touches

4-Mile run

Stretch well after completion

Israel Rocked By Rocket Attacks is the Iranian Two-Front Strategy Beginning

We’ve all seen how since late Friday, Israel has been facing an unending series of rocket and mortar attacks which has kept the country on alert. Hamas from their enclaves in Gaza has launched, to date over 200 rockets and mortars on the Israeli territory around Sderot. Most of the rockets fell into open fields or were shot down by Israeli Iron Dome air defense systems. But one rocket hit just outside a family’s home injuring three while another hit a synagogue although it was empty at the time.

The Israelis have responded with their heaviest air strikes since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge. More than 40 targets were hit including a Hamas training facility that the IDF has stated contained underground tunnels for training as part of Hamas’ tunnel network operations. Hamas claimed that the facility was empty and only two teenaged passersby across the street were killed.

Reports were surfacing of a ceasefire brokered by Egypt which will reportedly stop the rockets for now and the Israeli counter strikes. It will only put off the inevitable because this was just the opening salvo of the Iranian two-front strategy.

This strategy is already well-known by the IDF chiefs in Tel Aviv. It is simple as it aims to put the Israelis under a two-front scenario that they cannot win. They are pumping rockets into Gaza with Hamas and together with the Syrian offensive aimed at retaking the southern areas of the country back from the rebels during the on-going civil war, they are planning on having a presence on the Israeli border at the Golan Heights.

Rather than use Hezbollah’s bases in Lebanon which would invite an Israeli incursion, they are going to establish Iranian bases in southern Syria. That’s what Tehran wants, an Iranian presence in the Golan. Under the current de-escalation agreements between the United States, Russia and Jordan, the southern area of Syria were supposedly off-limits. However, Syrian forces under the Assad regime are actively attempting to retake the southern areas and return them to government control with a heavy dose of Russian air power in support.

President Putin has frequently stated that only Syrian troops will occupy the borders along the Jordanian/Israeli.Syrian border. And that any Russian or Iranian troops will withdraw soon after the area is retaken. Right now the Syrian troops are moving east towards Daraa close to the Jordanian frontier. It is when they turn southwest towards Quneitra that things are likely to get dicey. It is no secret that Iranian militias are embedded with the Syrian troops.

Israel has made it clear that it will tolerate no Iranian bases or troops along its border. In the past several months, their intelligence has been able to pinpoint the Iranian bases inside Syria and they’ve been decimated by air attacks. But these bases were mainly Iranian bases. Once embedded with Syrian forces it presents another factor entirely. Will Putin and the Russian Air Force, which hasn’t lifted a finger to stop the Israeli airstrikes thus far respond now as they’ll be attacking both Syrian and Iranian troops? Right now the answer is no, but this has all the earmarks of a quagmire in the area.

The Iranians know that of right now an all-out conventional conflict with Israel will go badly. But that’s not what they’re looking for. A two-front conflict with Israel with rockets poised in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza will effectively stop the Israelis from acting decisively in any location.

And the Iranians haven’t even been trying to do so covertly, they’re broadcasting their aims openly over social media. Back in June, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) deputy commander Hossein Salami spelled out Iran’s plan to use Hezbollah, which he called a “mighty power” with 100,000 rockets aimed at Israel.

He also called upon the “Islamic Army in Syria, operating in the Golan Heights was awaiting orders “to eradicate the evil regime.” He added that the Palestinians, armed with missiles can now act against Israel, the Americans and the west.

In typical Iranian rhetoric, Salami said that Iran controlled the shipping lanes that operate out of the gulf and that any attempt by the West (read Europe) will result in the Islamic Republic squeezing the Europeans off from their oil and goods shipped thru the gulf.

Some of his comments during the Quds speech are here:

The Islamic Revolution created a mighty power called Hezbollah, that today, as the Zionist regime itself acknowledges, has over 100,000 missiles ready for launch. Hezbollah today has tremendous might on the ground that can on its own break the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime has no strategic-defensive depth, and in some places, the breadth of this regime is barely 34 km, and in order to destroy it, it will take only one ‘Jerusalem operation to destroy it.

“Today an international Islamic army has been formed in Syria, and the voices of the Muslims are heard near the Golan… Orders are awaited so that the custom of God vis-à-vis the eradication of the evil regime [Israel] will land and the life of this regime will be ended for good. The life of the Zionist regime was never in danger as it is now.

“Once, the Palestinians fought with stones and slingshots, but today they are armed with missiles. Every regime site is today under fire from the missile launchers. The farther and more deeply [we look], the more we see that there is a politically and militarily powerful regime in the world that raises the flag of fighting evil. This regime is Iran.”

“Iran Invites The Muslims To Jihad”
“We Have A Duty To Defend The Palestine Movement That Is Now Fighting… We Are Creating Might In Lebanon Because We Want To Fight Our Enemy From There With All Our Strength”
“Does today’s world know that [its] energy is under Iranian security control? They must know that if their industry flourishes thanks to Persian Gulf energy, they owe this to Iran, and they must not annoy Iran. Their life’s vein is in our hands. The security of their interests is in our hands.”

The Israelis were well aware of the Iranian plans and hard-liners in the government were already debating whether the IDF should hammer Gaza hard now before the Iranians are digging into southwestern Syria.

In regard to Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is of the opinion that if war is coming with Iran, it is better to deal with it now rather than later. The Israelis know that an Iranian presence on their border is going to lead to conflict between the two countries. Tehran is wanting for the low-intensity type with the Israelis being hamstrung between two fronts and limited to carrying out airstrikes in Gaza and Syria, without the capability to decisively deal with either threat.

The leaders in Tehran have no issue, as in the past by using the Palestinians for that purpose. Meanwhile, the mainstream media ties the recent rocket attacks from Gaza as a continuation of the “protests” along the border that hit the area recently. It is not. Nor will it, as is repeatedly stated effect the “peace process” between the Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas is of the opinion that Israel doesn’t have the right to exist.

What this is, however, is a power play by Tehran and how events unfold in southwestern Syria will bear watching in the very near future.

Photo: AP

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 17, Day 2

We’re going to kick Monday and the new week off right, and we’ll do it with a UBRR preparation. Start off with pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups, and dips before a 5-mile run. Remember to stay hydrated and mark your progress in your workout log book.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 30 Sit-ups

2 x 30 Crunches

2 x 10, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

2 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure

5-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 17 Day 1

Sunday morning rucksack march. Do a quick warmup of pushups and crunches before heading out. Head out over varied terrain and try to go as fast as you can without running.

Stretch well both before and after the event. Remember to still push water during the march. Especially with the summer weather is upon us now, the need for water increases. And ensure that second pair of boots are broken in for the Selection Course.

Training:

Warm up

1 x 20 Pushups

1 x 20 Crunches

6-mile Rucksack march over varied terrain with a 45-pound minimum. 90 minutes maximum. Exceed the standard without running and you’ll be in good shape.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 16, Day 7

It is a cool Saturday morning here, so it is a perfect time to go to the gym for a shoulder and back workout. Pull-ups, Deadlifts, Lat Pulldowns and then Dumbbell Shoulder work. Followed by a five-mile run. Log your numbers down in the workout notebook

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, rear

3 x 10 Barbell Dead Lift

3 x 10 Wide Grip Pull-ups

3 x 10 Towel Pull-ups

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

5-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Before She Was a Famous Chef, Julia Child Cooked Up Shark Repellent for OSS

When one mentions Julia Child, the first thing that comes to mind is the marvel and ease of French cooking that she brought to the United States. But long before she was a culinary artist, she served as an intelligence officer during World War II in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to today’s CIA and the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Child was born in Pasadena, California in 1912 and attended a private boarding school before attending Smith College, graduating with a degree in history in 1934. The 6’2” Child also played basketball, golf, and tennis in school. She moved to New York and worked as a copywriter for the advertising firm of W. & J. Sloane. One curious bit of her history. While growing up in California, her family had a hired cook and Child had no interest in cooking until she met her husband Paul many years later.

World War II Service: When the war started, Child attempted to join both the WACs (Women’s Army Corps) and the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in the Navy. But was rejected because of her height.

Undeterred, she volunteered to serve in the OSS and was initially given a typist’s job at the headquarters in Washington D.C. It wasn’t long before she was given a much more challenging position as a researcher working directly under General William Donovan with a Top Secret clearance.

The elite Washington snobs looked down their blue noses at the upstart Intelligence group created by Donovan. They had well-connected enemies from the moment of their inception with J.Edgar Hoover and the FBI. Donovan’s men were a freewheeling, eclectic band of “glorious amateurs” as Donovan called them. He also said he was looking for “PHDs who can win a bar fight”, and he recruited some very well known personas including several who would become the head of CIA including Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, William Colby, and William Casey.

Child quickly rose thru the ranks in Washington and lived out of the Brighton Hotel. But growing bored with the administrative work, she heard OSS was searching for volunteers for work in India. And she thought being, “free, white, and thirty-one,” she was ready for an adventure.

But just prior to her transfer to the Orient, the U.S. Navy was having a hard time with sharks. There were reportedly 20 such attacks during the first 18 months of the war and the Navy was looking for a shark repellent that would boost morale.

So Donovan suggested to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that all rescue efforts be coordinated. Thus the OSS Emergency Rescue Equipment (ERE) committee was created to keep other government agencies from duplicating efforts. From the CIA archives, The ERE was headed up by Captain Harold J. Coolidge, a scientist from the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and Dr. Henry Field, Curator of the Field Museum of Natural History. Both men were avid explorers, having led expeditions into the arctic, desert, and tropical regions.

Julia Child, then McWilliams worked for Coolidge as his executive assistant for a year in 1943. Child in an interview about OSS had this to say about the work at ERE:

“I must say we had lots of fun,” Child said. “We designed rescue kits and other agent paraphernalia. I understand the shark repellent we developed is being used today for downed space equipment—strapped around it so the sharks won’t attack when it lands in the ocean.”

The group experimented with a variety of different compounds to keep the sharks away but the most effective chemical they found was copper acetate. It was found to be about 60 percent effective in keeping sharks from biting test subjects. CIA reports that the repellent was constructed as follows:

Copper acetate was mixed with black dye, which was then formed into a little disk-shaped “cake” that smelled like a dead shark when released into the water. These cakes could be stored in small 3-inch boxes with metal screens that allowed the repellent to be spread either manually or automatically when submerged in water. The box could be attached to a life jacket or belt, or strapped to a person’s leg or arm, and was said to keep sharks away for 6 to 7 hours.

Despite that, the Navy was unconvinced about the overall effectiveness of the ERE’s shark repellent. In their own tests the Navy felt that the “slight repellent factor” shown in bait tests in small sharks, they didn’t believe that once used in larger sharks known to attack man it wouldn’t be very effective. Even Coolidge didn’t believe that the repellent would work if a group of sharks experienced what we’d call a feeding frenzy.

However, the word leaked out of ERE’s shark repellent and the media picked it up. Requests for the OSS shark repellent began to pour in from the Army Air Corps and the Coast Guard and while the actual value of the repellent may have been dubious, the effect on morale was huge. The repellent remained in use with the Navy until the 1970s and may have even been used by NASA.

But the Navy wanted to let the sailors know about the low probability of being bitten by sharks and once the repellent went into widespread use, they also published a pamphlet called, “Shark Sense” which spelled it all out, and in the military’s never-ending pursuit of the lowest common denominator, published it with a cartoon, something that would continue well into the 1980s.

Once assigned to China and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Julia Child’s life changed forever. She met Paul Child who was a decade older and an experienced player with women, wine, and food. And he opened all of those horizons up to the inexperienced newcomer. After nearly a year in Ceylon, she was transferred to China and the two were inseparable until the war ended.

She served as Chief of the OSS Registry. In typical self-effacing action, she claimed that she was nothing more than a clerk. Her future husband, however, in later years dispelled those rumors saying that she held a Top Secret Clearance and was handling all of the classified message traffic to include the invasion of the Malay peninsula. It was during this time her first interest in fine food and cooking was born due to her relationship with Child.

After the war, he continued on as a Foreign Service Officer and while stationed in France, is where Julia attended the best cooking schools in Paris and befriended French chefs and together they decided to put together a cookbook for Americans to develop an interest in French food. The rest they say is history.

But long before that, Julia Child was a young woman who couldn’t cook a lick and whose first recipe was for the United States Navy. She would recall much later in life in interviews with the media.

“I could boil water for tea but my first big recipe was shark repellent that I mixed in a bathtub for the Navy, for the men who might get caught in the water.”

Photos: Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 16 Day 6

Friday, that must mean its Leg Day at the gym but instead of a long run at the finish of that, we’ll substitute the Shuttle run in there, to work on your speed today. Weighted sled push builds up the strength and explosion. Will be an excellent prep for carrying a rucksack.

UBRR Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

3 x 10 Pull-ups

3 x 10 Deadlifts

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

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

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x 10 Dumbbell Lunges

3 x Weighted sled push or Fireman’s Carry

4 x 25-meter Shuttle Run

Stretch well after completion

Making the Big Leap, From High School to Special Operations

A good friend of mine is a career law enforcement professional here in New England and although we don’t hang out on a regular basis, whenever we run into one another we’ll stop and catch up. So weaving around a stoppage in the road a few weeks ago, I saw my friend trying to make sense of a hopeless mess that is traffic around here and he told me that his son had graduated high school and had enlisted and was heading to a Special Operations unit, after his basic training …which is, provided he passes his courses.

This wasn’t a surprise to me at all, I’ve known his son for the past three years since a friend of mine who was taught the high school journalism class asked me to go to his classroom and talk about my roundabout way of working my way into a journalist’s job. It wasn’t the classic way of going to college and getting out and breaking in as a youngster. And like clockwork, every spring my friend would ask me to come to speak to his sophomore class until he passed away much too young recently.

Most of the kids would ask about the New England Patriots since I have another gig writing about them for an NFL website. I won’t call it a job, since my wife tells me that going down to Gillette Stadium to watch guys play football and then talk to football players isn’t a job, it is just a fun way to get paid. And with that, I can’t argue. So the kids would want to know about Bill Belichick, Tom Brady et al except for one kid.

Since I knew his father from law enforcement, he knew my background in Special Forces and he’d want to talk about the military and all things about the different Special Operations units. He made it clear when he was a sophomore that as soon as he graduated high school that he was enlisting and although his parents wanted him to go to college first, that was his plan. And he didn’t deviate during the next few years. In fact, whenever his dad and I would talk, he’d say all his son wanted to talk about was enlisting as soon as he finished school and wanting to be part of SOF.

Since a few weeks ago, we have been trying to find a convenient time in our schedules for all of us to sit down, as now that the time is growing near, he wanted to pick my brain one final time before embarking on his experience.

His parents are justifiably proud of him and his decision and they know this isn’t something he thought about for a very short amount of time, so they know he’s serious and will be “all-in”, but being parents are also (again justifiably) worried about the world situation. And they’d like me to give him some final advice. And it is easy…

Enjoy the Process: Soak up every second of your time in the military and get the absolute most out of it. As we’ve said here on these pages many times, the military is what you make of it. For several months you won’t be where you eventually hope to be. But the ends will justify the means. Don’t be discouraged by the regular military. There will be times when it seems that time and the basic part of your training will go by interminably slow. That will change quickly once you get to your Selection class.
Surround Yourself With Positive People: No matter where you go and what you do in the military, there are going to be very positive, upbeat people and negative Nancys who see a cloud in every sunny day. Ignore the noise, and cull any of the toxic MFers right out of your circle. Their toxic BS is poison, avoid them at all costs. Tune out the rumor mill and never listen to any of it. 99.9 percent of them are total science fiction. Find the upbeat, positive people in your class and hang with them. Their positivity will rub off on you and vice versa. You won’t be up all the time and neither will they, but the positive people make the courses fun. And there is no reason why even hard work can’t be fun. My SFQC course had one of the best soldiers and funniest guys I ever served with, CW3 Ret. Danny Averitt (RIP). His alter ego in the course was “CPT Camouflage” who kept the students (and cadre) in stitches. Years later in Group, guys would still ask about Danny about “the Captain”. We miss both of them.
Selection Is Only the Gateway: Remember any of the Selection courses is just a crack in the door to get you in the pipeline. Once again, it isn’t going to be easy and you’re going to be tired, hungry and sore. That is what the courses are designed for, whether it be SFAS, RIP, BUDS or anything else. This is the reason you enlisted, don’t worry about next week, next month or anything else. Take it a day at a time, if necessary, half a day at a time. As we’ve stated here often “Embrace the Suck” and like the above paragraph, surround yourself with positive people. Be yourself and throw yourself completely into it and let the chips fall where they may. At a minimum, you’ll have no regrets on how things work out.
Be a Rucker: No matter what your job is in Special Operations, or your unit, you’ll have to become intimately familiar with your rucksack and carry a lot of weight in it. The better you are at rucking, the easier things will be for you at your unit and in your job. We have published several articles on how to become better at humping the pain pill. And there is no magic formula to it, it is just practice and preparation. But rucking is just a part of (a big part) overall physical fitness. Always strive to be in the best possible shape you can be in.
Team Players Are Always in Vogue: While we all have watched Rambo and Braddock, the thing to remember is that those are films. No one wants a lone wolf, you have to be a team player and a guy who everyone wants on their team. Learn your job backward and forwards and learn everyone else’s. Stuff will happen and you may be tasked to do someone else’s job in a pinch. Be a problem solver and always keep your head about you.
Don’t Ever Quit: Believe that nothing is impossible and that will be the truth. Contrary to what you’ll be told, passing these courses is probably 70 percent mental and only 30 percent physical. Don’t worry about feedback from the cadre, if none is forthcoming. As long as you are standing in formation, you are good to go and only worry about things you can control. You don’t have to look like an NFL linebacker or run as fast a marathon runner to pass. Just remember, everything you do is under a microscope and you’re always being assessed.

Starting a career in Special Operations is a huge step for anyone, especially a young man just out of high school. There is a long, long way to go but the end result is worth the journey. Standing in the formations as part of the SOF units means you are continuing the legacy of excellence that your predecessors passed down to you. Strive to not just meet the standards, but set even higher ones.

Photo: U.S. Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 16, Day 5

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 16, Day 5

Thursday is a Chest and Triceps workout in the gym and then hit the road for a 4-mile run. Remember to stretch well before and after and to stay hydrated. Mark your progress down in your workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Bench Press

3 x 10 Dumbbell Flies

3 x 10 Dumbbell Incline press

3 x 20 Pushups (alternate sets with wide, narrow and shoulder width)

3 x 10 ‘V’ Ups

3 x 20 Sit-ups

3 x 20 Cable Push Downs (rope)

3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure

4-mile run (32 minutes or less)

Stretch well after completion

New Army Combat Fitness Test Better But Still Has A Way to Go

Yes! Finally, the old Army Physical Fitness test, adopted in 1980 is finally going away, and the new six-event Army Combat Fitness Test is going to take its place.

The new test is supposed to be much more strenuous and be a much better barometer for the soldiers to withstand the physical toll of combat. By October 2020 all soldiers regardless of age or sex will be required to take the new test which was designed to better test upper body strength, endurance, flexibility, and agility. The Army did testing for six years to come up with this new test.

While it is a vast improvement over the silly three-event PT test that the Army has been fielding for nearly four decades, it is still hung up on being done in less than an hour and conducting it in PT uniform.

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but are troops withstanding “the physical toll of combat” to quote the Army in running shoes and Ranger panties? Who cares if it takes a half or even an entire day for a unit to conduct it? While the Army will begin sending 60 battalions the equipment needed to conduct the Combat Fitness Test in October, they will need another year-long study to determine how to properly grade the new test. I swear we don’t make this stuff up. Yes, after a six-year study on how to properly gauge a soldier’s fitness, they still haven’t come up with a proper grading system yet.

Major General Malcolm Frost, the CG of the Army’s Center for Initial Training told pool reporters at the Pentagon that the first new PT Test in nearly 40 years will allow commanders to better gauge their troop’s fitness.

“It’s going to improve soldier physical readiness; it’s going to change the Army fitness culture, reduce physical injuries … it will better inform commanders of unit readiness and will enhance mental toughness and stamina,” he said. “I personally believe that the Army Combat Fitness Test will ignite a general cultural change in fitness for the Army and will be a cornerstone of individual combat readiness for the future.”

The new test must be completed in 50 minutes and the exercises and prescribed rest periods as follows:

Deadlift soldiers will be required to lift between 120 and 420 pounds, depending on the individual soldier. Soldiers are required to do three reps in five minutes.
* followed by a two-minute rest.
Standing Power Throw: Soldiers are required to toss a 10-pound medicine ball overhead and backward. They will make two throws, the longest is for a grade.
*followed by a two-minute rest.
Hand-raised Push-ups: Soldiers will lower their chest to the ground and lift their hands off the ground between each rep. They are required to perform as many reps as possible in three minutes.
*followed by a two-minute rest.
250-Meter Sprint-Drag-Carry: There are five different events within this single event, a 50-meter sprint; a backward 50-meter drag of a 90-pound sled; a 50-meter lateral movement; a 50-meter carry of two 40-pound kettlebells; and a final 50-meter sprint.
*followed by a two-minute rest.
Leg Tuck: The soldier will hang perpendicular to the pull-up bar and brings his/her knees up to his elbows and back down again for one repetition.
* followed by a five-minute rest.
Two-mile Run: The current standard two-mile run on the current APFT will remain in effect.

Frost told reporters that there would probably be a scale with 100 points being maximum and 60 points being a pass, so the new test would have a 600 point maximum with a 360 pass, as long as a soldier garnered at least 60 points in each event.

The plan is to outfit each of the 60 test battalions with 15 lanes of equipment to allow them to conduct the test of the entire battalion within the allotted time. The Army will have to purchase medicine balls, pull-up bars, sleds, kettlebells and other equipment for each battalion.

Is this Combat Fitness Test better than the APFT to measure combat readiness for the soldier? By far, but it doesn’t go far enough. The Army is too hung up on running in shorts and tennis shoes. Look we absolutely agree with that needs to be a large part of a soldiers training preparation.

Our own Special Operations PT Prep program that we post daily here has the SOF candidates running for distance more than rucking. Why? It builds up their endurance and will help their rucking times. But is running in shorts a combat fitness test? No. Rucking is. The Army will and should continue with daily runs to build up soldiers’ endurance and cardiovascular ability.

But soldiers in combat are going in with a lot of gear on their bodies and that is what is needed to test the soldiers’ true combat fitness. If a soldier can’t carry a combat load into battle and be able to function (like that 250-meter Sprint-Drag-Carry), then they aren’t combat effective. The Special Operations UBRR (Upper Body Round Robin) takes what the Combat Fitness Test started and takes it another step farther. After a series of tests to measure upper body strength and endurance, the soldiers then have to do a 5-mile rucksack march.

One thing that I do like is doing away with age-specific requirements. This is a combat fitness test. Enemy rounds coming down range can’t tell the difference between 19-year old PFCs and 40-something-year-old Sergeant Majors or Battalion Commanders. Everyone is graded the same.

One thing that the original Selection cadre had to contend with was if you were a Selection and Assessment cadre member, you were graded on the age 18 APFT scale, regardless of how old…or young, you were. It wasn’t a big deal back then. Looking back on it now, it was a very smart move and one I hope was continued down the line.

The new Combat Fitness Test looks to be a huge leap in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how soon this gets implemented. Could it have done more? Sure but it is light years ahead of gauging combat fitness than the old APFT.

Photo: US Army