Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post

amatlis · 10-06-2010, 14:02

September 2010
Class 10/10
18-xray (National Guard)

A lot of good points here, so I'll just focus on where I saw people getting dropped.

Day 1: PT Test. Don't come to SFAS if you're just barely passing the PT test. The cadre use a very tough standard and you will have wasted everyone's time. Fast, jerky pushups won't cut it. You need to drop your chest to the ground, keep your eyes looking up, move your whole body up together, and try to extend your arms almost to the point of going up on your fingertips - and it has to be slow enough to easily count. That's the only way to guarantee your pushups are counted. A lot of people got dropped on the PT test.
Gate Week: The standards for gate week are not that hard by themselves. The fact that you have to do it all running through sand, up hills, and crossing small rivers, makes it more challenging. I would like to post the time hacks since all the active duty guys had that information before showing up, but I don't want to be accused of G2ing the course. Needless to say, you should be comfortable running up to 6 miles and rucking up 10 miles. I was amazed at how many "pt studs" didn't make one or more of the gates. I can only conclude that some guys were only training for one kind of event. Some guys just couldn't run 6 miles. For SOPC, we never ran distance but we did a lot of interval training and that seemed to help.
TABE: Don't fail the TABE test. If you're like me and haven't done basic math problems in >15 years, do yourself a favor and get a TABE study book. The problems are not hard, but if you're out of practice you'll be giving yourself minor aneurysms trying to remember how to do them.
Psyche Test: As others have said, just answer the questions truthfully. However, I have one caveat to add - don't overthink the questions like I did. This is not a civilian psyche test to discover all the nuances of your unique personality. This is a test to determine if you fit with SF. If they ask a question like "Do you sometimes feel like violently attacking someone?", they mean "are you really thinking about doing that?" They don't mean it the way I took it like "Yeah, I have imaginary thoughts of beating people up all the time when people piss me off." That earned me an interview with the psychologist where I had to explain they were just wishful thinking thoughts, not real intentions. So, just use common sense. Also, there's a ton of repetitive questions, so try not to accidentally mark the wrong bubble about things such as "Do you see imaginary people or animals?"
Nasty Nick: I don't know if anyone got dropped for performing poorly on Nasty Nick, but it reflects badly on you if you fail obstacles. Make sure you are good at climbing ropes before you show up.
Land Nav: The only advanced land nav I ever did was at SOPC before showing up to selection, and I got all 4 points on the first day, so you don't necessarily have to be an expert before showing up. Just be a good learner. The biggest (and saddest) reasons people failed were (a) losing their map, or (b) losing their weapon. I saw some really good candidates dropped from the course because they lost their map. Please, buy a good map case and tie it securely to your body!!! Tie your weapon to your body if necessary. The draw monsters are nasty and they will rip everything out of your pockets. When you realize your map is gone (in the dark), it will be too late. Speaking of the dark, they tell you you need to discover at least 2 points before daylight if you wish to succeed. But that wasn't the case for me. My first point was 12 kilometers. It was ridiculously dark, like walking through a closet with no lights on. Your progress will be very slow, but don't despair, your land nav techniques will get you there. I didn't get to my first point until 7:50 am. I ran for an hour and a half to get my last point on time, but I still got all my points. PACE COUNT!! Most of the guys who had trouble, did not use their pace count. You should NEVER depend on the roads and trails on the map being accurate. You should not count firebreaks. If you use your pace count and azimuth, you will know exactly when you hit your next check point. You won't be wondering if it's the correct road or not. Also, use your compass A LOT at night. I walk straight during the day, but at night it was amazing how I could completely steer off in the wrong direction. I was so sure I was walking straight that I thought my compasses were wrong when I checked them. Trust and use your compasses. Or, if you can see the stars, memorize a few so you can approximately gauge your direction. Use the clearings on the map (such as the bowling alleys). They are accurate and great for verifying your position and handrailing at night. I wouldn't trust the draws much at night, but don't be afraid to bust draws during the day if you can see through them. They can save a lot of time, and you can usually find old paths through them during the day. At night is a different story...
Team Week: It was sad how many guys made it through to team week, performed well on events, but then fell out of transition rucks. The transition rucks were faster than gate week, so... you just need to be good at rucking fast and through sand. There's no secret method. You can't really prepare for the events except to be good at lashing and tying ropes. Most of the time, you won't be in charge of the apparatus design, so you just have to make do with whatever F'd up design your PL comes up with. It's not about coming in first anyway, it's about how you adjust and work as a team. Be a team player. Don't be like one guy on my team who complained constantly about how stupid the design was or how weak people were. Yeah, he was a physical stud, but he got peered out of Selection.

Know how to pack your MOLLE. I moved my pack high up on the frame and packed all the heavy stuff on top. I think that helped a lot *for me*. Everyone's different. However, there is no substitution for time under a ruck. You need to give your body time to adjust to the weight of carrying a ruck sack for long periods and distances. It will also help you with team weak. People talk so much about different work-out routines, but I think the simplest way to get in shape for SFAS is alternate running and rucking in the mornings and safe/moderate (i.e. don't hurt yourself) cross-fit style workouts in the afternoons (for overall muscle training - i.e. beach-body muscles are useless). Change up your running with intervals. Make sure you can ruck a 15 min/mile pace. That's all I would do. If you only lift weights in the gym, you may look sexy in the mirror, but my 36 y/o normal-looking-ass will be passing you on the runs or rucks.

My final point is about boots and blisters. Standard issue boots may be good for some people, but they're terrible for my feet and a lot of other people's feet as well. There's no reason why you should show up with boots that don't work well for your feet. I saw people who's feet were completely destroyed. That makes everything so unnecessarily miserable. There are many options available. I like the Blackhawks. They are built like a running shoe with no break in time, and they're very comfortable. Lots of people I know like them. However, you should get drainage holes installed as someone else mentioned. Otherwise they tend to get heavy when wet. I heard a lot of people like Garmand (sp?) boots. I was a dumbass, and just before Selection I got psyched out and bought OTB boots. I kept hearing about how great they were (so light and they dry so quickly). I was worried about my Blackhawks being so heavy with water. I wore my Blackhawks most of the time, but one day I tried the OTBs and, of course, I got blisters, and they bothered me the rest of Selection. Don't do that. Stick to what you know. As for popping blisters - at first I tried leaving them as the Medics recommended, but it was incredibly painful walking on them. So finally I popped them with an alcohol-sterilized needle, and most of the pain went away in a day.

Oh, one more point - hot weather. I forgot to mention how many people dropped due to heat casualties. Some people simply don't do well in heat, but there are many things you should be doing to avoid heat injury. I sweat more and get more overheated than most people I know. I obviously drank a lot of water as recommended. I drank two Salt Rehydration Packs per day and also added my own sugar-free rehydration flavoring to make it more palatable. Sip your water continuously and drink your rehydration mix gradually but steadily. Too much will make you throw up. I drank a whole pack during an event and the other throughout the day to recover. I could feel the difference it made in my muscle recovery/endurance. Also (this is optional), it was very hot during our team weak so I wore my ACU blouse without my t-shirt. The cadre gave me a weird look about it, but I wasn't penalized and I think it literally saved me from being a heat casualty.

Ok, one more point: Ice!! Ice is freely available. I iced my feet every day, and it made a tremendous difference. I know I'm a little older than other candidates, but my feet were aching every day, and with ice they almost good as new the next day.

Good luck everyone!

10-06-2010, 14:02	#17
amatlis SF Candidate Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Arlington, Virginia Posts: 42	September 2010 Class 10/10 18-xray (National Guard) A lot of good points here, so I'll just focus on where I saw people getting dropped. Day 1: PT Test. Don't come to SFAS if you're just barely passing the PT test. The cadre use a very tough standard and you will have wasted everyone's time. Fast, jerky pushups won't cut it. You need to drop your chest to the ground, keep your eyes looking up, move your whole body up together, and try to extend your arms almost to the point of going up on your fingertips - and it has to be slow enough to easily count. That's the only way to guarantee your pushups are counted. A lot of people got dropped on the PT test. Gate Week: The standards for gate week are not that hard by themselves. The fact that you have to do it all running through sand, up hills, and crossing small rivers, makes it more challenging. I would like to post the time hacks since all the active duty guys had that information before showing up, but I don't want to be accused of G2ing the course. Needless to say, you should be comfortable running up to 6 miles and rucking up 10 miles. I was amazed at how many "pt studs" didn't make one or more of the gates. I can only conclude that some guys were only training for one kind of event. Some guys just couldn't run 6 miles. For SOPC, we never ran distance but we did a lot of interval training and that seemed to help. TABE: Don't fail the TABE test. If you're like me and haven't done basic math problems in >15 years, do yourself a favor and get a TABE study book. The problems are not hard, but if you're out of practice you'll be giving yourself minor aneurysms trying to remember how to do them. Psyche Test: As others have said, just answer the questions truthfully. However, I have one caveat to add - don't overthink the questions like I did. This is not a civilian psyche test to discover all the nuances of your unique personality. This is a test to determine if you fit with SF. If they ask a question like "Do you sometimes feel like violently attacking someone?", they mean "are you really thinking about doing that?" They don't mean it the way I took it like "Yeah, I have imaginary thoughts of beating people up all the time when people piss me off." That earned me an interview with the psychologist where I had to explain they were just wishful thinking thoughts, not real intentions. So, just use common sense. Also, there's a ton of repetitive questions, so try not to accidentally mark the wrong bubble about things such as "Do you see imaginary people or animals?" Nasty Nick: I don't know if anyone got dropped for performing poorly on Nasty Nick, but it reflects badly on you if you fail obstacles. Make sure you are good at climbing ropes before you show up. Land Nav: The only advanced land nav I ever did was at SOPC before showing up to selection, and I got all 4 points on the first day, so you don't necessarily have to be an expert before showing up. Just be a good learner. The biggest (and saddest) reasons people failed were (a) losing their map, or (b) losing their weapon. I saw some really good candidates dropped from the course because they lost their map. Please, buy a good map case and tie it securely to your body!!! Tie your weapon to your body if necessary. The draw monsters are nasty and they will rip everything out of your pockets. When you realize your map is gone (in the dark), it will be too late. Speaking of the dark, they tell you you need to discover at least 2 points before daylight if you wish to succeed. But that wasn't the case for me. My first point was 12 kilometers. It was ridiculously dark, like walking through a closet with no lights on. Your progress will be very slow, but don't despair, your land nav techniques will get you there. I didn't get to my first point until 7:50 am. I ran for an hour and a half to get my last point on time, but I still got all my points. PACE COUNT!! Most of the guys who had trouble, did not use their pace count. You should NEVER depend on the roads and trails on the map being accurate. You should not count firebreaks. If you use your pace count and azimuth, you will know exactly when you hit your next check point. You won't be wondering if it's the correct road or not. Also, use your compass A LOT at night. I walk straight during the day, but at night it was amazing how I could completely steer off in the wrong direction. I was so sure I was walking straight that I thought my compasses were wrong when I checked them. Trust and use your compasses. Or, if you can see the stars, memorize a few so you can approximately gauge your direction. Use the clearings on the map (such as the bowling alleys). They are accurate and great for verifying your position and handrailing at night. I wouldn't trust the draws much at night, but don't be afraid to bust draws during the day if you can see through them. They can save a lot of time, and you can usually find old paths through them during the day. At night is a different story... Team Week: It was sad how many guys made it through to team week, performed well on events, but then fell out of transition rucks. The transition rucks were faster than gate week, so... you just need to be good at rucking fast and through sand. There's no secret method. You can't really prepare for the events except to be good at lashing and tying ropes. Most of the time, you won't be in charge of the apparatus design, so you just have to make do with whatever F'd up design your PL comes up with. It's not about coming in first anyway, it's about how you adjust and work as a team. Be a team player. Don't be like one guy on my team who complained constantly about how stupid the design was or how weak people were. Yeah, he was a physical stud, but he got peered out of Selection. Know how to pack your MOLLE. I moved my pack high up on the frame and packed all the heavy stuff on top. I think that helped a lot for me. Everyone's different. However, there is no substitution for time under a ruck. You need to give your body time to adjust to the weight of carrying a ruck sack for long periods and distances. It will also help you with team weak. People talk so much about different work-out routines, but I think the simplest way to get in shape for SFAS is alternate running and rucking in the mornings and safe/moderate (i.e. don't hurt yourself) cross-fit style workouts in the afternoons (for overall muscle training - i.e. beach-body muscles are useless). Change up your running with intervals. Make sure you can ruck a 15 min/mile pace. That's all I would do. If you only lift weights in the gym, you may look sexy in the mirror, but my 36 y/o normal-looking-ass will be passing you on the runs or rucks. My final point is about boots and blisters. Standard issue boots may be good for some people, but they're terrible for my feet and a lot of other people's feet as well. There's no reason why you should show up with boots that don't work well for your feet. I saw people who's feet were completely destroyed. That makes everything so unnecessarily miserable. There are many options available. I like the Blackhawks. They are built like a running shoe with no break in time, and they're very comfortable. Lots of people I know like them. However, you should get drainage holes installed as someone else mentioned. Otherwise they tend to get heavy when wet. I heard a lot of people like Garmand (sp?) boots. I was a dumbass, and just before Selection I got psyched out and bought OTB boots. I kept hearing about how great they were (so light and they dry so quickly). I was worried about my Blackhawks being so heavy with water. I wore my Blackhawks most of the time, but one day I tried the OTBs and, of course, I got blisters, and they bothered me the rest of Selection. Don't do that. Stick to what you know. As for popping blisters - at first I tried leaving them as the Medics recommended, but it was incredibly painful walking on them. So finally I popped them with an alcohol-sterilized needle, and most of the pain went away in a day. Oh, one more point - hot weather. I forgot to mention how many people dropped due to heat casualties. Some people simply don't do well in heat, but there are many things you should be doing to avoid heat injury. I sweat more and get more overheated than most people I know. I obviously drank a lot of water as recommended. I drank two Salt Rehydration Packs per day and also added my own sugar-free rehydration flavoring to make it more palatable. Sip your water continuously and drink your rehydration mix gradually but steadily. Too much will make you throw up. I drank a whole pack during an event and the other throughout the day to recover. I could feel the difference it made in my muscle recovery/endurance. Also (this is optional), it was very hot during our team weak so I wore my ACU blouse without my t-shirt. The cadre gave me a weird look about it, but I wasn't penalized and I think it literally saved me from being a heat casualty. Ok, one more point: Ice!! Ice is freely available. I iced my feet every day, and it made a tremendous difference. I know I'm a little older than other candidates, but my feet were aching every day, and with ice they almost good as new the next day. Good luck everyone!
amatlis is offline