75th Ranger Regiment

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 3

Continue to prep for the UBRR. Leg Day at the gym, our favorite with squats, the sled push, and some lunges. We’ll follow that with a three-mile run at a good pace, faster than the standard. Remember to stretch well before and after the run and to hydrate.

UBRR Training:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

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

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

3 x 10 Deadlifts

3 x 10 Sled push or Fireman’s Carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Sit-ups

3 x 25 Crunches

3-mile run (24 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 2

This Monday we’ll focus on some speed work with the sprints rather than a longer duration.

It will build up some explosion in your legs and improve your overall running. We’ll hit the exercises heavy this morning and build up some endurance. Focus on correct form and then worry about the speed. Especially with the pushups.

By now after the training program has been in effect for a while, your feet shouldn’t be bothering you too badly after the ruck march from Sunday.

UBRR 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 sprints (walk back to the start and begin again)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 3, Day 1

A little warm-up and a good long Sunday morning rucksack march. Go as fast as you can without running. Go over varied terrain and learn to use the downslope of the hills to make time. As always be sure to stay hydrated during the march. It should be a habit that will carry over to Selection and training afterward.

Becoming dehydrated during a long training event such as a ruck march or long-range movement is a guarantee for bigger problems and failure, keep drinking water during the course.

UBRR Training:

Warm up

20 Pushups

20 Sit-ups

6-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. Try to keep your pace better than the standard, (90 minutes maximum). And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 7

Back in the gym this morning before heading out for a run. We’ll break up the routine next week with some speed interval running, that will help to build up your short area quickness and speed. But for today it is back, shoulders and a run.

UBRR Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Seated Rows

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Seated Rows

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

3-mile run (24 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 6

Continue to prep for the UBRR. Friday is a Leg Day and we’ll work them out good today in the gym. We are going to break up the 3-mile run into one-mile segments. Take only a minute’s rest in between runs and then do the best you can.

Make note of your times in the run and your workouts in your workout log book. Remember to stretch well before and after your workout and hydrate.

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, did you remember to set your scale 10-lbs back?

UBRR Training:

3 x 10 Pullups

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

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 10 Deadlifts

3 x 10 Lunges (medium dumbbell)

30 x “V” ups

3 x 1 mile run with 1-minute rest in between. Run those as fast as you can

Stretch well after completion

Free-Floating Rucksack May Ease the Pounding on Operator’s Joints

Like any other rite of passage, one thing nearly all of Special Operation Forces troops share in old (er) age are issues with their joints. Back backs, knees, shoulders, necks with pain and arthritis is common from rucking under heavy weight takes its toll. SOF personnel are always carrying a ton of “light-weight” gear from Point A to Point B and beyond. But some help may be on the way.

Dr. Lawrence Rome is a biology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and expert in muscle function and biomechanics. He worked with the Office of Naval Research in an effort to reduce the load that Special Operations Forces have to bear on their frames.

He invented the HoverGlide, a free-floating rucksack with a technology he patented called Suspended Load Technology (SLT), which allows the heavy rucksack to seamlessly move up and down with respect to the person walking or running. This keeps the load at a constant height with respect to the ground. While it looks awkward as hell, it is stable, much like the gunsight on an M-1 tank and presents far less pressure on the rucker’s joints.

It is amazing on how well it works as they explain on the HoverGlide website:
While standing still, a 50 lb load in your backpack exerts 50 lbs of force (static weight). This changes when you walk or run, where the peak force exerted on you can be up to 3x the weight you are carrying. Suddenly a 50lb pack can put as much force on the body and joints as if it weighed 150 lbs. With the movement of SLT, this additional force over and above the static weight can be reduced by as much as 86%.

The Army has also been working on a similar project since 2005 and has been testing prototypes in field trials for the past four years. The Army version called the Energy Harvesting Assault Pack (EHAP) has a unique feature which is as a portable generator. Their rucksack will generate more than 3 watts of power an hour if the rucker can maintain a pace of 3 mph, which will keep a personal communication device charged. By the way, our readers will note that the 3 mph pace is below the standard that we deem as necessary for Special Operations troops.

As one can easily imagine there will be some issues in regard to moving parts which can break and the noise factor is something that must be addressed as the Army version can be noisy.

While military applications are still a work in progress, the HoverGlide is marketing three different versions, a civilian large backpack “The Trekker”, a smaller 28-30L daypack and the one that our readers will probably be most interested in, the “Tactical” rucksack.

It is a perfect size for most needs and especially in training or prepping for Selection and or the qualification courses. It is large enough to carry all of what you’d need as well as have enough pockets to store needed gear where it will be easy to get to.

30L capacity sized
Permits you to suspend up to 25 lbs (more weight can be carried but the pack must be locked)
The main compartment carries clothing layers, bivy gear, first aid, and off-trail work materials
Easy-access secondary pocket stores lunch and layers
The internal organization holds smartphones, GPS units, pens, documents, and maps secure and easy to locate
External stash pocket keeps emergency clothing layers instantly accessible
Harness and detachable padded hip belt are constructed of closed cell foam covered in a 3D breathable “air mesh” to wick water away
Internal sleeve holds a two-liter reservoir for hydration on the move
Webbing grid on back panel accepts MOLLE units to expand capacity and organize essential gear
Exceptionally durable 1000D Cordura pack material resists tears and abrasion and holds weights.
DWR (durable water repellent) finish protects contents from light rain and moisture

The HoverGlide is a very intriguing piece of equipment that could eventually help all of our Special Operators reduce the wear and tear on their bodies, which means the future operators may not have the aches and pains the rest of us FOGs have. Check out their video below on how the rucksack works.

Photo: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 5

Happy Thanksgiving, get a good workout in before you enjoy too much food and football. From all of us here, all the best during this holiday season.

Continue to prep for the UBRR and focus on some speed work today with the runs. Speed work will help with your endurance and explosion. Work on using perfect form when doing your exercises.

The cadre at Selection are meticulous at grading form. The time to get it right is now. Then the graded test in the course will be much easier. Remember, everyone gets graded the same.

UBRR Training:

5 x 1-mile run Go as quickly as you can with a minimum of 5-minute rest between runs. Record your average mile time.

5 x 30 seconds of Pushups.

5 x 30 seconds of Sit-ups

1 x 20 Knees-to-Elbow hanging from the pull-up bar, or until muscle failure

2 x 10 pull-ups or until muscle failure

Stretch well after completion

“Why Do You Put Such A Premium On Rucking In SOF?”

We frequently get a lot of questions here at SpecialOperations.com about the Selection part of the pipeline, what the candidates for the various Special Operations units in the SOF umbrella must pass. Selection, as we say is just the first step but it is a continuous process and never really ends.

Candidates during Selection will be assessed on their ability to pass the qualification courses and give an idea on how well they’ll fit in the various SOF units. It isn’t an exact science, never was, never will be. Some candidates make it thru the entire pipeline only to fail in the units. That is because the level of training the operators must possess is far above what is required in the courses. Those are just to get your foot in the door. You’ll be assessed all thru your career in every new job, regardless of rank or position.

And one of the biggest discriminators as we’ve said here countless times centers around rucking. And I’ll repeat it here just to refresh everyone’s memory. Rucking is the basis of nearly every training scenario that you’ll encounter in Special Operations. In almost every case, an operator will have some rucking built into a mission.

Which is why I was intrigued by one two-part question I received last week. The person wanted to know “Why do you put such a premium on rucking in your SOF training prep articles?” And the second part which was, “do you believe that all of the SOF units place such a premium on such an exercise?”

I answered with a question of my own which I didn’t get a response but I’ll have to assume it was asked by a person who wasn’t an aspiring candidate of SOF but just a reader who was under some misconceptions.

So, I’ll throw this out there again. It doesn’t matter how good of a shot you are, how fast of a runner you are, how many pull-ups you can do etc. if you can’t handle a rucksack with a ton of “light-weight” gear, then you won’t last long in any Special Operations unit.

I believe some people who read the news or watch videos get caught up in the video game type of action they believe SOF only takes part in. It isn’t just fast-roping on top of a building and taking it down in a matter of seconds before being picked up by helicopters to do it all over again.

There are frequently long bounding movements associated even with direct action missions. And the kit that you see on the pictures and videos on social media, is hardly anything to sneeze at. Compound that with the operators who’ve been operating in the mountains of Afghanistan and you normally operating at above 7500 feet and facing steep terrain.

In Special Forces, back in the day, we used to do regular “certification” for SF ODAs before deployments to ensure that teams could accomplish their mission. It would consist of a couple of days jam-packed with basic SF skill tasks that we’d have to do and then each night doing a long-range movement with rucksacks consisting of 12-18 miles, with the final one being over 20.

If a team member couldn’t make the grade, then he was soon moved out. There just isn’t a gray area there, you can do it or you can’t. It is just that simple and ruthless in its intent.

The Selection courses are dealt with exactly the same, but the added stress is the unknown. You’re going to be tasked with rucking along a prescribed route, but the cadre won’t tell you how far it is or what your time is. Which is why no watches are allowed. The added stress of the unknown is a mind game that is designed to make it even more difficult.

As candidates and as members of the unit, we’d occasionally have the guy turn an ankle here or twist a knee there, and we’d offer a hand up and maybe take their weapon for a short stint. But, and this was especially true in the course if it happened time and again, other candidates would stop lending a hand to the same guy. Why? This is a guy that you may eventually serve on an A-Team with. Is this guy going to be able to do the job on a team? Or will you consistently have to carry his as well as your own weight? Again it is ruthless, but that is how the herd gets culled.

The Selection for Delta Force is exactly the same, the candidates are given map sheets and a point far in the distance and aren’t given a time window in which they’re supposed to arrive. To get a great look at how to pass the Delta Selection, read NEWSREP’s own George Hand who wrote a tremendous series of articles on just that. The first one is right here:

As to the second part of the question, yes other services do the exact same thing. As I’ve written in the past, I was there early in the process (3rd class) when Special Forces began Selection. Back then it wasn’t yet called SFAS, but SFOT which the candidates thought stood for “Special Form of Torture.”

And the truth of the matter is, we stole the entire Selection playbook from the SAS. Nearly all of our SF training today was based on the SAS model. Yes, I know, my Brit friends will never let me forget that little tidbit.

And the SAS really puts a high priority on rucking. The Breeland Beacons in Wales to include the infamous Pen Y Fan and the forced long-range rucksack march which the Brits call “Endurance” shows that they too use that as a prime Selection tool. I can’t speak for our potential adversaries in the case of the Russians or the Chinese, but I’d bet the house that they do things much the same way.

In the 7th SFG, we would normally ruck 2X and run 3X a week during a regular PT week. But that would change on occasion depending on the situation. Most times, just like our runs, we’d start off as a group and then about halfway thru it would an individual movement to the finish.

Rucking is of paramount importance, that is why so many SOF guys in their later years have so many back, knee and shoulder issues…it comes with the territory.

So, who’s going rucking today???? DOL

Photo: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 4

We’re going to do a smoker this morning of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches that you can either do at the gym or on the ground and then head back out on the rucking trails. Let’s pump these out as quickly as possible, understanding that there isn’t a time limit but to build up your endurance.

UBRR Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

100 pushups (no time limit)

100 sit-ups (no time limit)

100 crunches

5-Mile Rucksack march: Go as hard and as fast as possible without running. Log your time in your workout log book and hydrate, during the ruck.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 2, Day 3

Tuesday is a leg day at the gym. These exercises build strength and explosion in your lower body and you’ll need both in Selection. These will also help your times with both running and carrying a rucksack. We’re going to go for heavier squats today with fewer reps, at other times we’ll go lighter and more reps.

Make sure you are hydrating enough during the workout and do a good stretch before and after. No one likes Leg Day but learn to embrace it and drive through. Eventually, it will become one of your favorite days.

Training – Prep for UBRR:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Squats 10-8-6 reps (Heavyweight barbell)

3 x Deadlifts 10-10-10 reps (Heavyweight)

3 x 10 Leg Extensions

3 x Sled Push or Fireman’s Carry

30 x “V” Ups

3-mile run (24 minutes minimum)

Stretch well after completion