Training for the Warrior Athlete
OPERATION: “RAZOR’S EDGE”
Situation:
Beginning in early 2008, with the help of the US Special Forces, the Colombian military targeted one of the regions most notorious Marxist guerrilla groups. This included a series of blows that left them leaderless and weakened due to political and military pressures, including an infiltration by commandos into their leadership structure which led to the freeing of 15 hostages.
Starting early this year, intelligence sources have reported that the guerrillas, in an effort to regain their strength, have increased their role in drug trafficking and have begun an aggressive campaign of kidnappings that include high level officials.
Approximately 1 week ago, four US officials were reported to have been stopped at gunpoint in Bogota by “men in uniform” and loaded into the back of a van. Witnesses said that the uniforms did not look like the Colombian military. No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping until today.
Approximately 2 hours ago a letter arrived at the US embassy that stated that the guerrilla group was holding the officials and demanded a ransom of $2 Million a head. The letter stated that if the money was not delivered within 12 hours they would all be killed.
A trusted source has reported that the location of the hostages is at a small airfield within the jungle. The airfield is known for being a launching site for drugs. The source states that the Americans are inside a plane that is ready to take flight at the slightest sign of alarm.
Objective:
At nightfall, insert two light and fast 6-man assault teams to approach the airfield from the North and South. Move quickly to within visual distance of where the plane is suspected to be located. Coordinate reconnaissance of the plane and the airfield to determine the best plan for an assault and rescue.
After collecting enough information to ensure a safe rescue is possible, execute a two pronged assault.
Fire Team Alpha will hit the security forces positioned in nearby huts.
Fire Team Bravo will assault the aircraft security and disable the landing gear of the plane before boarding and freeing the hostages.
Both Fire Teams will escort the hostages to a safe location and call for Close Air Support, if needed, and extract helicopter.
Insertion:
Farm trucks will bring both fire teams to within about 5 miles of airfield.
Fire Team Alpha will approach from the South.
Fire Team Bravo will approach from the North.
Terrain is rough from both directions, although there are some trails that can be used. As Fire Teams approach the Airfield, the strategy for movement should be to move quickly for a short distance and then stop to assess situation.
Actions at the Objective:
Set up recon positions and observe all personnel movement and locations of and distances between targets.
Be prepared to move out after only a few minutes, or to wait for hours if necessary.
Use surprise and violence of action to assault the targets.
Fire Team Alpha – Hit the security forces structures hard with heavy fire and fragmentation devices. Move quickly from one to the other. Ensure all threats are eliminated by clearing each structure after assault.
Fire Team Bravo – Eliminate security personnel on the ground and gain access to the aircraft cabin. Eliminate any threats in the cabin and await confirmation from Alpha to escort hostages to safe location.
Extraction:
Escort hostages to safe location for helo pick up. Expect that additional guerrilla forces were alerted to the rescue and are on their way.
Call for Close Air Support as needed.
— FMP WORKOUT —
Insertion:
Run 3 miles with 25-35lbs assault pack or weight vest.
8 rounds of:
Actions at the Objective:
Rest for the recon for exactly 10 minutes. No more – No less.
Alpha –
4 Rounds of:
4 Rounds of:
Bravo –
4 Rounds of:
Extraction:
2 Mile Run with 35 – 50lbs sandbag. Carry on alternating shoulders as desired.
Notes:
Either do the Alpha or Bravo AAO – not both.
It is only through lightning speed and razor sharp accuracy that this mission will be successful.
When you think you need a break, think of the hostages in the plane – tied up and blindfolded. You probably don’t need to rest that bad.
Use the recon time to rehydrate and prepare the body for the assault.
Mission is Fictitious.
- Warning -
This free workout is for elite athletes.
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Coach, seeing as this all takes place in my new country, I figure I’ve got no choice but to proceed with the mission. Quick question – are we supposed to do both Alpha and Bravo or just one? I figured you couldn’t be in two places at once, but you never know – CrossFitters can do some incredible things!
Great question GMT. Pick one and do it. Or if you do it at your gym IN BOGOTA, have one fire team do Alpha and one do Bravo. You’ve got some pipe hitters down there, don’t you?
Coach,
I wish I was doing this workout in colombia but instead I got to do it in the snow and ice. I couldn’t find a sandbag for the extraction and all I could find for weight was some shotgun buck shot. anyway my pack ended up being 48lbs and I used if for insertion and extraction. My insertion took me just under 30 min. I started off a little fast my first mile was about 9 then slowed down to 10 min miles. I did this workout on the track so there was no pullup bar around so I did Alpha. I finished the workout at about an hour and 12 min and the extraction took me 21 min. So I finished the entire workout an hour and 33 min. That hurt. By the end of the extraction my legs were gone. Good workout coach.
coach,
this was a good leg workout i ran on the river trail and then went to the “y” to do bravo couldnt time myself but it took a while to finish. i didnt have time to workout, run, or swim this week so i will stay on phase 2 untill you come down to redding next month
Had a great FMP with about 10 of my Pre-SOF guys today. They did a great job of pushing through the hard spots and of course they had me to deal with too.
Fastest time was 1:22:39. Good job Junkyard.
Personally I froze my butt off. Portland is TOO COLD!
Maybe you should try doing this workout in Wisconsin…negative twenty with the windchill yesterday.
Me and degan did this work out. my time was 56:27 degans was 58:35.
On my burpees i didnt lift my arms up when i jumped. didnt think it was that big of a deal degan called u just to check.
thanks for the long run it was good my time was faster cuz i ran little faster and the new guy showed up right at the end of our frist 3 mile run. he joined it so there were 3 of us doing this FMP all at once.
The intel was a little off, but the mission was a success. The intel didn’t indicate that the “jungle airfield” was located near Bogota, meaning the operation was to be executed at an altitude of between 8600-8800′ above sea level. But mission accomplished:
1) the trucks were driven by locals who were scared and dropped off 1.2k from the initial insertion point. Rucksack humped it to the original coordinates with 46# of gear (26# vest and 20# ruck) – 13:11 min before mission clock started
2) commenced with 5K rucksack run (5K instead of 3 miles because some terrain features required a workaround) – 30:04
3) Dropped the ruck, but kept the vest on through the 8 rounds of 400m/20 squats. – 48:42
4) 10 minutes pause in activities – 58:42
5) AAO – Initiated Alpha (I do PUs and KB swings too often, though Clapping Burpees and Tuck Jumps offered a good change) with weight vest – 14:35
6) Extraction – again intel was off so stuffed weight vest into the ruck and took a shortcut that totalled 1.6k – 13:13
Total mission time – 1:26:32 (including 10 min rest)
My iPod helped out – Welcome to the Jungle came on 1 min before starting AAO Alpha, and Kryptonite came on in the last 400m during Extraction which gave me a burst of energy to finish hard. That was a real ass kicker!
Unfortunately, time is limited for my workouts, and I don’t get to do my puppy carry with 8 inches of snow on the road. But, I am able to keep up with a 30 minute run about 5 to 6 days a week, and at least a general workout, with emphasis on arms.