Against my better judgment today, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go rucking despite having an injured calf/ankle. Last weekend I was shooting a high school football game for one of the newspapers I work for. Yes, that O&I photography class is still paying dividends after all these years. So, near the […]
75th Ranger Regiment
Rainy Range Day with Sightmark LoPro Mini & Ultra Shot Reflex Sight
LoPro Combo Flashlight (Visible and IR) and Green Laser This Columbus Day I celebrated in true American fashion, a Zulu Foxtrot T-Shirt, Kryptek Valhalla pants and several hundred rounds slung at the, ever terrifying, Paper Menace. For the day’s festivities, I was privileged to Test & Evaluate two optics from Sightmark. The first optic I […]
Spartan Selection Began At Birth and Lasted a Lifetime
Thanks to the film “300”, the Spartan lifestyle and their iconic Hoplite helmet has become a popular one among military age males and is frequently used ad campaigns or on t-shirt designs. But what was life like, as a Spartan male who would eventually become part of their military? We’ll take a quick look at […]
Remember Rucking is a Marathon and Not a Sprint
As we frequently do here at SpecialOperations.com, we post pieces on what many times are based on our messages or messages on Twitter. And this week I’ve gotten a few messages and questions concerning rucking. And when it comes to rucking, we get about 50/50 with our messages and/or questions regarding that or Land Navigation. And […]
“Keep on Ruckin’ It Only Gets Easier From Here”
In our daily Special Operations PT Preparation workouts that we publish, Sunday is our ruck day, just like going to church, it is our weekly ritual before the sun comes up kind of like paying homage to the Special Forces gods before we get on with our regularly scheduled Sunday activities, like coffee (Black Rifle […]
Kids Are the Same Everywhere and Say the Darndest Things
To our readers who are attempting for a career in Special Operations, you’ll meet all kinds of interesting people everywhere you go. Some societies are eclectic, like our own. Others are very regimented, but one thing that will never change, no matter where you travel are kids. As Americans we have a built-in affinity for […]
“I Went Thru the Last Hard Class” and The Ever Changing Standards
For anyone who is a member of the Special Operations Forces, regardless of what service or unit, there will always be the debate over the standards, whether they changed or have been lowered, and how they “need to get tougher.” And invariably, one grizzled veteran will proudly proclaim, “I went thru the last hard class.” […]
Decreasing Lower Back Pain, Workout More Effectively
Like many of us, I had issues with occasional lower back pain while in the military. Eventually, suffering a major injury that required surgery, that was in no way related to the normal workout routine that the Army conducts with soldiers doing PT. However, it wasn’t until many years later, I was doing some physical […]
Can Special Forces Teach Everything?… Pretty Darned Near
As a member of a Special Operations unit, you can be tasked with damned near anything and probably will. The best indicator of having a skill is the fact that you can teach it to others. As we wrote here some time ago, “Teaching is An Art in Special Forces”, and some of the best […]
Ranger School Has Several Things Students Can Prepare For
And others you can’t I recently was talking to a few old friends who had either been members of the Ranger Battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment, or attended Ranger School as a member of the Special Operations community and we got into a discussion about the ways Ranger students can be prepared for the […]