My friend Travis completed the grueling Grand to Grand Ultra Stage Race in 38th place! This 170 mile foot race takes place over seven days and is America’s only self-supported race meaning Travis had to carry all of his food, clothing and sleeping equipment the entire way.
So proud of you!
I received a mystery package today from ITS Tactical. It contained a patch with a Hook and the letters, “HLS”.
Fortunately, the package also contained a wax sealed letter written on parchment from Bryan Black himself, inviting me to join the Hook and Loop Society.
Promising “a community dedicated to the quality and design of morale patches” I’ve got to say, he’s got my attention.
Here at the International Training Center we prepare foreign military personnel to attend follow on training in many U.S. military schools. We run prep classes for many different schools. Everything from Aviation to BUDS, EOD, dive school, Marine TBS, and lots of different technical schools. As you could guess the physical training we do varies widely, depending on what the follow on school is. However, the biggest hurdle we face with preparing these people isn’t running or pull-ups, it’s getting their heads in the game.
If you’ve never trained any international military people, let me sum it all up for you in a simple sentence; They’re not in the American military. This doesn’t mean they aren’t smart and/or courageous. Nor does it mean they are all overweight and out of shape. I’ve known (a few) that were some very tough bastards, who could out fight, and PT the average U.S. military member into the ground. What I’m talking about here is getting the majority of them to understand why we (as the American military), think that being overweight and out of shape is a bad thing.
For us it’s simple to understand; A high level of physical fitness is absolutely required to prepare our people for combat, and a trim physically fit leader sets the right example to his people. Trying to explain this obvious concept to some other militaries can be unbelievably frustrating sometimes. Some get it, many don’t. I recently had a Lt. (I won’t mention his country) tell me that he wasn’t worried that he couldn’t do a single pull-up, because he would soon be promoted to Capt, and nobody expects a Capt to PT? Really? I asked him wouldn’t you feel like a wimp that you can’t do a pull-up, ESPECIALLY as a officer? He looked at me like I was crazy?
I bring this all up to illustrate a simple point. Without any shame in the game it’s hard to motivate people to get in shape. The same thing goes for the civilian world. As our country has become more overweight and sickly (check the growing rates of diabetes, and obesity), there is also a new requirement to be more politically correct and nice about how we speak about this. When I came in the Marine Corps in 1981, overweight people were referred to by everyone as: “Fat Bodies”. I guess that was insulting, and frankly meant to be so to get people off their ass, and get in shape. Try calling somebody that today and watch what happens?
Of course it’s not because they eat fast food like they’re possessed, and shine a chair with their butt 24/7 playing video games. It’s due to stress, hormones, gluten, carbs, or maybe even a bad childhood? Give me a break please, I know better. People need to wake up, as we are headed for a crisis in this county, both physically and financially with the worsening health of our population (note the chart below). However we’re supposed to all feel better about being overweight and just accept it. Otherwise your being a judgmental dick? Well I for one think a little shame could go a long way. Just the Master Gunny in me I guess, but to me a fat body is still a fat body, and if you can’t do a single pull-up, you shouldn’t be in a leadership position. Sorry.
Be safe always, good when you can.
Semper Fi
MGunz
www.CorpsStrength.com
I get people asking me all the time why do I prefer BCM carbines over others I have used or been affiliated with in the past. The answer is simple; mindset. I have found that Paul Buffoni the owner and founder of BCM has the exact same mindset as I do- period. He gets the job done and makes sure that BCM products can be counted upon when you need them the most. There are numerous examples of Paul taking a financial loss when the easy way out would have been selling a substandard product vs. scraping it.
Two examples immediately come to mind – BCM’s first barrels were not to specification, Paul Buffoni discovered this after he had them independently tested, and he trashed them – thousands of dollars worth of barrels – vs selling them anyway. Despite the fact they would have sufficed for 99% of the market he refused to compromise. This put BCM behind the power curve financially for better part of a year and pushed back BCM barreled uppers for even longer.
In addition Paul Buffoni is very pro military and spent time in the Marine Corps which had a dramatic impact on his frame of mind thereafter. This is the core reason why he won’t cut corners and only put the BCM name on products that he would trust his life to – after all, if he wouldn’t count on it, why should you ?
That’s why I’m with BCM – mindset. Plain and simple.
-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV
Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical is a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor.Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.
Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.
Chris Costa shared some photos of the bag he uses for times he finds himself more than an hour away from home, as well as its contents.
The bag itself is a Costa Ludus x MAP System by London Bridge Trading. The equipment come from the following sources:
Carbine – War Sport Industries, LLC
Pistol – Salient Arms International
Lights – SureFire, LLC
Holster – Raven Concealment Systems
IFAK – Dark Angel Medical, LLC
Survival Kit – Solkoa
Light Accessory Loop – Thyrm
TNVC, Inc
As you may recall, Massif was recently purchased. I have heard they are in the process of preparing some new products. They’ve also placed several items (both FR and non-FR) on clearance at really great prices.
Check out the lasted issue of “NSSC This Week“. It covers SMA Raymond Chandler’s recent visit to Natick Soldier Systems Center.
This US Army photo is of Polish SOF during a recent trip to Ft Bragg to train with 3rd SFG(A). You can see their A-TACS FG clothing and equipment.
