Air Force Special Operations

Startup That Made Safer NFL Helmets Now Turning to the Military

Vicis, a Seattle startup company that sought to make a safer football helmet now has their version in the hands of over 100 NFL players and thousands of high school and college players.

The company is now turning their attention to the military community and making a helmet to better protect our troops.

Last year, the startup signed a contract with the U.S. Army to redesign part of its helmets, co-founder and CEO Dave Marver revealed. The company has been working in stealth to incorporate some of its football helmet technology into the standard issue helmets worn by Army and Marine Corps troops.

U.S. military helmets are optimized for ballistic protection, meaning defense against bullets and shrapnel. Yet roughly 80 percent of head injuries in the military occur in nondeployed settings where those things generally aren’t an issue. Instead, these injuries tend to be of the blunt force variety, incurred from incidents like jumping out of aircraft or striking one’s head during drills or combat training.

In 2016, medical staff from Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Seattle approached Vicis about trying to improve the blunt impact performance of both the Army and Marine combat helmets, which are similar to one another.

That team operated behind the scenes throughout the past two years. Initially, Vicis funded the work itself, but last year the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center offered the startup a development contract. The company is also starting to raise an approximately $15 million Series B round, which will bring its total funding near $80 million.

For now, Vicis’s work focuses on the pads on the interior of the helmet. The Zero1 football helmet has a layer that consists of hundreds of columns that bend on impact. “The technology inside the pads leverages those same engineering principles,” Marver says.

The improvements have been measurable. Vicis tested its pads in a lab setting using Department of Defense test protocols earlier this year, and the startup says its version performed between 30 and 55 percent better than each model the U.S. military currently uses

While the results are very encouraging, the design is probably still a year or two away. The Army is doing its own testing and Vicis designed the pads so that they could fit into the ballistic helmets without need a total redesign. Existing helmets can be retrofitted with the pads if adopted.

To read the entire article from Inc., click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 4

Time to head over to the gym for some shoulder and back work. As we mentioned in another post, these shoulder workouts help in rucking, especially once in Selection. Be sure to log the progress down in your workout log book.

And because Wednesday is one of our rucking days, strap on a 45-pound minimum weight ruck and conduct a 6-miler over varied terrain. Wear your second pair of boots to ensure that they’re well broken-in for the course as well. Strive to better the time that is the standard (90-minutes) and remember to hydrate throughout the march.

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

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

Stretch well after completion

Israeli Launches First Airstrike Using F-35 Against Iranian Troops in Syria

Israeli pilots have carried out the first operational airstrikes using the new U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter according to Israeli Air Force General Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin.

The Israelis pounded Iranian bases and positions in Syria after the Iranian troops launched a slew of missiles at Israel from Syrian territory.

“The F-35 squadron has become an operational squadron. We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East,” he said.
Norkin presented images of the F-35 over Beirut, Lebanon, and said that the stealth fighter did not participate in the most recent strike in Syria but did in two previous ones. He was speaking at a three-day conference organized by the IAF in Herzliya, to which senior officers from armies all over the world were invited.
The IAF commander also said that Iran fired 32 rockets at Israel during the flare-up across the Syrian border earlier this month. According to him, four rockets were intercepted by Israel and the rest landed outside of Israeli territory, and more than 100 surface-to-air missiles were fired at Israeli jets over Syria.
“After that [the Iranian attack] we attacked over 20 Iranian targets in Syria. Unfortunately, Syrian air defense systems fired over 100 antiaircraft missiles at our planes and in response we destroyed their antiaircraft batteries,” Norkin said.
IAF chief Norkin outlined the reasons behind Israel’s growing anxiety over Iranian activities in Syria. “The Quds Force established itself at T-4 base, 250 kilometers from Israel. From this base they tried to attack using a drone that entered into Israel, a few months ago. After this incident we realized that they were continuing to store weapons on this base, including air defense capabilities, which we attacked last month,” he explained at the conference.
“Over the past few weeks we learned that Iran had sent long-range missiles and rockets to Syria, including the Uragan launchers that we attacked north of Damascus,” added Norkin.
After months of tensions, Israel and Iran locked horns directly in Syria on May 11. At the time, Israel reported that Iranian forces had fired 20 rockets at IDF positions in the Golan Heights. Four of the rockets aimed at Israel were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system while the remaining rockets exploded on Syrian territory, the military said.

The Israelis are also looking to upgrade their refueling and helicopter fleets but as far as the F-35, the early usage looks to the outside as being a successful investment.

To read the entire article from Haaretz, click here:

Photo courtesy Screen shot of video

US Air Force Increasing the Airstrikes in Afghanistan

With the defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria nearly complete, the U.S. Air Force is quickly turning its attention back to Afghanistan. As the number of close air support missions dwindles in Iraq and Syria, the need in Afghanistan remains constant and the Air Force is stepping up the air campaign.

In April 2017, American and allied jets dropped over 3,000 bombs on ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
But a year later, aircrafts dropped just 254 bombs, a sign of how much the war against ISIS has changed, according to a new strike report released over the weekend from the U.S. Air Force.

Throughout April, the U.S. military dropped the second-highest amount of bombs in Afghanistan in six-and-a-half years, the Air Force report said. The 562 bombs dropped in Afghanistan last month were more than the combined March and April totals in Iraq and Syria.
U.S. Forces Afghanistan released a video showing 28 Taliban fighters getting mowed down by American drones in Farah Province, which borders Iran.
The Pentagon wouldn’t rule out Tehran’s influence.
“I don’t think you can ever rule out how much Iran interferes throughout this region. Iran remains the most destabilizing factor in the Middle East. So no, I don’t think you can ever rule out their mischief,” Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said at a press conference at the Pentagon Thursday.
White didn’t offer any specific details about the battle last week.
According to the latest numbers, the U.S. Air Force dropped two-times more bombs in Afghanistan than Iraq and Syria last month, as the Afghan spring offensive against the Taliban ramps up.
The U.S. Air Force said that Afghan jets recently helped destroy 29 Taliban narcotics labs as a way of cutting off a key revenue source for the Taliban.

While a year ago, U.S. Air Force jets fired or dropped 40,000 munitions against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria against about 4000 in Afghanistan, those numbers have changed.

U.S. commanders from the Central Command are no stating that Afghanistan is the “main effort” for American troops in the Middle East.

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

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 3

Tuesday is Leg Day at the gym, and a perfect way to shake off those doldrums. Begin with pull-ups and towel pull-ups for those who don’t have access to climbing ropes. Then squats with lighter weights with more reps, lunges and the sled followed by a three-mile run

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pull-ups 10 reps

3 x Towel pull-ups 10 reps

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

3 x 10 Deadlifts

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

3-Mile run (24 minutes or less)

Stretch well after completion

Veterans Ruck March 370 Miles to Honor Fallen Troops

A group of Nevada veterans are rucksack marching 370 miles from Las Vegas to the northern area of the state to honor those troops who have given their lives in combat since 9/11.

The march will cover about eight days and is expected that 170 veterans will take part.

Leo Garcia is marching with the weight of 7,000 fallen veterans on his back.
“I’m walking in remembrance of our heroes who gave their lives for our country,” said Garcia, an Air Force veteran. “When we raised our hands to serve this country, we did it because we love our country.”
The Ruck March, led by the UNLV Rebel Veterans Organization and the Reno-based Truckee Meadows Community College Veterans Club, began at 6 a.m. Sunday at Sky Pointe Drive in northwest Las Vegas. Marchers headed north along U.S. Highway 95, carrying 7,000 dog tags in honor of fallen military members since 9/11.
The Southern Nevada marchers, who on Sunday dubbed themselves the Rebel Ruckers, expect to have made it to Goldfield on Thursday. There, they will hand off the rucksacks to their northern allies, who will continue marching to Fernley.
“I do this for those who gave their life for me, because even though they don’t know me, they gave their life so that I could be here today,” said LC Garcia, whose son served in the Army.
As the Garcias and other marchers readied themselves for their 10-mile stretch, Alexandria Sawin whizzed around the group, snapping photos.
Sawin, a UNLV student, Air Force veteran and president of the Rebel Veterans, plans to walk the last 12-mile leg of the march Thursday before the northern marchers take over.
“Imagine carrying 40 pounds through a desert with highs in the 90s,” she said Sunday. “Still, it’s nothing compared to the sacrifice that all these service members who were killed in action have endured. It’s the least we could do to honor them.”
Sawin said the march also recognizes the lives that were irrevocably changed during deployment.
“This is a really special event that’s close to my heart,” she said. Today, we honor what they may have lost from serving.”

One of the other issues that the group is trying to publicize is the rate of veterans suicide which remains at nearly 22 per day.

To read the entire article from Las Vegas Review-Journal, click here:

Photo courtesy Las Vegas Review-Journal

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 2

We’ll kick off our Monday and work week with a mini-UBRR test. 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. The standard says 40-minutes but shoot for something below that.

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 (40-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 9, Day 1

It is time for our Sunday morning Rucksack march. Do a quick warmup of pushups and sit-ups before heading out for an 8-mile rucksack march. Head out over varied terrain and try to go as fast as you can without running. The standard is 120 minutes. Aim to lower that

Stretch well both before and after the event. Remember to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated out there. Especially now with the summer weather now enveloping most of the country.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit-ups

8-mile Rucksack march over varied terrain with a 45-pound minimum in 120 minutes (2 hours) or less. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 8, Day 7

Saturday morning in the gym for shoulders and back work. Towel pull-ups are for those with no access to ropes. The only way to get better at pull-ups and climbing ropes….is to practice doing them until they are a strength. Followed by a four-mile run in 32 minutes or less.

Log your numbers down in the workout notebook and remember to stretch well both before and after the workout.

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

4-mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 8, Day 6

Friday means another Leg Day at the gym. Begin with some Squats – front, dumbbell goblet, and barbell to build up strength for carrying a rucksack. We’re going with a lighter weight and more reps here.

Then some lunges and after the weighted sled push/Fireman’s Carry, finish the workout off by breaking things up a bit with some sprints for cardio.

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 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

10 x 50-meter sprints

Stretch well after completion