An 'Oldie But Goodie'....from 2014

 

Adversity in Training...

KNOW THIS:  OPFOR will not have any mercy on you because you’re ‘just a regular guy’.  They have a thing for ‘regular guys’, though, because they don’t fight back.  Lately, one faction of OPFOR, ISIS, has a penchant for cutting heads off of journalists with a 6 inch blade dagger.  You know….sawing through?  With the pain of a knife that allows the victim to scream until the vocal chords are cut.  Sawing through the neck tendons, arteries, esophagus, and spinal cord, with the victim able to feel  everything until losing consciousness.   Don’t make the mistake of thinking the other factions of OPFOR won’t do things similar or worse.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking the things happening into the Middle East can’t happen here. [Added:  Don't think BLM and/or ANTIFA, when they're let off leash again, can't or won't do this either.]

Your best option is to get into the best shape you can get into, without excuse, and within your physical limitations, and take the hardest training you can.  It's out there.  [Added: Here, JC Dodge, and others, like Joe Dolio over at Tactical Wisdom.  Training is available.  And yes, you'll have to pay FRN's for it.]

And when you attend your training, embrace the physical discomfort willingly.  Mind over matter.  Make your body understand your mind doesn’t matter, and that you won’t quit.  The instructors can throw you out, they can use your lifeless body for a floor mat, but you won’t quit.  Mindset, it’s what gets you through the hard times.  And hard times are coming.  But you know this.  

So why do people want the ‘marshmallow ride’ and expect to come out of it actually being able to bring fear and death to an enemy in a SHTF situation?

It’s not a realistic expectation.  There’s only one way to do it right, and that’s through as much adversity (read, ‘physical discomfort’) that you can take (and only you can determine where your limitations are, and then how/when you can push through them), whatever level that may be, every single time you train, until you know what you need to know and can do what you need to do.  And then, you need to keep at it, to maintain the level of ‘hard core’ you’ve achieved.  It’s perishable.  Believe me.

Honesty, both personal and interpersonal comes in here.  Not everyone can do the physical things required of a roving NPT patrol; not everyone can shoot at the level one needs to attain practical accuracy, and not everyone has the resolve to do what a NPT might be required to do in the field when engaged by bad people.

During the training phase of the conflict, ie, ‘now’, you, dear reader, need to be brutally honest with yourself (a type of adversity in and of itself for some) and then with your NPT.  If you can’t hack it, say so, and do something to support those who can.  Be the supply guy/gal.  Be the admin.  Be the static location medic.  Be the cook.  Be the communications guru.  Be the intel guy/gal (but learn how properly from someone like Culper.

Adversity brings out the best/worst of the individual’s inherent traits

Adversity forges camaraderie among participants

UW training takes longer, requires more capability from the student to think independently and be part of a team at the same time.