The #Epicenter was prepared by torrential rains and useless sprinklers as 26 PAX crawled out of the #Fartsack to become legends in Juggernaut’s VQ. #Mumblechatter was present early, but the ever increasing presence of pain laid it to rest early.
Juggernaut and Nipples showed up early to prepare the battlefield and do a little pre-workout workout: Fran 21-15-9 thrusters (with block) and pull-ups. This made the ensuing #BeatDown rough on the shoulders. YHC had smoked shoulders by about the third burpee of the first round.
Disclaimer
CoP
Juggernaut got everyone’s joints loosened up and lubricated with some range of motion drills and then turned things over to Pacer to warm everyone up.
- SSH IC x 20
- Freddie Mercury IC x 20
- Sidewalk Merkins x 10 OYO
- Flutter Kicks IC x 20
- PAX mosey over and retrieve a coupon (cement block) and gather on the soccer field.
The Thang
Today, we honored the men who lost their lives during Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005, in the mountains of Afghanistan. PAX split into 4-man recon teams for the workout. The motto is “No Man Left Behind.”
The rep scheme was designed to honor the men who paid the ultimate price in an effort to help their teammates. The mission always comes first. No man is left behind. No matter how hard life gets until the very end, until the nth hour, quitting is not an option because you are never out of the fight. Rest easy brothers.
4 Rounds:
- 8 burpees (no block)
- 3 manmakers (with block
- 8 Merkins on the block
- 3 manmakers
- 400m run with coupon (4 man teams can split carrying the coupon, but must all stay together at all times)
- Plank on the block after each round until the last recon team is finished running
The 4 rounds represents the four-man recon team sent to the mountain during the op.
Eight burpees represents the Navy SEALs killed in a helicopter crash trying to save the recon team
Three manamkers represents the three Navy SEALs killed on the mountain
Eight merkins represents the men from 160th Army SOAR who joined in the rescue mission without hesitation and were killed in the helicopter crash
THEN:
- Five minutes of misery. Five minutes of work. One man works at a time and goes max effort before turning over to the next teammate. This continues for the full five minutes.
- Block 1 – Burpees
- Block 2 – Thrusters with block (front squat with a push press at the top)
- 10 team merkins in square shape with legs on the back of a teammate
- Mosey to return coupons and circle up around the flag for 20 LBCs
CoT
Count-o-rama
Name-o-rama
Moleskin
YHC thanked everyone for all the calls, messages, texts, emails, etc. from everyone over the last week since my oldest boy has been in the hospital. YHC was desperately needing a spiritual connection to other men and I am thankful that F3 was available to provide that connection.
YHC read aloud Philippians 2:1-6 and talked about Christ’s example of a goof teammate. All PAX followed that example Saturday, helping each other, encouraging each other and not leaving anyone behind. This applies to more than a workout, as Meatloaf reminded us all last week. We have to watch each other’s six every moment of every day.
Coach K said he was thankful for hearing the Word in the Circle of Trust. He came prepared with a New Testament protected by a ziplock bag to feed the spirit of the PAX in case YHC dropped the ball and forgot about the devotion. Well done, friend.
Fabio’s youth group is on the move again, this time for a church camp. If the youth group keeps up the current pace, Fabio can get his workouts in chasing teenagers!
A bunch of PAX are heading out on vacation this week. Traveling mercies for all.
Coffeeteria was held at Bojangles. Apparently, Howard thinks a holiday is sufficient reason to close his restaurant.
Mayhem journeyed back to his hometown for some Second F time with the brothers from his favorite AO (and his family). Mayhem’s mom was kind enough to snap a pic of the smoked PAX (and Mayhem) around the shovel flag.
Great job by all PAX focusing on the team! Happy 4th, everyone!
Here is a brief history of Operation Red Wings from the Naval Special Warfare Center:
On June 28, 2005, deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, a very committed four-man Navy SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the unforgiving altitude of approximately 10,000 feet. The SEALs, Lt. Michael Murphy, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz, Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell had a vital task. The four SEALs were scouting Ahmad Shah – a terrorist in his mid-30s who grew up in the adjacent mountains just to the south.
Under the assumed name Muhammad Ismail, Shah led a guerrilla group known to locals as the “Mountain Tigers” that had aligned with the Taliban and other militant groups close to the Pakistani border. The SEAL mission was compromised when the team was spotted by local nationals, who presumably reported its presence and location to the Taliban.
A fierce firefight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of more than 200 anti-coalition militia. The enemy had the SEALs outnumbered. They also had terrain advantage. They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs. The firefight continued relentlessly as the overwhelming militia forced the team deeper into a ravine.
Trying to reach safety, the four men, now each wounded, began bounding down the mountain’s steep sides, making leaps of 20 to 30 feet. Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, pinned down by overwhelming forces, Dietz, the communications petty officer, sought open air to place a distress call back to the base. But before he could, he was shot in the hand, the blast shattering his thumb.
Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates. Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men.
Moving away from the protective mountain rocks, he knowingly exposed himself to increased enemy gunfire. This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy. While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force at Bagram Air Base and requested assistance. He calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force while requesting immediate support for his team. At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in. Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle.
An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs. The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters. Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert.
The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort. They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night. Risk would, of course, be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone. But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, the rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain.
As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard.
On the ground and nearly out of ammunition, the four SEALs, Murphy, Luttrell, Dietz and Axelson, continued the fight. By the end of the two-hour gunfight that careened through the hills and over cliffs, Murphy, Axelson and Dietz had been killed. An estimated 35 Taliban were also dead.
The fourth SEAL, Luttrell, was blasted over a ridge by a rocket propelled grenade and was knocked unconscious. Regaining consciousness some time later, Luttrell managed to escape – badly injured – and slowly crawl away down the side of a cliff. Dehydrated, with a bullet wound to one leg, shrapnel embedded in both legs, three vertebrae cracked; the situation for Luttrell was grim. Rescue helicopters were sent in, but he was too weak and injured to make contact. Traveling seven miles on foot he evaded the enemy for nearly a day. Gratefully, local nationals came to his aid, carrying him to a nearby village where they kept him for three days. The Taliban came to the village several times demanding that Luttrell be turned over to them. The villagers refused. One of the villagers made his way to a Marine outpost with a note from Luttrell, and U.S. forces launched a massive operation that rescued him from enemy territory on July 2.
By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit and inspirational devotion to his men in the face of certain death, Lt. Murphy was able to relay the position of his unit, an act that ultimately led to the rescue of Luttrell and the recovery of the remains of the three who were killed in the battle.
This was the worst single-day U.S. Forces death toll since Operation Enduring Freedom began nearly six years ago. It was the single largest loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since World War II.
The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community will forever remember June 28, 2005 and the heroic efforts and sacrifices of our special operators. We hold with reverence the ultimate sacrifice that they made while engaged in that fierce fire fight on the front lines of the global war on terrorism (GWOT).
KILLED IN ACTION:
Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y.
Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif.
Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.
Senior Chief Information Systems Technician (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H.
Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo.
Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La.
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego, Calif.
Electronics Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore.
Lt. (SEAL) Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W.Va.
Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio.
Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn.
Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla.
Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind.
Maj. Stephen C. Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va.
Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla.
Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III, 36, of Franklin, Tenn.
-NSW-