The Definitive Spec Ops Resource
THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION
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
US Air Force Special Operations aircraft used the largest conventional bomb ever dropped by the United States military, targeting an ISIS bunker complex in Afghanistan on Thursday evening at 1800 hours local time.
The aircraft used was a specially designed MC-130 Combat Talon cargo plane, where the bomb, a GBU-43B MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Burst), also nicknamed the “Mother of all Bombs” was jettisoned out the tail of the C-130. It is too large to drop from a conventional bomb bay door.
The bomb targeted an ISIS complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. It was in this province where an American Green Beret of the 7th Special Forces Group was killed in action just last week.
The massive, 11-ton, parachute deployed GBU-43B is the largest conventional air dropped weapon ever employed by the U.S. military. The “MOAB” produces shock, overpressure and blast effects equal to tactical nuclear weapons without residual radioactive fallout or the political ramifications associated with nuclear weapons.
The GBU-43B MOAB is deployed from a specially adapted MC-130 Combat Talon II using a system of rollers and a deployment sled. The bomb is attached to the deployment sled then pulled from the rear cargo ramp using a drogue parachute. Once pulled out the back cargo door of the MC-130 the sled falls away from the 30-foot long bomb. The bomb uses guidance wings and a system of stabilizers to maintain consistent ballistic flight trajectory and control its descent rate for more precise guidance. The MOAB uses a satellite guidance system along with internal gyros. GPS target coordinates are initially slaved from the launch aircraft then programmed into the weapon prior to release in close proximity to the target. Once released at medium to high altitude depending on target stand-off requirements the weapon uses its internal GPS for its terminal guidance to the target.
The GBU-43B is primarily intended to produce an “overpressure” or localized barometric shock wave effect to neutralize its target. The 9,500-kilogram bomb uses 18,700 pounds of H6 explosive, a combination of RDX explosive made of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine, conventional TNT explosive used in commercial dynamite and aluminum powder. The high-energy H6 explosive is made in Australia according to sources and is also used in concussive weapons such as mines and depth charges to produce a similar overpressure effect.
The shock wave generated by the massive release of energy from the explosion is transmitted through the air and into solid objects such as reinforced bunkers and cave complexes. This often results in their collapse. U.S. military officials also note a significant psychological impact to the employment of the GBU-43B MOAB because of its massive blast and the ability to produce a large mushroom-shaped cloud in certain atmospheric and terrain environments mimicking the appearance of a nuclear strike. There is no radioactive component to the GBU-43B.
President Trump praised the military for their hard work and dedication but said he didn’t give the order, that was given by the Commanders on the ground in the theater. It also sent a subliminal message to North Korea, who’s army is constantly tunneling under the territory of the South that this weapon could be used there as well.
Democratic leaders in Congress, not surprisingly lamented the use of the MOAB wondering about civilian casualties and how many people would be driven to ISIS over this. One has to ponder how many “civilians” work and live in ISIS tunnel complexes, however.
To read the entire article from the Aviationist, click here:
Photo courtesy US Air Force
Our favorite day of the week, Friday and Leg Day at the gym. The weighted Sled push helps build up power and speed. The lighter weight dumbbell squats build up endurance. Continue to prep for the UBRR.
Training:
3 x 10 Pullups
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 Weighted sled push
30 x “V”ups
3-mile run
Stretch well after completion
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) is an acronym everyone is familiar with these days. As troops subjected to prolonged combat in multiple locations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere show the world the grim reminders the toll it takes on the human psyche.
It isn’t anything new, just the name has changed. In World War I, it was known as “shell shock”. In World War II and later its name changed to “combat fatigue”. What hasn’t changed is that is a debilitating disease that affects between seven to eight percent of all adults at one point in the lives. Among the veterans of the recent conflicts in the past decade, those numbers are nearly doubled.
Now doctors at the University College of London and the University of Zurich are trying to break ground in treating PTSD by using a very common antibiotic, doxycycline.
One of the head researchers, Dr. Domenik Bach said “Learning to fear threats is an important ability … helping us to avoid dangers. (But) over-prediction of threat can cause tremendous suffering and distress in anxiety disorders such as PTSD.”
The hope is that the doxycycline will block matrix enzymes, proteins that the brain uses to form memories, which may prove effective in blocking an overactive fear memory. It won’t erase them but suppress them.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that between 7–8% of the adult U.S. population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, yet there are certain career sectors that possess a demonstrably increased incidence of PTSD among their practitioners. For example, data from the National Center for PTSD suggests that 11–20% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans will suffer from PTSD in a given year. Additionally, a recent report issued by the International Association of Fire Fighters states that 20% of firefighters and paramedics have PTSD.
While soldiers and first responders are but two—albeit sizeable—slices of society, they accurately demonstrate the extent to which stigma negatively affects the successful diagnosis of PTSD. Both are not only gritty professions whose members are routinely subjected to repeated psychological trauma, but are industries in which stoicism in the face of carnage has been effectively institutionalized.
In a recent episode of PBS NewsHour, retired Green Beret, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Rodriguez highlighted both the inherent barriers to PTSD diagnosis and the acute need for new diagnostic technologies. He stated, “At that time, I didn’t think I had it. Bought into the stigma. But if there was a tangible test, I think it would make it easier on the patients, but — because it will validate it. You know, like if someone has leukemia, no one ever says, you don’t have leukemia.”
It is thought that the testing for the researchers will take several more years before the treatments are ready for actual testing on soldiers returning from war. But the answers may be found in a simple solution in the guise of a common antibiotic.
To read the entire article from The Big Think, click here:
Photo courtesy DOD
In our previous Land Navigation article, we talked about Resection, which is invaluable at finding your exact location if you’re unsure of where you are but can see and identify points in the distance.
As you’ll remember Resection is the method for finding your exact location on a map by determining the grid azimuth to at two or more well-defined locations that can be pinpointed on the map. For greater accuracy, the desired method of resection would be to use three or more well-defined locations.
We spoke about the three methods but I received an email from a prospective Special Operations candidate named Jim who was confused about what constituted a Modified Resection problem and how one would use this method effectively.
Good question Jim, here is a scenario that can and does frequently happen. You’re moving along on your azimuth through wooded but fairly flat terrain with few terrain features but enough foliage to keep you from seeing very far in the distance.
You cross a large linear terrain feature, a road, a creek bed or in my case for the purpose of our practical exercise today a railroad line. Now if you are close to your point, you could be to the left or the right of where you need to go. If you can see a point in the far distance, you can shoot an azimuth to it and pinpoint your exact location.
Now we’ll revisit the exact sequence for pinpointing your location using the modified resection method we spoke about the other day.
Modified Resection Method:
The modified method is the least preferred method but is useful in certain situations. If you’re not certain of your exact location but are located on a linear terrain feature such as a road, creek or similar body of water, this can pinpoint your position.
Your location is where the line on the map crosses the linear feature. Determine the grid coordinates to the desired accuracy, for our purposes an eight-digit grid coordinate.
For our video demonstration, practical exercise, we were moving along our azimuth and came across a railroad track. Just barely visible in the far distance is a wind turbine that sits high upon a hilltop. Once we are able to locate the wind turbine on the map, we take an azimuth, using our compass, and determine the grid azimuth.
Then we draw a back azimuth using the “more than 180 degrees subtract 180 or less than 180 degrees add 180” rule and draw a line on our map. Where the line intersects the railroad line is our exact location.
If this were close to our point during a Land Navigation course, this would be a prime attack point as you’d have a very good place to search for the point. However, if you’re still far from your point, it is a great place to check your exact location and ensure that you’re heading on the correct azimuth.
Check out the short video and see how it works out. Thanks for the question Jim and if anyone else has any more questions, feel free to email me [email protected] or at my Twitter account @SteveB7SFG
Photo courtesy of DOD
UBRR training day followed by a ruck march. Are you keeping a log of your times on your runs and rucks? And with the warmer weather upon us, you should be paying much stricter attention to hydration during the rucks.
Training:
More Preparation for the UBRR:
3 x 20 pushups
3 x 20 sit ups
3 x 20 crunches
3 x 20 dips or until muscle failure
3 x 20 side planks
4-mile rucksack march (45-pound minimum) over varied terrain, note your time
Stretch well after completion
The former Navy SEAL that had reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in the raid on the terrorist leader’s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan has said that the dead terrorist’s head was so disfigured by the shooting that it had to be pressed back together for proper identification.
Robert O’Neill, the SEAL Team 6 commando penned, ‘The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Bin Laden’, in which he claims that it was he, who pumped three shots into bin Laden and that it disfigured his head to be almost unrecognizable.
Much of criticism leveled at O’Neill has been centered around the Special Operations Forces strict code of silence. But the events that unfolded in May 2011 in taking out the world’s most wanted terrorist needed to be told.
O’Neill, in his book, makes the gruesome claim that Osama’s head was so severely destroyed by his gunfire that it had to be pressed back together for identification photographs.
In O’Neill’s version, he was trailing five or six other SEALs climbing the stairs to the compound’s second floor when Osama’s son Khalid appeared on the half-landing with an AK-47.
O’Neill kept his hand on the point man’s shoulder. The two were alone on the stairway, convinced that whoever was on the third floor was strapping on a suicide vest for an explosive last stand.
O’Neill recounts that finally, he decided to take action.
He squeezed the point man’s shoulder, the signal to charge and then burst past the curtain.
The point man tackled two screaming women to the floor.
Bin Laden stood near the bed, his hands on the shoulders of the woman in front of him. She was later identified as Amal, the youngest of his four wives, the report said.
“In less than a second, I aimed above the woman’s right shoulder and pulled the trigger twice,” O’Neill writes.
“Bin Laden’s head split open, and he dropped. I put another bullet in his head. Insurance,” he writes.
After the flight back to Afghanistan, the team positively identified bin Laden and the US government released the information from the raid. O’Neill’s book differs from an earlier one written by Mark Bissonnette called “No Easy Day”
To read the entire article from NDTV click here:
Photo courtesy Reuters
The Navy SEALs are battling a problem with not only with combatting terrorists in faraway lands but from within. The stress of continuous combat operations and deployments is resulting in a large number of operators being kicked out of the teams due to drug use.
CBS News on Tuesday ran a report that drug use amongst the SEAL teams was rampant and much higher than the rest of the fleet. They interviewed three SEALs, one active duty and two retired and they all stated the problem is growing and the chain of command is working to stop it.
“People that we know of, that we hear about have tested positive for cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, ecstasy,” said a SEAL. “That’s a problem.”
How prevalent is drug abuse in the SEAL teams?
“It’s growing,” said one SEAL. “The drug use, it’s growing.”
Last December, as an e-mail shows, the SEALs halted all training and ordered a safety stand-down because of the drug problem.
“I feel like I’m watching our foundation, our culture erode in front of our eyes,” said Capt. Jamie Sands, the commander of 900 SEALs based on the East Coast.
Sands had been on the job for just three months and already five SEALs had been kicked off the teams for using drugs.
“I feel betrayed,” Sands said. “How do you do that to us? How do you decide that it’s OK for you to do drugs?”
Every SEAL under his command was required to attend this meeting or else watch it online. In response to our request, the Navy released an edited version of the video.
The Navy has said that it will begin urinalysis testing while the teams are deployed, something that they haven’t done before in an effort to curb illegal drug use. However, some SEALs speaking to CBS stated that they hadn’t been drug tested in years.
To read the entire article from CBS News click here:
Photo courtesy DOD
We’ve been revisiting some of the posts we’ve made earlier and are getting out and doing refresher exercises, getting some land navigation and other tasks in. This one will deal with everyone is SF’s favorite pastime …Rucking.
Everyone has their own tips of the trade and the vast majority of them are good. The main thing is that you have to find what works best for you. What I’m doing here is just giving you the benefits of my own experiences and hopefully, they’ll work for you. They did for me.
I recently got an email from Sean T. who asked a good question about rucksack marching and specifically in how the load was packed. He wrote, “I’ve read numerous articles about how the load of your rucksack should be distributed over your hips. I’m having issue [sic] with rubbing on my hips and low back pain. Is it because I’ve packed the weight too low?”
I take it from Sean’s message that he took the “distribute the weight over the hips” bit to mean that he was packing his load down low. No, and it is a common mistake among beginners and people carrying heavy rucks for the first time.
Your weight should be packed up high between the shoulder blades. If your ruck has radio pouch up high, that is where the sandbag or weight plates belongs. I prefer sandbags because it will mold to your pack and back and doesn’t have any sharp edges that can rub you on a ruck.
The guys over at GoRUCK sell some nice molded plates that will do the trick and they take all the guess work out of it. But like I said, I prefer the sand routine but use whatever works for you. In the video below, I have a 45-pound bag in my small ruck that I use for short hikes that we take with us.
We covered boots at length in our earlier article. I have several broken in pairs that I take on hikes depending upon the conditions. For the purposes of this exercise, I wore my heavier duty Merrell Sawtooth boots. We had a bunch of rain that dropped over an inch overnight and it was still misting out there on the day we did the video. Later we got another inch plus. The trail was muddy, very deep in places and the Sawtooth’s deeper tread pattern was probably a bit better for that day.
Water and staying hydrated is very important even on a day where it is a bit raw out and is raining on you. You’ll still sweat and dehydration is a killer. On this particular day, although it was raining a bit, we still drank constantly, keeping the hydration level up.
The trail we used is a closed loop so it was up-down with very little flat terrain involved. When rucking it is best to lean forward and getting the arm swing going from side to side rather than a typical running type swing back and forth.
When it comes to increasing speed, I don’t recommend that you run with a rucksack on your back while in training. They’ll be times in your selection course or the qualification course that you’ll have to make up time or want to pick your pace, especially on the downhill slopes. At those times, you’re going to have to do what you must, but for training purposes don’t do it. Learn to increase your speed without running. Running with a ruck will hurt your knees and back…take it from the guy with two arthritic knees.
I like to lengthen my stride on the downhill slopes, some guys will tell you the exact opposite. Again, find out what works for you and stick to it. But the bottom line is, don’t resort to running to increase your speed. You’re going to have to learn to ruck quickly without running sooner or later, and there’s no time like the present.
The standard is a 15-minute mile pace to pass the courses, you should be aiming to go lower than that. We were keeping a 14:30 pace on our practical exercise video, which means we’ll have to step it up as well. Back in the day, I used to maintain a 13-minute per mile pace which would bring myself in with around 20-25 minutes to spare on a 12-miler.
On one certification 20-miler at Ft. Bragg, our team maintained a 13-minute mile pace for the entire length of the course and that was with two 7-8 minute breaks built in to change socks and catch a breather. Of course, since the movement wasn’t considered tactical and was mapped out along a road, our communications supervisor strapped a boom box atop his rucksack and we rocked to AC-DC and Metallica. Much better than the sound of boots scuffling for 20 miles. We ended up with the best time in the battalion that night…the staff when learning of the music…were not amused. Always look for an edge, right?
If anyone else has any questions, feel free to send them along to [email protected] and I’ll be glad to answer them and we may use it in our next video.
Photo courtesy of US Army