Air Force Special Operations

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 10, Day 5

Back to the gym this morning and start with a Chest and Triceps workout today before a 5-mile run (40 minutes maximum). You have to build up that upper body strength and today’s workout will definitely help that.

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 Kip Ups

3 x 20 Sit-ups

3 x 20 Cable Push Downs (rope)

3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure

5-mile run (40 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 10, Day 4

Wednesday is a back and shoulder day at the gym followed by a 6-mile rucksack march. Look to better the time that is the standard (90-minutes).

And remember to hydrate throughout the march. Don’t forget to mark your progress in the workout log book, it would also be a good day to wear those second pair of boots.

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 12 Seated Rows

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

6-mile Rucksack march (45-pound minimum, 90-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 10, Day 3

So, a good way to begin Tuesday is head to the gym for Leg Day. Begin with pull-ups and towel pull-ups for those who don’t have access to climbing ropes. Then squats, lunges and the sled followed by a three-mile run

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Towel pull-ups 10 reps

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

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

3 x 10 Deadlifts

4 x Sled push with a heavier weight or substitute a Fireman’s Carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side Planks

3-Mile run (24 minutes or less)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 10, Day 2

A quick workout to start the day early and head off to the rest of our day. Remember, no days off here. With the sweat you break here every day, you’ll be better for it once the course starts.

Hitting the gym early, then off to march in the annual Memorial Day parade. Remember our vets who paid the ultimate sacrifice. And then enjoy the day.

Start off with the basics of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups and dips before a 5-mile run in a mini UBRR test. Remember to stay hydrated and mark your progress in your workout log book.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

1 x 1-minute Pushups

1 x 1-minute Sit-ups

1 x 1-minute, Crunches

1 x 1-minute, V-ups

1 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure (no time limit)

1 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure (no time limit)

5-mile run (maximum 40 minutes)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 10, Day 1

The best way to start our Sunday as the sun comes up is our Sunday Ruck. Grab your training partner (for me a bulldog) and hit the trail. A little warm-up and a good long (8-mile) rucksack march. As always be sure to stay hydrated during the ruck 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 sipping on the water during the march.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit-ups

8-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. Try to keep your pace better than the standard (120 minutes). And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 7

Back in the gym this Saturday morning for a shoulder and back workout. Towel pull-ups if you have no access to ropes or climbing ropes if they are available. Followed by a four-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 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

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Please, No “Happy Memorial Day” Wishes to Veterans

Memorial Day is on Monday but for the veterans in our town we’ve been fully into Memorial Day mode for some time now. The veterans of our local Veterans Council, VFW and American Legion of which I’m involved with, do all the planning and coordination for our town’s local Memorial Day parade and visit all of the local schools for their Memorial Day programs.

Our small town, a bucolic little burg in Central Massachusetts of just about 13,000 people have traditionally done right by their veterans and the military community and don’t just go thru the motions with a program for Memorial and Veterans Day, but seek to educate the young people of the town with not just the history of these days but why they are important and in the end they come away with a deeper understanding and respect for the entire process.

One innovation that one of the schools did last Veterans Day was instead of having a typical program that took up an hour of the day, the program was very short on the history behind it. And then the school had veterans attending, get assigned to a 5th or 6th Grade classroom and talk about their own experiences and then the students could ask questions about whatever they chose about anything pertaining to military life.

It was a huge success. Our local Veterans Council has members from World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Panama, and Desert Storm as well as the current Global War on Terror. The principal relayed to me that the students came away with a much deeper respect of what constitutes Veterans Day and the sacrifices that a military life entails.

But we’re far from perfect. We’ve already visited three different schools this week and as this goes live, we’ll be finishing off another visit to our local high school. One of the things that are most uncomfortable for veterans on this weekend is when well-meaning, but unknowing citizens in town greet us at the school with a “Thank You for your service, and a have a Happy Memorial Day.”

To veterans that is an uncomfortable comment. While there has never been any malice or ill-will intended by these comments from our townspeople, it isn’t a true “happy” holiday. While some vets will look back upon those departed comrades, forever young from long ago and think of the happy times they spent together or as General George S. Patton Jr. wrote, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

Memorial Day isn’t a happy holiday, it is a time for solemn remembrance of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we all get to enjoy. And the longest wars in our history that are still unfolding are reminders that the price for freedom is very steep and continues to be paid in blood on a daily basis. I mean, no one says “Happy Pearl Harbor Day”, rather we say “Remember Pearl Harbor”.

But there are still those who are willing to put their lives and futures on the line and take their place in the long lines of veterans who have served our country. Several high schoolers are waiting only for graduation before they ship out for basic training.

But back to the day, it isn’t a celebration. We will march once again in our town’s parade and truth be told, I’ve always hated marching and drill and ceremonies. We were never very big on either of those in Special Forces. But as we’ve told people countless times in the past few weeks/years, this isn’t about us. Veterans Day is about those of us who are still around. This is about those who never got a chance to come home and have that family barbecue surrounded by relatives and loved ones.

And while it is perfectly acceptable to have a solemn remembrance, like a parade for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and then celebrate their existence, (haven’t we all raised a glass to a close friend or comrade who didn’t “beat the clock?”) with a barbecue.

While we’ll celebrate the lives of those who passed on and be thankful for their service and sacrifice it isn’t a true, “happy” holiday. We’ll march in memory of those who can no longer answer the call.

I personally love what the people do in Israel on their own version of Memorial Day. Yom Hazikaron begins at 8:00 p.m. the night before. All places of entertainment are closed and the television stations broadcast stories of those who passed in the line of duty. Then on the actual Memorial Day, A two-minute siren is sounded at 11:00 at which time everything stops including traffic and the country goes totally silent. However, that would never happen here in the United States.

So to answer the question others have asked, what is the proper etiquette for greeting veterans on Memorial Day? That is a great one, but the one I’d go with is “We’ll Remember on Memorial Day.” You can’t go wrong with that one.

And yes, after the parade and the ceremonies at all the cemeteries (five) are done on Monday, we’ll hoist the flag back up to full staff at noon and retire to the VFW with all of the citizens who care to join and we will celebrate. We’ll celebrate and toast the men and women who gave us the freedoms we enjoy. They paid the tab, and we get to enjoy the rest of the day.

Photo: Civil War section of the local cemetery, the Grand Army of the Republic section. Author photo

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 6

Friday morning gym day and what better way to kick the weekend off than with Leg Day. Starting with Squats – front, dumbbell goblet, and barbell, then some lunges and after the weighted sled push. This will build up the strength and endurance to carry the rucksack. And we’ll finish the workout off with a five-mile run in 40 minutes or less.

UBRR Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

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

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

3 x 10 Barbell Rear Squats

3 x 10 Deadlifts

3 x 10 Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 10 Romanian Lunges

3 x Weighted sled push (heavier weight) or Fireman’s Carry

5-mile run (40 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

US Disinvites China from Pacific Military Exercise

The continuing escalation of tension between the United States and China has been ratcheted up even more with the U.S. disinviting the Chinese from participating in an upcoming international naval exercise to be held off Hawaii.

Among other things, the U.S. is upset of China’s militarization of small islands in the South China Sea. China’s foreign minister criticized the U.S. decision calling it “very unconstructive” and “unhelpful.”

The move is in response to China’s continued placement of military hardware on seven artificial islands in the Spratly Island chain that it claims as its territory.
“China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serves to raise tensions and destabilize the region,” said Lt. Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman.
“As an initial response to China’s continued militarization of the South China Sea, we have disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise,” he added. “China’s behavior is inconsistent with the principles and purposes of the RIMPAC exercise.”
Held every two years, this year’s version of the RIMPAC exercise was to begin in late June and end in early August. The exercise is largest international Navy exercise, with 27 nations slated to participate in this year’s version.
China’s navy participated in a limited role in the 2014 and 2016 versions of the exercise.
The move to rescind the invitation to participate in this year’s exercise is directly pegged to China’s buildup of large-scale air and sea facilities on the seven artificial islands it has built up in the Spratly Islands.
In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping made assurances to President Barack Obama that China was not seeking to militarize the islands, but satellite photos indicate China has consistently placed military equipment on the islands, and built up runways and port facilities that could be used by China’s military.
“We believe these recent deployments and the continued militarization of these features is a violation of the promise that President Xi made to the United States and the World not to militarize the Spratly Islands,” said Logan.
“We have strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea,” said Logan. “China’s landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions.”
State Councilor Wang Yi labeled the rescinding of the invitation “very unconstructive” and “unhelpful to mutual understanding.”

Wang has stated that China is only building civilian and some necessary defense facilities on their own islands,” he said.

He added that the Chinese retain their right to self-defense and compared the construction to what the U.S. does on their bases in Guam and Hawaii.

To read the entire article from ABC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 5

Chest and Triceps workout at the gym today before a 5-mile run. Shoot for a time below the standard of 40 minutes. 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 Kip Ups

3 x 20 Sit-ups

3 x 20 Cable Push Downs (rope)

3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure

5-mile run (40-minute maximum)

Stretch well after completion