There’s a reason why the Rangers, the Green Berets, and many other Special Operations Units use unknown distance ruck marches to assess candidates during selection and build grit during training. The ruck is often called “the ultimate equalizer”. It can make a 250lbs linebacker fall by the wayside while a 140lbs teenager drives on. The …
In times of uncertainty, fear and stress we tend to revert to our roots, base learnings and heritage. And that is where these vignettes fall. As I look back over them, I think of the parallels between my military deployments in the past and what we’re facing as a nation now. In the military, when …
Any time in life that you do something, you tend to forget the bad and remember the good. I remembered the good. I wasn’t sure I wanted to remember the bad. For a long time, I talked to a bunch of my peers in the Special Forces community that had made the trip back to …
Sapa Valley, Northern Vietnam The final stop in Rich’s journey through Vietnam. Sapa is a frontier township along the Chinese border, home to the northern highlanders and hundreds of miles of trails. It’s the perfect place to field test MACV-1 prototypes. Sapa is considered the trekking capitol of Vietnam and we all know trekking is …
PART 1 – HOW TO GET STARTED & THE FUNDAMENTALS Let’s just say this and start here: rucking is simple to start. You can do it in your neighborhood with things you already have on hand, and it’s free. The military teaches the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach and Leonardo da Vinci said simplicity …
Da Lat, Vietnam April, 2017 My “one night in Da Lat” was a pleasant reprieve from the war and normal combat operations that we had been conducting. I’d heard of the city, but never believed all of the stories I’d heard. Stories about the beautiful architecture, the green and lush gardens, cool weather, and about …