Special Operations Forces

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.30.2017

Today is a swim day, so head back to the pool.

The swim test is a big part of the initial testing phase and many candidates fail to properly prepare for it by practicing it in uniform. Get used to being comfortable in the water.

Warm up first –

3 x 30 seconds Mountain climbers

3 x 30 seconds Spider-Man planks

Swim 300 meters with fatigues and boots; swimming with them on it feels like little gremlins are pulling you down in the water from the corners of your uniform.

Stretch well after completion

Afghanistan is Planning to Double Its Special Operations Forces

Afghanistan’s Special Forces have been taking on a lion’s share of the fighting against the Taliban and other insurgent forces in the country. Now the military is planning to double the size of the 17,000-man force to double the number.

While Afghanistan’s military now numbers over 300,000 personnel, the small Special Operations part of the force is conducting over 70 percent of the offensive combat operations. It is an operational tempo that will be hard to maintain and leaders from both the Afghan and US government are worried that the strain will begin to affect operations.

The buildup will help alleviate the over-tasking of its troops which will increase to Corps level size once the troops are added, trained and equipped.

“There has been an increase in our operations, but we will keep up our efforts,” said Fawad Kamal, a special forces commander. “There hasn’t been any interruption.”
When they reach the battlefield, newly trained troops will likely be conducting offensive operations, from tracking militant cells to clearing towns seized by insurgents.
“There is a huge need for the number of commandos and special forces to increase in the country,” said Mohammed Arif, a new commando recruit. “As long as they are well equipped, they can defend the country very well.”
Afghanistan’s international allies regularly praise the performance of the special forces, but there is also concern that the workload places them under too much strain.
Last year, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, discussed plans to strengthen and regenerate the force over the winter months.
At the special forces base, NATO trainers work alongside Afghan instructors, teaching a range of courses from basic shooting and room clearance for new commandos, to advanced leadership courses for the more experienced.

US Special Forces Brigadier General Charles Cleveland called the Afghan Special Ops troops the best of the region but said that they were stretched too thin. Eventually, the NATO coalition would like to see the conventional Afghan forces reach the same level of training and proficiency as their SF counterparts but they still have a long way to go.

The entire article and interview from Reuters can be found here:

Featured photo: NATO

Texas Tech Coach Credits Special Forces Training In Doing His Job

Frequently military terms and jargon are used when discussing the sport of football. And at times, they can be overused, but if Texas Tech’s coach Rusty Whitt is using it, then you may just want to listen a little closer. The Red Raiders Strength and Conditioning Coach was a US Army Special Forces Communication Sergeant during the war in Iraq and credits his training and leadership for bringing him home safely to resume his life.

Whitt is known as one of the toughest, no-nonsense coaches in college football. He credited the lessons learned at Ft. Bragg and Camp Mackall as the catalyst for getting him home safely from two different tours in Iraq. Whitt was voted the most intimidating strength coach in 2013 by lostletterman.com.

“So I happened to go to selection for 21 days. The next class went for 15. Then it just kind of changes up. But those 21 days, I think 220-some odd guys started and around 48 completed it and got selected. Then you get into the actual course, which took me two years. I had to learn … I was an 18 Echo, which is your communications sergeant. Anything that has to do with military communications, I had to become proficient in, which was a long course. I took Russian, which is an extremely hard language to comprehend. It took two years to do all that.”
“And so I’m riding in a truck with all these guys. The driver had been there for a year. My incoming, my new team captain, was with me riding up front. I had a gunner who had been there almost a year and a medic sitting by me who’d been there for almost a year.
“We left our patrol base, came to a T-intersection and the outgoing team sergeant in the very first truck radios back: ‘OK, Captain. We take a right, it’s Little House on the Prairie. We take a left, it’s Black Hawk Down.’
“Pause. Captain goes, (Click) ‘Uh, let’s go ahead and watch Black Hawk Down.’ And the gunner starts laughing. He goes,(twangy voice) ‘Hey, man, you’re gonna get a CIB in about five minutes.’ And we took a left and within a minute we’re receiving gunfire. So it was an eye-opening experience.”

Whitt is known for his intensity and he has brought that in spades to the Red Raiders football program along with some Special Forces training methods, including a rucksack event on the first day of training.

He once was so amped up that he head-butted a player before a bowl game that was wearing a helmet, opening a deep gash in his forehead. Rather than having the cut attended to, Whitt spent the entire game on the sidelines with a stream of blood running down his face. Welcome to the big leagues Texas Tech.

The entire article and interview from Lubbock On Line can be found here:

Featured photo: YouTube Rusty Whitt

Selection Isn’t the End of the Journey, Only the Beginning Of It

Since the television show, “The Selection, The Special Operations Experiment” came out on the History Channel many of my non-military friends and family have come forward asking how realistic the training was being depicted and if that was the actually the way it was. The show was based on a British television show “SAS: Who Dares Wins” which placed civilians in the world of the British military’s toughest training.

And of course, the answer is yes and no. The training depicted on the show looked completely authentic and none of it was canned like the typical reality television show BS that we all subjected to on a daily basis. But it was exactly what it was, a blend of the different courses that one may volunteer for in today’s Special Operations Forces. In that aspect, it was a great, albeit glimpse into what makes the Selection courses so tough.

But the biggest takeaway I get from people who have watched the show is, that once you pass the Selection course, you’re blessed and part of the unit. Let’s pump the brakes a bit right there.

Passing Selection isn’t the end or even the beginning of the end, but if anything, the end of the very beginning. Passing the Selection course only opens the door for a candidate a very slight crack. Once a candidate has passed Selection, now that candidate is worthy only to see whether or not he can take to the training.

And the training courses are just the beginning. Selection, as we’ve said in earlier articles never stops. And becoming part of a Special Operations unit doesn’t finish with your graduation of the specific course. It is the start of an entirely new lifestyle and the training is constant and ongoing. I think the biggest misconception about the show, which was very good by the way is that people watching it come away with the perception that the Selection course makes you a SEAL, Green Beret, Ranger…etc.

The instructors, taken from the different services and different career fields brought their own dose of realism to the civilians who attempted to try the selection course. There weren’t any Hollywood actors barking out harassment. These were real combat vets who acted just like they will in the real McCoy.

That was an interesting dynamic where they had Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and Rangers as instructors and they seemed like they’d been working together for quite a long time. Each of the different schools is unlike each other in their own way, but they all share common core qualities.

The civilians were a confident, cocky lot at the beginning, and that is the first thing that would disappear in an actual selection course. Showing up confident and cocky is an exercise in pain as the instructors will show that the candidates have no reason to be.

The training was interesting in that they weaved different facets of every course in there. Every person who’s ever been in the armed services has experienced the gas chamber where that is a basic training type of event but they also had to deal with interrogation, the physical training on the beach and in the surf, hand-to-hand combat, drown-proofing, and physical wearing down of their bodies that they had never experienced before.

The eye-opening experience for the candidates who were only referred to by their number, much like SFAS is that it isn’t the physical side of things that wears them down but the mental side of it. The perception that everyone in Special Operations is 10 feet tall and built like a linebacker gets shot down pretty quickly. The services can train operators physically to do most anything within reason.

But the mental aspect can’t be trained. Either a candidate has it or doesn’t and that mental fortitude is what the instructors are searching for. Everyone is going to get worn down physically, they know that. But it is the candidates that keep driving on with little to no sleep and keep their wits about them when they’re physically beat down, will be the successful ones.

The one part of the show that is the most realistic? At the end, there are no prizes for the “winners”, no follow-on television special, or a studio waiting with a big contract. There is just the satisfaction of knowing you were “selected”. And true to form, the numbers whittled down to just a few.

Unlike the civilians who finished the show and got to go home, the real candidates that navigate Selection, get to catch their breath and prepare for the next phase of their training. And combat tours await in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and now possibly Yemen among a hundred other hot spots around the globe where Special Operations Forces operate in the shadows.

So, just remember, the television show ended with final candidates being selected. For their military counterparts, that is just the beginning.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.29.2017

Back to the gym today, working on your shoulders and traps, which all he when either toting the rucksack or climbing the ropes.

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 Shoulder Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

4 x 25-meter Shuttle Run

3 x 3 Cone Drill

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.28.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR and get some leg work in with a trip to the gym today.

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 dumbbell)

3 x 10 Leg Extensions

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 20 Push-ups

30 x “V” ups

2-mile run

Stretch well after completion

US May Increase Troop Levels in Yemen But Not Special Operations

In a surprising move, the Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has asked the White House to reverse the Obama Administration policy on restrictions on U.S. military support for Persian Gulf states engaged in a prolonged war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Mattis sent a memo to National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster and spelled out that the “limited support” for a combined Saudi Arabian, United Arab Emirates offensive geared at retaking a key Red Sea port will help defeat “a common threat”. But Mattis does not foresee adding more Special Operations Forces to the mix.

The administration is in the midst of a larger review of overall Yemen policy that is not expected to be completed until next month.
But the immediate question, addressed by Mattis’ memo and tentatively slated to come before the principal’s committee of senior national security aides this week, is whether to provide support for a proposed UAE-led operation to push the Houthis from the port of Hodeida, through which humanitarian aid and rebel supplies pass.
The Pentagon memo does not recommend agreeing to every element of the Emirati request. A proposal to provide American Special Operations forces on the ground on the Red Sea coast “was not part of the request [Mattis] is making,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning and the review.

Yemen’s population centers have been hit hard during the conflict with an estimated 10,000 civilians killed in the fighting. Worse, the surviving population is close to starvation.

Yves Daccord, Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned that an extended battle for the port city would “put even more pressure on the population” and could tip the country into greater humanitarian crisis.

The Saudis and other have been withholding aid for the area around Hodeida which has further made a bad situation worse. The Gulf States were critical of the Obama Administration’s reluctance to aid in the Yemen conflict seeing it as a weakness toward Iran. Now President Trump, who was critical of the Obama policy may change it.

To read the entire article from The Chicago Tribune, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Army PAO SGT Faces QMP Over Flap for Trying to Secure Information

In a SNAFU of epic proportions, an Army PAO SGT is facing being forcibly removed from the service for trying to safeguard classified information. SGT Ricardo Branch was serving in the PAO office of the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers).

Members of the Night Stalkers were to visit the Boeing aircraft company site in Mesa Arizona back in 2014. Boeing scripted a press release stating the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment was the unit that carried the Navy commandos from SEAL Team 6 in to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He sent his commander a private email on the Army .mil server that basically alerted his boss that the company should remove that line as the Department of Defense (DOD) had never acknowledged that.

A higher up in the chain of command saw the email thread and alerted Army intelligence that a breach had occurred. He was ordered home and was facing a court-martial for the crime of actually trying to safeguard information.

The irony of the entire episode is that President Obama visited Ft. Campbell after the bin Laden raid and publicly thanked the 160^th Night Stalkers for their role in the raid.

Offered the choice of a court-martial or nonjudicial punishment (Article 15), Branch opted for an Article 15 and was reprimanded. He was then transferred to Korea where he took up editing a newspaper for the troops.

But with the Army downsizing right now, Branch’s Article 15 showed up for the Army’s Quantitative Management Program (QMP), which immediately put him up for separation after 13 years of service. The QMP looks for any black marks on a soldier’s record.

“I love the Army,” he said. “I like my job. The reason I’m so in love with the Army is I’m a career soldier. I’ve done three tours in Iraq. I’ve survived cancer twice. The Army is my career. It’s what I know. It is my life. My dad was a soldier. My brother’s a soldier. My grandfather was a soldier. I like telling the Army story because I’m a writer. That’s what I do.”
In recent months, Sgt. Branch’s cause has been taken up by a former Army judge advocate, Jeffery Addicott, who directs the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Addicott represents, pro bono, military personnel he believes are unjustly prosecuted.
“At a time when President Trump is calling for the buildup of our military, and rightfully so, it is ironic that the Army is seeking to jettison a dedicated, three-time Iraqi War veteran,” Mr. Addicott told The Times.
“In my professional opinion as a JAG officer with 20 years in service and having tried over 150 cases, they would have not brought this to a court-martial if he had turned down the Article 15,” Mr. Addicott said. “There is no way the government would get a conviction, particularly based on the fact that President Obama had already released the information to the public. If they did bring it to a trial, Sgt. Branch would exercise his right to demand a jury, and they would never get a conviction.”

Branch is appealing the decision and attempting to remain in the Army. Based on the public airing of the raid by President Obama, it is crazy to think that Branch’s situation has ever reached this level.

To read the entire article from The Washington Times, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Passing BUDS, Interview with Thomas Rosehaley Pt. 3

Thomas Rosehaley is a busy man these days. When he’s not flying across the globe working as a personal security professional, he’s back at home keeping on top of his medical training, which is his bailiwick. He had just arrived back in the states but was not getting much free time. “I’m diving tomorrow in Monterrey Bay and then have a Med class at Folsom Prison, I’ll call you on my way home from there,” he said.

In the first two parts of the interview, we talked about his background, growing up in LA and how he entered the Navy. Then we moved on to the beginning of his Navy training and on to Hell Week.

Once the candidates passed Pool Comp, they moved on to the LAR V rebreather, which is a different kind of diving altogether. “The amazing thing today is, how far technology has progressed when you can go to Long Beach today and buy a LAR V for about $8-10 grand,” Rosehaley said. Back then that was a classified piece of equipment.”

“Dive Phase was two months and is the bread and butter of the Naval Special Warfare guys,” he said. That is where they’re trained on dive searches, underwater recon, navigation, he recalled diving at Coronado and crossing over to 32^nd St. and trying to identify ships and compartments from under the water. Planting fake explosives on drive shafts of ships. This training evolved from the first underwater demo teams from WWII.

After Dive Phase the candidates move to San Clemente Island where they’re trained on the finer aspects of demolitions. Shaped Charges, C-4, even the old haversack charges that the old frogmen used. They’re also trained on weapons, small unit tactics and patrolling.

His class 202, finished with 26 sailors some of whom were picked up from other classes due to a minor injury or issue. Most of those who failed did so because they couldn’t handle the mental aspect of the training.

“Look there’s no way you can adequately prepare yourself so that the course is a breeze, it is a total lifestyle change,” he said. Due to his Sea Cadet training with the briefest of glimpses on what he’d face in Coronado, he tried to prepare himself physically as best he could.

He ran the streets barefoot, trying to toughen his feet up. Rosehaley was an accomplished competitive swimmer and played the tough sport of Water Polo. “My water skills were definitely as good as I could be prepared for. I grew up surfing on the Los Angeles coast.”

Some candidates were just not comfortable in the water which for a sailor wanting to become a Navy SEAL is unconscionable. “The water is our bread and butter,” he said. “That is what we see as home. The water is our safe place and if you aren’t comfortable in the water, you need to try something else.”

Rosehaley said the guys who weren’t comfortable in the water before arriving didn’t last long. And told the story about “the Beehive” which reflects his point perfectly. At this point, there were still over 100 students in the course. Everyone is in the pool so it is crowded and ready to get more so.

The author and Rosehaley while escorting a client family on a trip thru the Middle East and Africa.

“The instructors just start pushing everyone into the center of the pool,” he recalls. “Everyone is trying their best to stay calm but the students being pushed inward into ‘the Beehive’ begins to take its toll,” he said.

Students are shoulder to shoulder trying to stay afloat and it takes just one guy to panic and grab the guy next to him and try to use him for support and it sets off a chain reaction. In just a matter of seconds, it turns into what Rosehaley remembers as “a fight for your life.”

Rosehaley who was among the most comfortable in his class in the water remembers that the panic that ensued was contagious. Rosehaley just decided to hold his breath and stay calm. He recalls that he was being kicked in the face and being held down and as he says, “your body’s willingness to stay alive wins out.”

He remembered it akin to being trapped under moving ice, and it was a dog-eat-dog situation and the instructors kept at it until students began to quit. “Too many guys were in no way prepared for this and it is mostly mental.”

Rosehaley then surprising finished his Navy career abruptly in 1997 and moved on to further his medical career until the second Gulf war when he came back as a contractor working in Iraq. He had his share of hair-raising experiences there but none close to what he experienced in Haiti.

Sent in as security and medical support for a CBS film crew, aftershocks still racked the country. The guests at the hotel had to sleep on the pool patio because it wasn’t safe to remain inside. He and another medic began a triage, treating the numerous injured locals at the back of the hotel.

He’s still a security professional and has traveled the world with many high-profile clients. I used to chuckle when I’d see his picture of People, US etc, working with a certain female singer who has been plastered all over the magazines you find in the aisles of supermarkets and Wal-Mart.

We had the pleasure of working together for a security company Thomas Dale & Associates based out of Los Angeles, in the Middle East watching over a family of clients who traveled, frequently taking many of their friends. Later, we worked on a film crew down in Mexico, where there was never a dull moment. But that’s a story for another time.

He’s a devoted follower of the Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, (word to the wise, don’t wrestle with him) and after a recent trip to the Middle East, he had a stopover in Jerusalem, Israel. That night he found a gym and was wrestling Orthodox Jews that were half his age. “It was wild,” he said.

“Visually seeing the guys with their traditional long curls and dressed up in a gi was off the wall. I loved it,” he added. That fits him to a tee.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.27.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR by taking a practice test but without the rope climb event as most will not have access to one.

Training:

Pushups – 1-minute time limit as many as you can do correctly, minimum 40
Situps – 1-minute time limit as many as you can do correctly, minimum 40
Pullups – minimum of 6, no time limit
Dips – minimum of 6, no time limit
4 x 25-meter Shuttle Run, maximum of 24 seconds
Bench Press – 80 percent of body weight minimum 6 no time limit
Kip-ups – minimum of 6 with a 1-minute time limit
5 Mile Run or 5-mile Ruck – The run to be completed in 40 min, ruck 75

Stretch well after completion

Grading scale:

Pushups +2 pts for each rep above minimum.
Situps +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Pullups +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Dips +2 points for each rep above minimum.
Bench Press +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Kip -ups +2 points for each rep above minimum.
Shuttle Run +2 points for every 1/10^th of a second under minimum.
Run +2 points for every 15 seconds from 35-30 minutes.

You can check your score at the website here: