The Definitive Spec Ops Resource
THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION
A quick start of the day in the gym with some preparation for the UBRR, followed by a ruck march of 5-miles. Pick a route over varied terrain and remember to keep hydrated. Mark down your times in your workout log book
Training:
More Preparation for the UBRR:
3 x 12 Bench Press
3 x 20 Pushups
3 x 10 Kip Ups
3 x 20 Sit ups
3 x 20 Crunches
3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure
5-mile rucksack march (45-pound minimum) over varied terrain, note your time
Stretch well after completion
Shoulders and back day in the gym before heading off to the pool for a swim which is an event you can’t neglect. Get used to swimming in fatigues and boots as this is a pre-requisite for the Selection PT test.
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 Dumbbell Front Raises
3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press
3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs
300-meter swim in fatigues and boots
Stretch well after completion
The military of the Philippines announced this week that the annual “Balikatan” military exercise with the United States will take place. There have been questions over whether the exercises will continue due to President Rodrigo Duerte, who has been critical of the US and wants to distance himself from the American government while courting the Chinese.
Although Manilla and Washington have been allies for over 70 years, Duerte has called for the end of the drill and for the withdrawal of all US troops.
The annual military exercises, known as Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder), will now go ahead in May, focusing on counter-terrorism and disaster response as the Philippines battles Islamic militants in their lawless southern strongholds.
“It will be scenario-based like (preparing for) a big storm hitting the Philippines or the possibility of terrorism,” Balikatan spokesman Major Celeste Frank Sayson told AFP.
“We are safe to say there will be no more live-fire exercises. We (will) focus on humanitarian and civil assistance.”
In previous years Balikatan had evolved from counter-terrorism maneuvers against Islamic militants to simulations of protecting or retaking territory, as a dispute with Beijing over islands in the South China Sea escalated.
With terrorism, still, a concern for the country, Philippines Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana has said that terrorism will be one of the focuses of the drill this year.
The Filipino military continues to battle Islamic militants, who have pledged allegiance to the ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria as well as pirates in the southern part of the country where the fighting has been the heaviest.
Last week the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group clashed with Filipino security forces on a popular resort island, the first attack on a key Philippine tourist destination in recent years. Abu Sayyaf which roughly translates to “Father of the Sword”, is a Jihadist terror group that has been active for 40 years. They’ve been involved with bombings, executions, and kidnap-for-ransom.
To read the entire article from Philippine Star.com click here:
Photo courtesy AFP
A crash of a US Army helicopter on a suburban Maryland golf course has killed one crew member and seriously injured two others on Monday afternoon.
According to the Military District of Washington, an Army UH-60 Blackhawk assigned to Ft. Belvoir, VA crashed just after 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown, Maryland.
The crash has killed one crewmember while injuring two others. One was reported in serious condition and the other in critical condition at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss within our community,” Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, commanding general for Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, said in the statement. “Our condolences go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy, and our team is focused on supporting them during this difficult time.”
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Earlier Monday, a U.S. military official told NBC News the helicopter had “suffered a hard landing” near Leonardtown, and that at least one was medically evacuated to a local hospital.
A woman who lives near the golf course said she saw helicopters flying overhead. Then, one appeared to lose control.
“One of them just started to lower, and it started to spiral down, and it disappeared below the trees. It looked like it had flipped over, upside-down, and then we heard a big explosion sound,” Bianca Melton said.
Dorothy Harper, who lives across the street from the golf course, said she saw the helicopter just before it crashed.
“I was outside in my front yard when I saw the helicopter come over right across the street from my house. I saw pieces actually falling off the helicopter,” she said.
Harper said she didn’t see smoke or flames, “just pieces falling out of the sky.”
The UH-60 Black Hawk is from the 12th Aviation Battalion, stationed at Davison Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was the second crash in Maryland in the past two weeks.
In the other incident, a fighter jet on a routine training mission crashed in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The F-16C fighter plane was destroyed but the pilot was able to safely eject from the stricken aircraft. No one was injured either in the air or on the ground in the earlier accident.
To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:
Photo courtesy The Bay Net
Always a good day to for Leg Day at the gym, the lighter weight in the squats but higher reps helps with endurance. Weighted sled push builds up some explosion. 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
3 x 10 reps Dumbbell lunges
3 x 20 Side planks
3 x 25 Crunches
4-mile run
Stretch well after completion
Thirty years ago, a small headquarters opened its doors for the first time. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was originally formed out of the debacle of the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission, Operation Eagle Claw in 1980.
From small beginnings in April 1987 at MacDill AFB, FL the Special Operations Command now encompasses 70,000 troops and a $10 billion-dollar budget. Special Operations Forces currently operate in over 100 countries being sent to all the hot spots in the world today.
Seeing the success of U.S. special operations, representatives from foreign militaries are traveling to Tampa to see how they can recreate such a powerful force. One that offers great bang for the buck — SOCom makes up just 2 percent of the U.S. defense budget.
The symbol of commando success is the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Yet every day, in ways unknown outside their secretive world, commando teams perform missions like building partner capacity and training foreign troops, hostage rescue attempts, humanitarian relief, tracking jihadi financing and coordinating efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction.
Unlike any other military combatant commands, SOCom has the authority to spend billions of dollars each year on equipment and services tailored for commandos — the SEALs, Army Delta Force, Green Berets and Rangers, and Air Force and Marine teams. To help speed things along, the command created SOFWerx, a research and development effort in Ybor City.
To help educate the force, SOCOm created the Joint Special Operations University, which opens a new building at MacDill next week.
Despite their many successes, the command is feeling the pinch of its own success. The force is being used so much that the operational tempo has become an issue. With so many deployments one of the former commanders worried that the force was “fraying around the edges.”
But the command will continue to expand its influence on 100 different stages in 100 different countries. The Special Operations forces of the US have the unique capability to synchronize US and Allied global counter-terrorism efforts, building allied forces capacity in the training and equipping of foreign forces, and to evolve as the situations change around the world.
To read the entire article from Tampa Bay Times, click here:
Photo courtesy DOD
Happy Patriots Day which is always the day for the Boston Marathon up this way. Don’t worry, there won’t be a 26-mile run today. Instead, we’ll focus on the shuttle runs and work on some speed.
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
Happy Easter. We hope everyone has a great day filled with family and happiness. A warm up of pushups and planks followed by a good ruck march with a 45-pound minimum to start the day right. Remember to stay hydrated throughout the ruck march and to ensure that you have at least two pairs of boots broken in for the course.
Training:
Warm up
2 x 20 Pushups
2 x 20 Side Planks
6-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. Try to keep your pace better than the standard. And mark your times in your workout log book.
Stretch well after completion
Shoulder and back exercises this morning in the gym before a 4-mile run to top things off. Mark down your time in your workout log book. If you have access to any ropes, you should start incorporating rope climbing into your workouts.
Training:
More Preparation for the UBRR:
3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, rear
3 x 10 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
During an awards presentation for Citadel cadets, Cadet First Sergeant Neal Bultman, a senior political science major from Walker Michigan received the MG Robert T. Frederick Leadership Award. He attends the college on an ROTC scholarship.
The Citadel sends about a third of its graduates every year to the armed services as commissioned officers after graduation. What makes this year’s award so special was that Bultman was presented the award by South Carolina’s last living member of the 1st Special Service Force also known as the Devil’s Brigade, Gordon Simms, 96, who served directly under Frederick.
Bultman, who serves as the Army ROTC unit’s first sergeant, has appeared on the Dean’s List seven times and the President’s List once during his time at The Citadel. The award is important, but what will make the day unforgettable for Bultman will be accepting it from the last remaining South Carolina member of the 1st Special Force unit from World War II. Gordon Simms USA (Ret.), 96, of Columbia, who served directly under Frederick, will make the presentation.
Simms was an original member of the American-Canadian strike force called 1st Special Service Force, also known as the Devil’s Brigade. It was a joint commando unit activated in 1942 under Frederick. Members received intensive training in stealth tactics, hand-to-hand combat, parachuting, amphibious warfare, rock climbing, and mountain warfare. The force was disbanded in 1944. Many American and Canadian military Special Forces units trace their heritage to this unit. Simms also once served as the president of the 1st Special Services Force Association.
To earn the Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick Award a cadet must successfully graduate from the Leader Development and Assessment Course, be compliant with his/her Army ROTC contract, and exhibit exceptional leadership ability and potential. Once eligible, a cadet is chosen by criteria including, but not limited to, grade-point average, Army Physical Fitness Test scores, land navigation scores, marksmanship, and participation on the Ranger Challenge Team.
“Having the opportunity to meet Mr. Simms is an absolute honor. I will strive to model my life, leadership, and devotion to country after his. Meeting him will add a great deal of meaning to this accomplishment,” Bultman said.
The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is 101 years old at the Citadel and over the past 10 years, 650 newly commissioned officers in the military were graduates of the college.
To read the entire article from the Moultrie News click here:
Photo courtesy The Citadel