Is the WOD always on a 3 on, 1 off routine, or does it ever shift to a 5 on, 2 off routine? If I'm just starting out and scaling workouts to what I'm capable of (I'm not TOO sore or overly fatigued) is it ok to be doing the 5 on, 2 off or is it better for my body to do the 3 on, 1 off? Thanks for any advice!

It is always a 3 on 1 off program.

I know I keep asking but I want to see if anyone reading the message board is located in the Harrisburg PA area. I have been doing crossfit for some time now but it would be great getting something started with others. I also listed something on PennLive about but got no response.

Hit up my email, thanks, John HM3 USNR.

Wow, great interview! There is so much being offered here at this site. It's amazing.
How much? Apollo articulates it very well. Watch the video!

Interesting article, The Laptop is mightier than the sword. I'm pretty sure I served with Owen West when I was in the Marines. I believe Owen wrote the book Sharkman 5 which is a fictional book about Recon Marines. Owen was also heavily into Ecochallenge and was the leader of a group of Playmates that did Eco.

Adam Davila
SGT/USMC 89-97
1st Recon Co.

Tony, Freddy,

Thanks very much for pulling that off.

Even though I was half expecting it, still a surprise to see yourself on the web.

If I could have added one thing, it would have been that the day we marked Josh Hager's death was a crystallizing experience for me, one that I draw on daily, reminding myself of how lucky I am to be back, resolving not to take it for granted, focusing my determination to make the most of each day. It is the least I can do to honor those who went before, who have given us a unique opportunity to make a life as we see fit, to literally dream up and live a life, far beyond the restrictions of just "staying alive" which most of humanity still faces today.

Each deployment I have enjoyed an 'obsession' with something (although fitness was a constant for each one) - learning investing, teaching a martial arts class on another, writing, making videos for my kid, there's always something that I've given the 'down time' to. There were all the long days, but plenty of "hurry up and wait" mixed in, that's how deployments go. This one I obviously was able to obsess on Crossfit, reading many articles, doing WODs without fail, planning to attend the Vancouver cert.

It was an amazing stroke of fortune or favor to find this combination of mental and physical stimulation. I'm still amazed at the group of people Coach collected, and delighted with how that shapes the Crossfit Community.

Off to read the article.

Tony, it was a real treat to meet you, and thanks again for editing out all the "stupids!"

Paul

Glad you're back Paul!

Great to put a face with the name, Paul. Thanks for your service to our great Nation.

Appoloswabbie is as articulate on video as he is in person and in writing. As a fellow Naval Officer, it was a pleasure to meet you in person at the Cert, and I look forward to reading your comments in the future.

All the best down south,

Cheers, Nick

Is there a site like this for a cardio schedule?

Good words from Apolloswabbie. I started at the exact same time while serving in Northern Iraq as an Air Force liaison officer to the Army staff. That's exactly how I remember that Filthy Fifty, 3 Bars o' Death, and maybe more importantly, the potent draw to the CF concept and its community. Thanks for the video. It is a great representation of my first six months with CF. I'm moving back to the CONUS in a month and this just makes me want to run a marathon straight to the closest cert.

My experience in Iraq supports the West's findings. It is easy to identify these issues. It is even easy to explain the environment and processes that make these good ideas seemingly impossible to initiate. How do we as Americans get behind these viable solutions and assure that they can't be ignored by the leadership? I'm just crazy enough to believe that this forum may provide such momentum. With so many servicemembers united on these ideas, surely we can be heard. I am writing my post-deployment After Action Report and I am going to include the handheld ID/tracking devices to my top recommendations.

I prefer the use of a B-52.

WFS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1cWny3uVQ

No but seriously, something needs to be done. We can't even agree in this country on what to do with illegal people here, I can't put my faith in our legislature to help figure out a way to stop transient wackos in a place on the other side of the world. We need more grassroots pressure for these things.

Good interview Apolloswabbie, glad to have you back.

hey swatman, does this mean i can get that laptop tattoo?

That was a great video! It is so interesting to see a face from the posts. Thankyou!

Apollo, It was a blast to interview you and a true honor to meet you... Lok forward to drinking a ber with you somewhere down the line!

lok... look..... ber.... beer..... whatever! Now I know to use the preview button...

Apolloswabbie, great talk. It is good to hear someone talk about CrossFit's benefits outside of the physical. I totally agree, reading the posts gets me pumped up and inspired too.

I'll read the article tomorrow, good night all!

Paul,

A compelling interview. Always the right words.

Thanks!

Jessica #9

This is a “cardio” site!......it also happens to be a muscular strength site....a muscular endurance site....balance….agility....power....speed…etc.

You will develop better cardiovascular conditioning across a multitude of movement patterns doing CrossFit compared to anything else. There is lots of information here for you learn this fact. Check out the two free articles (CrossFit Foundations and the Free Journal "What is Fitness").

Basically recovery from intense bouts of exercise will improve your cardio (heart stroke volume is higher during recovery from intense interval work than steady state cardio). Also the term cardio is misleading. You need good capillarization into a muscle to accept a large blood supply.,...that is why even elite runners can't cycle that well and vice versa. So I would have to ask you back, “cardio” doing what? CrossFit athletes have pretty good cardio doing pretty much any movement pattern. They are not specialists.

I assume your question is .

Apollo,

Hats off. True officer of the navy fashion. Very impressed.

Good article...I'm just amazed the NYT printed it.

They have a pretty good website: http://www.westwrite.com/

Was out of town this past weekend, so I did Sunday's workout today...after I did a 4 mile run about 2 hours earlier.

S

An interesting article by Mr. Owen which confirms the misinformation our troops have in the field. I am currently serving in Iraq on my second tour and undoubtedly have reviewed some of the case files of detainees who were detaineed during his time. Having worked at all levels in the field of the issue it is clear we detain far more people without a shred of evidence than guilty ones who are let go. The far greater issue is our manufacturing of insurgents by placing non-insurgents in the large cattle pens full of Al- Quaeda and insurgent groups and leaving them there to learn a trade to get revenge for their meritless detention. If they weren't an insurgent before chances are we are making them one.

Tim,

I think you're missing the point. If we had a way to identify WHO the insurgents were then ground commanders wouldn't be forced to detain so many innocent civilians (although I use the term innocent loosely). I'm sure you wouldn't argue the fact that the war is much more a policing problem than an outright fight. We DO need methods and tools to improve our ability to find and convict the guilty. The fact that we are aggrevating the situation by "catching and releasing" so many is simply a supporting factor to the arguement, as the article mentions. We must find better means to catch the real bad guys. That is the point.

unless I'm misunderstanding your meaning of "confirms the misinformation our troops have in the field"

going to bed...catch you tomorrow.

Ran rifle range road @6k in Red flag conditions 31:45

Great video!

Glad you made it home safe

Paul,

Great interview! Makes me proud to be an American, hearing and seeing you "live".

This really put a "human" touch to CrossFit, especially after reading all the posts.

Thank you for your service to our Country. And thank you Tony B. for filming the segment.

Seriously, any Crossfitters in the military are entitled one free beer from me if yall are anywhere near Chicago.

Thanks Paul, and those like him, for what yall do, and how you do it.

ah, rifle range road... good times at dli. now i am just crossfitting in mosul. got a kick out of seeing little post its on the wall in the corner of the gym in mosul with wods scribbled, nice to see that i am not as alone as i thought i was.

No run yesterday due to extreme weather.
So, this morning I attempted a terrible Barbara.
Could only get 2 rounds done, then collapse on the basement floor...mornings aren't exactly working for me. I think I'll switch back to night workouts.

Sad. Just sad. Some of the best trained and equipped military units are sent to a third-world country and it results in them being treated like a third-world country military. The politicians are looking for a leg up to get all the votes they can any way they can, and the troops get the shaft.

Kudos to the men and women in the AOR who are doing the best they can with what they have.

What an articulate and poignant interview. I am consistantly impressed with the intellectual superiority associated with this community. In the last three months I have gained an almost rabid excitement for the athleticism that has returned to my life. I had spent much of my life in the gym (from 15-now 24) and was continually going downhill since my first year in college. I was getting a little slower, getting a little softer. About a year ago I adjusted my diet and that helped a bit with how soft I was but my workouts were not giving me what I really hoped I would attain. Well, in three months I have noticed immediate improvement in my vertical leap inspiring me to reach the goal of dunking a basketball I have always wanted to do. Last friday I ran my first road race, a two-miler with the two fastest miles I've ever ran finishing in 12 minutes (previous fast mile was 6:30 in college and shattered me for two days). It was always a goal for me to become a triathlete (will be competing in my first race next month, i'll report my finish) and finish an ironman. Well based on the improvements I've made thus far and my ever-growing understanding of the human body and its responses to physical stimuli I plan on helping coach revolutionize the training theory for long-distance events. I'm not sure if i'll be able but I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

Thank you coach/community
Cheers,
Duvall

Well done Crossfit. I've been trying to convert my 2 sons to Crossfit for a couple of years but they won't give up their "pacifier" workouts. The oldest is also a Naval Aviator assigned to VFA-2. Maybe this shining example of his brother-in-arms will show him the light. OUTSTANDING!

Paul Stewart #1

About 6 weeks ago, due to back problems and time constraints, I started doing a 3 on 1 off 2 on 1 off routine. My routine goes like this
Monday - Endurance WOD
Tuesday - Strength WOD (usually back squats,
front squats or overhead
squats
Wednesday - Endurance WOD
Thursday - off
Friday - Strength WOD (Either Bench or military press and either a Deadlift, Power Clean or Squat Clean or Snatch. OR sometimes I will do C&J or a Push Presses.)
Saturday - Endurance WOD
Sunday - Off

Since doing this I have been able to set new PRs on most of the Endurance WOD.

Thanks, Paul! Good to put face with name. That was a good interview, especially at the end of the seminar, when most are pretty spent. I sent you an email.

I'll comment on the story when I have more time. Seems to make a lot of sense, though it is funny that was in the New York Times. I guess they felt it was OK because it asked for something other than what was happening currently. All content is acceptable, provided it puts Bush in a negative light. However, if they aren't careful, they might actually open us up to war-winning ideas.

Just returned from 10k I missed yesterday, and dreading todays WOD...was beauty to my eyes

Rest Day!

43 yom/160

48:58 (true 6.2)

Tim #21, right on! Check out Joe Sacco's Palestine for a graphic representation of the way Israeli prison's served as training camps for Palestinian freedom fighters.

And Wilson 22, contrary to what you say, the article calls for building new prisons, to lock up more people, not simply for winnowing out the "bad guys" more effectively. The article claims that it's too easy to wriggle out of the prison system, but the system they describe seems to be one where you can rot in the jail for 6 months without a chance to present the case for your innocence-- this kind of repression breeds stronger resistance.

Also, when you say you use the term innocent "loosely", are you suggesting that all Iraqis are guilty and can justifiably be locked up?

Anyone else have a perspective on the article's claim that a 1968 census crippled the guerrilla's capabilities? I haven't studied the history, but the mere fact that we pulled out would seem to suggest that the resistance was still going pretty strong 7 years later.

The scariest part is that this "more cages, more spying" approach is bound to be applied at home-- anyone else apply for their new trackable passport yet? Check out Christian Parenti's "Soft Cell" and Derrick Jensen's "Welcome to the Machine: Science, Surveillance, and the Culture of Control" for a preview of what's in store in our own country.

How good is this? I wake up wondering if I'll get to chat with Apolloswabbie on Rest Day and what do I get? APPOLLOSWABBIE! Many thanks to all of the powers that be here at CF for this little mid-week gift.

It's nice to meet you, Paul.

Awesome interview! Paul thanks for your service and thanks to all who serve our country!

SteveM--

>Anyone else have a perspective on the
>article's claim that a 1968 census crippled
>the guerrilla's capabilities?

I can't speak intelligently on Vietnam, but the census effort in Iraq is the most important part of our successful attempts and counter-insurgency. Commanders on the ground spend 90% of their effort in sector trying to figure out who the bad guys are and what the bad guys are trying to do. Determining the answers to those questions let a commander conduct a successful campaign in his sector; without knowing those answers, his options reduce to waiting to get shot at and then blindly detaining everyone involved.

Short of sitting in on the bad guy meetings, the best option for a commander to figure out what's going on is to maintain detailed historical records, to include databases of hostile, friendly, and neutral personnel. I've served in OIF for a total of twenty-seven months. Between my tours, I've seen the "databases" units maintain evolve from stacks of xeroxed paper to linear powerpoint files without indices to incompatible MS Access databases held at the company or batallion level. It's literally a life or death issue, both in terms of first order effects (killing or capturing the bad guys before they kill us or the civilians they target) and second order effects (making new bad guys when innocent people go to jail)--and so it's nothing short of ridiculous that after all this time, nothing as sophisticated as hotornot.com or ebay is available to our troops.

Widely fielded and compatilble solutions for sharing intelligence and targeting data are rare within brigades, much less between services. Units make the mission happen by developing ad hoc tools in the absence of a theater-wide solution--as the article points out, those solutions are rarely handed off, and even if they are, they're unlikely to be compatible with the follow-on solution.

It's also worth remembering that the people developing these systems are trained in killing people for a living, not database theory--the guys who run slashdot could put something superior together in ninety days.

excuse me--

>successful attempts _AT_ counter-insurgency.

This is a pretty good article about the biometric/fingerprint reader things mentioned if anybody is curious, good story of how the guy took charge and got things done even though the dod wasn't being helpful.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110009638

This really irks me that the administration keeps going with their, 'authorize this spending bill or the troops won't get money and supplies and they will all die and it will be your fault' rhetoric to congress, and yet when it comes down to getting equipment that would be really useful it's one failure after another.

#9 Jessica. You're missing the whole point of Crossfit.

Favorite line from the interview, "The trainers are demanding, but not demeaning."

I have much less leg soreness today after the 10k yesterday than last time it came up on the WOD. A little soreness in the calves, I think due to my running outside with hills yesterday as opposed to treadmill with 0% incline last time. We'll see about DOMS tomorrow though. Thanks CrossFit!
Great to see the interview and hear how the rest day dialogues (as well as normal postings) benefit our deployed personnel. Not that the rest of us don't receive value as well!

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this new workout routine called P90X. From what I can tell it has similarities to crossfit. I've got on their website and looked around a little bit but just looking for what you guys think.

Thanks to all for the helpful comments yesterday. Today is my last full day as a squad leader for summer seminar. It's been a good time, but today isn't exactly a rest day - the candidates have Sea Trials for like 8 hours and I get to do some PT and team stuff with them and fetch water so they stay hydrated, etc. I'm going to for sure run the E course with them - b/c that's the best part of Sea Trials. Now I just have to hope the heat / humidity stays down and it doesn't become a black flag day. (yay for Annapolis weather)

Great interview Paul. I take great comfort in knowing that people like you protect us.

#43 Jason

Checked out the P90X web-site. Looks a lot like a repackaged bodybuilding routine based on isolation movements to me. I saw little similarity to CF based on the titles of their work-outs.

Question about rest days: Crossfit suggests that in addition to the WOD, we play a sport or do some other demanding physical activity. On rest day, does that only apply to the WOD, or do they suggest that we rest from our other sport also? For example, would it be counter-productive for me to go for a run or play soccer today?

Good interview.
Thanks for posting it.

Paul (Apolloswabbie) is articulate and intelligent, as always. As well, Paul is a great coach, and really knows how to help people make progress.

Paul & I just spent the last year together in Baghdad, and he is the one who got me interested in Crossfit. Tons of fun. Every workout left us exhausted and weak in the knees.

Paul is a great guy and family-man. A man any father would be proud of.

New tools, same strategy.
The Petraeus/Crocker strategy is:
1. Protect the population in troubled areas
2. Build the Iraqi govt's capacity to function
3. Purge Iraq's leadership of a small but influential number of officials and commanders whose sectarian and criminal agendas are thwarting U.S. efforts.

A tracking tool & database supports the fundamental solution for the strategy, but they are only part of a much broader consideration.

Texas and New York law enforcement officers are supported by a robust, though overburdened prison & judicial system.

If we are to go hard on kill capture, perhaps we should consider encouraging the Iraqi govt to build the prisons and train the Iraqi corrections officers first.

Nick - #38,

I strongly agree. During my summers I work for the army's acquisition corps up at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ. Weather you want to field a new pencil or a tank, there is a minimum two year lag from new technology reaching the soldiers. The army has introduced a new program called the Rapid Fielding Initiative, which basically gives commanders X amount of dollars to buy whatever gear they want for their deploying force. It's helped, but if one CO stumbles upon something great, it still has to enter the top heavy bureaucratic machine that is the acquisition process and will take years to be permanently fielded.

We have the best army in the world, but with antiquated technology and an infantry tactics book that written to fight the Vietnamese (FM 7-8) our soldiers consistently have to do more with less. It really goes to show how great our training and leadership is, that we are as good as we are, but the Army needs an organizational overhaul – badly.

Also,
A phenomenal interview - more of the reasons why Crossfit is spreading like wildfire in the military (how I heard of it).

Working my way back in...using BrandX scaling and running a day behind on average.
Had ten minutes this morning by the time I got warmed up - did ten minutes for max rounds of 10x box jumps (18"), air squats, and bench dips. Got six or seven rounds.

As for P90X this is nothing more than GloboGym brought to a house near you. The caption on the main page says it all from Jon C. "I've never gotten so many comments from so many people about how fit I look". Everything in this program is being sold on looks and not REAL functional fitness. This is an infomercial if ever there was one. And it can be all yours for 3 easy payments of 39.95 (+19.95 shipping and handling).

Mike

There are some very interesting aspects to this.

First, it is worth revisiting the past. When we first went in, we failed to differentiate between the many, many subcultures of Iraq, particularly in our failure to appreciate the structure of Sunni society, which appears to be organized not all that differently than that of the Italians, say in Sicily. This is my subjective, but somewhat anthropologically grounded feeling.

In that form, you have a Sheikh, who is in effect the Godfather, the Kingpin, and around whom an extended network of family, clan and tribe adhere. His effective influence may not be obvious geographically, and the networks are complex, as the FBI found in trying to penetrate the mob, but he is the Big Cheese. We failed to include such people in the government we erected, and that, in my view, plausibly explains an awful lot of both the direct Sunni violence, as well as their tolerance of the infiltration of foreign Al Queda nationals into their neighborhoods, which they otherwise run as their kingdom. They know what's going on where, with who.

Our failure here created two groups, in loose alliance, opposed to us. To the extent that we can be seen to be at war with would-be "freedom fighters", who simply wanted their nation back, it was the representatives of the Sheikhs, who lost a lot of influence and money under the new regime.

Along comes a very clever Army Special Forces guy, Travis Patriquin, who puts together an elaborate Powerpoint, with every bit of technical and political sophistication of South Park (I am sincere in both cases), which is linked here: http://www.geardo.com/docs/how_to_win_in_anbar.pdf

Paul sent this to me.

He proposes, in essence, a strategy to split the radicals from the moderates, using common sense, and a bit of moral and political flexibility. The key point in relation to this discussion is that he proposes the Sheikhs men guard and police their own neighborhoods, the people within which they know like the backs of their hands. This makes allies of erstwhile enemies, and puts a lot of hitherto unavailable information in our hands.

Now, obviously, not everybody is trustworthy, and there have no doubt been numerous failures, but the fundamental idea is oriented around policing versus soldiering, and this leads directly to today's discussion.

Proper technology, in combination with intelligent, community policing, is the only way to eliminate our enemies. This technology makes a world of sense. An obvious corrollary to this is that if someone informs on someone, and that someone is released 48 hours later, they will stop informing on them.

I see people talking about the radicalizing nature of prison. What they are ignoring is the very real effect of a constant state of insecurity, and random death. "Why can't the Americans stop the violence? How can they be so stupid as to continue releasing Ahmed and Ali? Perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut so they don't rape and murder my daughters and kill my brother."

We are fighting a war. It's quite likely, it seems to me, that a great many of the people we are arresting are guilty, and those who are innocent should be able to grasp that the system is imperfect, but that the random bombings and mass death of innocents have to stop. It's not a question of the innocent being punished, but rather do we continue to let the innocent be blown into pieces, or risk the occasional innocent person to be falsely imprisoned, and released when relative peace is gained?

#39 - while I'm not sure about the intelligence you are referring to, in the USAF intelligence can and does spread like wildfire in our ISR community, especially to other services in the IMINT and SIGINT worlds.

I have been privy to many situations where real-time intelligence is provided directly to the boots on the ground to help them determine the proper TTPs to use.

I think the problem lies with higher ups forgetting what their job is. They must MOTIVATE, TRAIN, and EQUIP their troops. I get awfully tired of new trees and roads and entryways on bases back home. I'd rather that funding go directly for things for our deployed troops.

I had to take a few days off when I was moving, so Idid a little workout today.

CFWU X 4 and a 20 min run.
Focused on the top chest and arms more today. Nice to have a good workout again.

Just tuned into Crossfit a few months ago and I like the combat mentality of all involved, from the WOD to the mental engagements on rest days. I have been training in classical Japanese, Korean, and Philipino martial arts for 15 years, I believe deeply in the warrior ethos and Crossfit's method of developing total conditioning truly is what a warrior needs for combat training. I am currently employed as a personal trainer with a very large health club chain. The certification required by this health club chain is crap in comparison to the efficiency and quality of the Crossfit method. Not even traditional body builders that I know here at the gym are capable of completing half of the WOD on Crossfit.

Through experimentation and experience, I've found that a combination of a balance and stabilization series, a strength movement series, and a crossfit style WOD has produced the best and fastest results with my clients, and for me! In just two months I have gained more definition, more relative power, and more strength period using this formula than years of classical body building or even NASM or CES formulas of resistance training.

The other intangible element that the Crossfit method has given me became evident on the dojo floor. Within weeks I was performing technique with more strength, power, and coordination than ever. My atemi/striking was better, more accurate. My waza/techniques were more technically proficient. My ukemi/break-falling was safer and more controlled. I feel like a warrior again, just as I did when I was in the infantry.

Right on Crossfit! Keep it up, and keep pushing forward with new and innovative ressurections of classical movements, olympic power, and martial arts.

On to the article. I agree, it's probably not good that innocent people are being held without charge. But my experience is that I don't trust the terrorists, or the Iraqis as far as I can throw them and with 15 years of martial arts experience, I can throw people pretty far. The real problem here is that I'm not saying that all of the Iraqis are equally guilty, but I am saying that all of the Iraqis are equally culpable for what happens with this terrorism. Firstly, we know that the Iraqis, for the most part, at least sympathize with the terrorists. Polls have shown that over and over. Furthermore, to take into consideration the fact that it takes a lot of people to move that many thousands of men and equipment and explosives, and then house, keep, and nourish them. All of those things cannot be done in a vaccuum on the streets. The simple logical fact of the matter is that these communities know WHO and WHERE the terrorists are. These are TRIBAL communities, and have been for thousands of years, just like you can tell if someone is from the South by their accent, the Iraqis can tell if someone is not from their tribe or their community. Therefore, if we agree that these things are logical, that would mean that these communities have detailed knowledge of the terrorists in their midst. If we can agree on that statement, then it is also logical to say that they are acquiessing to the terrorists, and their mission. This, by the Iraqi's choice, becomes culpability with what the terrorists are doing.

Now all of this brings us to the article about gathering databases on the Iraqis, and their communities. Just like Crossfit has brought back the Olympic Lifts to modern training, I must revive an ancient and masterful tactician in the military sense. It was Sun Tzu that said: "Know thy enemy." Without a database on them, how is that accomplished? Without detaining people who, as I have argued above, are potentially culpable, how do we gain any data on the terrorists to enhance the database?

The real question though, is not whether or not to detain people. In some cases it must be done, regardless of the hurt feelings it might cause. This is the fog of war. This is the confusion that occurs in combat. Innocent people get caught in the crossfire. The problem that most people will have with what I am saying is that they don't know their history. In WW2 we didn't worry about detaining some civilians along with some Nazi Werewolves following the defeat of the 3rd Reich. We didn't worry about the tens of thousands we killed with carpet bombing German and Japanese cities. What we have done though is create a military force, which in the light of history, is the most surgical and accurate and compassionate military use of power that has ever existed period! That we have Iraqi civilians who are able to get their stories heard by the NYTimes and others goes to show where we are in the pages of history. Would the Romans have allowed such things? The Babylonians? The Assyrians? The Hitties? The Egyptian Pharoahs? The Mongols? The Ottoman Turks? The Kaiser? Hitler? The Japanese Empire? Stalin? Pol Pot? Saddam? Need I mention others? What we have to marvel about here is the ability of our Armed Forces to adapt and overcome, and still protect the lives of millions of potentially culpable, and silently acquiesing civilians at the potential cost of their own lives.

Sentinel 507

36/M/64kg

Missed the "With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute..." WOD on monday. Did it today as my 201st CrossFit WOD since starting little over a year ago.

As rx'd
19 rounds +19 pull-ups (so close to 20...)

I may not agree with the political views expressed on the rest days, and sometimes they even freak me out.
BUT. I would like to thank Coach and the CF community for changing my life. Because that is exactly what CF has done for me. I cannot express how grateful I am for that. Now I'm looking forward to another year of training. Thank you.
/mrjling - Jonas from Stockholm

For a more robust dissertation on non-uniformed combatants and the effects on soldiers on the ground take a look at"Sanctuary":

www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000125.html

Perhaps some of our CF'ers "in theater" might offer comments and thoughts.

New workout method by coach rip, it's easy on the eyes.

Did you here what coach rip is doing in Wichita Falls Texas. He makes his members workout in the dark during the day. Is that in his book. Oh it must be in his new book. (How to run your members off). $29.95 at workouts for idiots. What a great concept.

What I like about this article is that it focuses on concrete problems, is written by people with experience with those problems, and it provides a practical solution. It is refreshing giving all the more abstract rhetoric that one sees about the war. A lot of people, politicians, reporters, etc., are dead-sure that the war is winnable or not, who have very little practical understanding of what is actually happening on the ground. The more I read about politics, and controversial topics in general, the more I think that in order for the debates to have any meaning other than mere debate for its own sake, sophistry, and identity-pandering, we most be slaves to the data.

Sentinel

Funny you should mention Sun Tzu...for he also said that in order to be victorious, one must also "know thyself".

I preface this next comment with the fact I have never served in the military, but have many relatives and friends who are active and retired members of all branches of our Armed Forces (save the Coast Guard).

I would opine that, in some ways, we do no "know ourselves". I am not sure exactly how to explain it, just that from a lot of the bureaucracy and plain old Dumb Stuff that happens in the military, that we are not All that We Can Be. I further opine that this gets worse as one goes up the chain of command.

Please note, that I am not trying to denigrate the boots on the ground soldier, who is trying to do what s/he can with what they've been given. Not an easy task, and one I do not envy.

Darren mentioned that "We have the best army in the world, but with antiquated technology and an infantry tactics book that written to fight the Vietnamese (FM 7-8) our soldiers consistently have to do more with less."

Now I know the circumstances are different, but is not our current situation more akin to fighting the guerrilla insurgency in Viet Nam than a conventional war? I haven't read FM 7-8 (though I might have it), so I can't say how the teachings therein do or do not apply to the current situation. Any thoughts?

Finally, as for the camps training new insurgents, I would say this is a similar situation to here on CONUS where the prisons often serve as a university for criminals to learn new and exciting ways to break the law and hurt people.

I also think that there are some folks tossed in the slammer for minor crimes (or no crime at all, just suspicion) who then turn on the system that punished them...and in turn become bigger criminals.

Granted, the insurgent/terrorist problem is NOT a criminal problem, regardless of how much some folks would like to treat it as such, so standard criminology or penology theories may not apply. But I would think that some might.....

I admit this post isn't one of my best, but my business has been very busy of late and I didn't get a chance to think this through as completely as I would have liked. Hopefully some of what I meant filtered through my ramblings.

Apolloswabbie - welcome home and nice to put a face with a name.

For a more robust dissertation on non-uniformed combatants and the effects on soldiers on the ground take a look at"Sanctuary":

http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000125.html

link f/w safe

out of curiosity...

are there any anchorage, alaska crossfitters out there?

Apollowswabbie, I am a Navy LT and there is a slight chance I'll be going down range with the Army. I'd like to hear a little more about your experience with the Army if possible...

Scrappy, email headed your way. Paul

I meant to add one other thing: the current crisis between Fatah and Hamas is very roughly equivalent to the situation in Iraq. I am not suggesting that the Sheikhs are democratic liberals eager to breathe free, embrace feminism, and wear love beads, any more than the leaders of Fatah are eager to actually work for the betterment of the Palestinians, in isolation from their own benefit.

Yet, they are at a crossroads. The Al Queda/Taliban-like Hamas, (supported by Iran, in my understanding, further strengthening the already painfully obvious "support of terror" aspect of that regime) in taking Gaza by force, may, possibly, force the Arabs as a whole to reevaluate what it is they are trying to do, and what is within the realm of possibility. What Hamas is going to implement, is not what most people want, and I think it's becoming generally clear that the Palestinians made a deal with the Devil in voting them in to begin with.

Hitler was elected, as everyone should recall, and his full control of everything took 3-5 years or so.

This should be interesting to watch, and I do see some room for optimism.

franklie #63:

Yeah, that's what I meant...

#60 I sense an edge, probably best to go to the source (which you consequently spelled the name wrong) then spout your disapproval here. You lose a lot of credibility when you don't have the balls to face someone upfront about a problem you have.

Just my 2 cents.

CrossFit is being discussed over at MetaFilter, a very large community blog. Only members can post but if you are one, join in - defend - educate - recruit. :) http://www.metafilter.com/62245/What-is-Fitness

Oh - and Hitler was never elected to anything - he was appointed to the Chancellorship and never won an election in his life.

Usually I skip hanging out here on rest days, but that one erroneous line is sitting at the top of my screen, staring at me and begging for correction.

Barry Cooper wrote:
"Along comes a very clever Army Special Forces guy, Travis Patriquin, who puts together an elaborate Powerpoint, with every bit of technical and political sophistication of South Park (I am sincere in both cases), "

Yes, this idea was brilliant in its simplicity and Travis (who went by Travisquin on Internet boards) should have received a commendation for this. I say "went by" because Travis was KIA in Ramadi last December.

I never met him, never knew him aside from his posts on one of the Internet forums. However, sounds like he was a real outside-the-box thinker. Hopefully his plan is/continues to be implemented, since not much else seems to be working.

Appollowswabbie-Thanks for stepping up and putting a face to your name. Have followed your very thoughtful comments. GLad you are home safely.

Amy

Did the "300" workout today in 24:20
25 pullups
50 deadlifts 135#
50 box jumps 24"
50 pushups
50 floor wipers 135#
50 16KG KB clean and jerks
25 pullups

(this to make up for my incredibly slow time on Sunday's brutal WOD!)

Paul,

Great interview and presence. I expected nothing less based upon your posts and our brief offline email exchanges. Best to you and keep in touch!

Semper Fi,
Steve

I have never done Hazel before.

Hazel
Run 1200M ()
63 KB swings (16kg)
36 Pull ups

run was 8:08 (Brand X 1200 = approx 1440M)
KB swings 21-12-then I forget
Pull ups were way too broken.

15:15

Barry Cooper,
I clicked the wrong button while trying to un-ban your last post, so if you still have it, please re-post. Sorry!

It was something along the lines of: you are wrong, and I am right. Please everyone just proceed on that basis.

Seriously, I need to go to bed, and I will try and redo it. The net was I literally have "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" on my computer stand, and will quote verbatim from it, if need be.

Hitler was appointed, based on a popular vote, with the presumed cushion of an opposing cabinet and the Presidency of Hindenburg. It didn't matter, just as Hamas doesn't care who theoretically runs the Palestinian Authority. That should be clear enough.

#36 SteveM--

Building more prisons is not contrary to my comments. If we had the ability to ID and convict the real bad guys, then we would need somewhere to put them. Unfortunately we can't do this well yet. And while I don't believe all Iraqis deserve prosecution and imprisonment. I do believe that many do need to be held accountable for their part in undermining our noble efforts. If I were to hide a known, escaped convict in my home for a night I would be found guilty of aiding and abetting. Until we are able to do this in Iraq the problem remains.

If the general population knew we had the ability to prosecute them on these charges, they might be motivated to stop. As it is, the locals get away with way too much because we haven't the ability to effectively fight it.

Here's a little scenario:
What do you do when an intelligence source identifies an individual, his vehicle and dress/appearance as a known IED maker, believed to be responsible for a recent catestrophic IED that killed four fellow servicemen in their up-armored HMMWV. The source also reveals a known hangout. So you set up an ambush in hopes of capturing the individual with IED-making materials. As the Op goes down there is a small fire-fight and the lead Company has to disengage. They later capture the individual but cannot find any hard evidence during the seizure. What do you do? Let him go to possibly kill again? Photograph, fingerprint and document his identity, his family, his job, his possessions so you can track and monitor him? If you don't think that having the technology to ID and database these terrorists is a good idea, then I don't know what to tell you. I do, but I will be civil.

There were many kind comments sent my way today; thanks to all of you. It was a real treat to read those all day. I am presently home with my children while J is buying a house (moving in August). The kids saw the video and asked why I didn’t comment on them (“because the interviewer didn’t ask me; it’s all Freddy’s fault”) – but then they asked to watch it again. I can’t get over how much chaff Tony removed to put that together; thanks again.

The article was both informative and mis-informative in my view. While they are right about the prison thing, the numbers, they certainly didn't cover the cost/logistics inherent in keeping that many people in jail in that climate with that infrastructure. It would require significant force levels, either troops or contractors. I’m not necessarily saying it would be the right or wrong thing to do, but they breeze through it like putting a few hundred thousand in jail is as simple as getting up in the AM.

The points about folks getting arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time are right on - and there is some radicalization that results. If the IT stuff could increase the ability to nab bad guys before they injure the locals and the troops, it would be a huge victory. I sat on the release boards and while it was clear most were truly a threat if released, there were some that made me shake my head to think they were in a miserable Iraqi prison for friggin’ bad timing.

There's been some mention of how painful it is to buy stuff with federal money. Congress controls those rules, not the Executive. Pinning poor equipment on the Executive is off the mark - the rules governing purchasing were designed to eliminate the massive frauds discovered in post WWII contracting; but the same rules design in a level of waste that truly boggles the mind. My whole career was spent flying a 1950s airframe, with 1970s/80s technology (lucky for all of us, the bad guys are using 1950s airframes with 1950s technology and 1950s level expertise). The govt could have saved a mint in maintenance and operations costs by buying newer planes with more efficient engines with a far lower maintenance cost - and our aircrews could have been better on station - but the govt doesn't do that sort of math, it just looks at the "procurement budget" and says "we don't have it, so what if it would save billions over the life cycle of the new airframe." With planes older than many of the maintainers, flying day and night, 200 feet over the water or 25K+ over land, we hold a flight hours/mishaps ratio that equals airliners, while getting the mission done to the degree that our aircraft are in demand in every theater. To me that’s the story with your military – the people find a way to get it done in spite of the gear issues they will always face, as they have in every war the US has ever fought.

Many of you remember the stories of the $500 toilets seats or hammers - that was driven by a (now defunct) contracting rule that required DoD products to be specially produced under MILSPEC; you could not go to the hardware store and get a toilet seat for a plane with a toilet, you had to get the contractor to design/build a special seat for that airplane. Ditto the hammer scenario. Congress revised the rules and now COTS (commercial off the shelf) technology is in use in the aircraft I flew. But the remaining administrative obstacles to rapid acquisition of updated technology are significant. The rules designed to prevent corruption build significant waste into the system.

Tim often comments that the 'senior leadership' is to blame for issues. I don’t know specifically what level he’s thinking of, but for what it is worth, the leadership I met in the Army was very impressive. It is a monstrously competitive profession and for their efforts, as with Navy flag level officers, getting promoted gets them new opportunities to never see their families and spend a lot of time in very hot places. GEN Odierno in particular had incredible mastery of the battlefield. GEN Patreus got all the press for his large brain and super competitive nature, but in the AM briefings, I never heard him raise a point that GEN O couldn't speak to with authority. GEN O was in the field it seemed like every day. He's an NFL sized man, friggin' giant. His son lost an arm to an IED. I feel grateful and proud that our country has men like him to what he does. It takes an incredible array of skills, and boundless devotion to duty, to serve as he has. I am glad I will not have to do it.

The implementation of CAPT Patriquin’s stick figure power point brief has produced some spectacular successes in Anbar, and it seems as though the pattern will continue east into the Sunni areas north of Baghdad and southwest of Kurdistan. Time, and the reality of AQI, makes it more clear to them that they can benefit from working with the US. In some cases, they can’t get what they need from the GoI without US intervention, and in some cases of course, they can’t get their due from the GoI no matter what; these are not exactly German technocrats running the GoI.

Until Sunday then - Paul

Good posts, Paul, Wilson, and Sentinel.

From the perspective of sleeping off the LIT's with five good hours, and doing the unfun C&J progression from a few days ago, I wanted to add a comment on my last post.

"I am right and you are wrong" is the title of a book by Edward de Bono which is pretty good. It's a bit uneven in its' flow--I think he writes his books on airplanes--but the ideas are generally solid and worth pondering.

One point that is relevant here is that the concept of "right" is almost always inaccurate in some way. There is almost never complete congruence between our mental worlds--our pictures--and what is happening, and even if we achieve almost complete congruence, the world has this nasty habit of changing.

In some respect, almost every idea on almost every Rest Day is partially "right". However, what we are looking for is what is most right. If, for example, we have to choose between sometimes imprisoning innocent men, or sometimes releasing guilty men, what is most right? Could it not vary, perhaps by region? By neigborhood? By commander, and their assessment capacities?

Thinking, to be structured--which is to say, to be coherent and communicable--needs to use the templates of general principles, but it need not cling to them unnecessarily. You have to have a general idea of the overall purpose of a mission, and behave flexibly within that context to accomplish the mission.

Occasionally--and this technology appears to be such a case--you get ideas with no apparent down-side. I don't think even cost should factor in, since if we are able to effectively reduce violence, we are in fact achieving a Return on Investment far outweighing--in material, dollar terms--our outlays. I do those sorts of analyses all the time.

My two cents.

One quick anecdote I will otherwise forget: my niece tried to make a Peace sign with those little ironable beads, and instead made a Lambda. I'm going to keep it, as an unintentionally accurate irony. I think on this board most of you will get that.

#80 Hope you are not referring to me, Tim from #21 as this is the first comment I have made on the political issues of this site. I have never made an argument blaming the senior leadership for anything. I work everyday with LTG O' and am thoroughly impressed every day.I fully concur with your comments on his skill, devotion etc.

Wilson #22 I am with you on the point of using BATs (our biological forensics) to ID these people but his article made uninformed arguments on the "catch and release program," was in error on the process and really has no idea how many people we sweep up with absolutely no reason other than wrong place wrong time. By the way the criteria cited by Owen for moving someone through the system have not been in place for months. When I say the troops are misinformed I mean they constantly relay the catch and release theory to me when I talk to them. It is like an urban myth that has taken on a life of its own.

Barry,

Nicely put - all of it.

Interesting link for those thinking of the great leap from 2nd/3rd world status to first world status and how/why it happens.

I've long been fascinated with the idea that there is a direct correlation between economic liberty and standard of living - the more freedom, the better people live. You can google this as the "freedom index." There are several. Bottom line - population wealth comes from economic liberty and rule of law (for the whole population).

So why have so few nations managed to join the global system of trade and enrich their populations? There have been only six the last 50 years to make the jump.

This article covers research on the "why?"

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=010807B

Paul

Great Interview Apolloswabbie!

Now, completely unrelated to today's topic... I just thought this would be a wonderful rest day article.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/comment/story.html?id=597d0677-2a05-47b4-b34f-b84068db11f4&p=4

Barry, Paul, and the usual crowd: thanks for your comments. I had written a thought yesterday, but it hung up and never posted. I'll attempt to re-catch some of the flavor.
1 - Paul, not a bad interview for a P3 guy (my on-wing at VT2 was also one. JK.)
2 - The need for proper ID and census data is tremendous. Catch and release is not an urban myth by any stretch. It also leads to frustration within units that sometimes results in bad treatment of the masses. I have that on very good authority.
3 - One point (a pragmatic one) is that there has to be a system in place that gives Iraqis a need or want, either real or perceived, to possess and defend some type of registration card. Some kind of "freakonomics"-like incentive for Iraqis to have the ID card, otherwise it may become nothing more than an easy way for them to be targeted by insurgents as "cooperating with the infidel crusader". No one will carry it. Biometric data would be an alternative but those systems are not perfected, certainly not down to the handheld level, would be hard to put into place Army-wide so that a guy stopped in the South (and his data run) will pop info on him as having been around known insurgents in Mosul.
4 - We forget in the US that we have incentives to obtain an ID card (like a driver's license) because it provides us the ability to drive lawfully, as well as obtain many ancillary benefits that accurate ID allows, such as cashing checks, obtaining bank accounts, insurance, etc. This necessarily implies (a) citizens who respect the law, (b) mechanisms for enforcement against those who don't, and (c) benefits that are obtainable for use of the ID and denial to those who do not.

Just some thoughts.

#83 Timi--

I agree that the article failed to recognize how prevalent "wrong place at the wrong time" really is. I guess, like Barry alluded, I see the positives outweighing these inaccuracies. Their are always mistakes, misnomers and errors in assumptions. And although it is important to point these out, I prefer to grasp the heart of the article and recognize the "right" conclusions and offer concrete solutions if I can. Although I rarely succeed.

#86 Dale--
Good points. It takes us back to a recent discussion on the fact that the current Iraqi culture has very little, or no motivation to become a democracy. Someone posted a link to a fascinating blog that discussed why it is such a challenge to erect a 1st world system in a 3rd world civilization. Adopting a "do unto others" (actually closer to a "tit-for-tat") philosophy in a "kill or be killed" culture that operates on a religious heirarchy is at the heart of the war. It's sad how few solutions we have found to this issue. How financially and politically viable would it be to build reasonably affordable neighborhoods and employment opportunities to "motivate" the Iraqis for mutual benefit. It seems they have tremendous oil resources. Can we convince, or even force, them into investing in a better life? What do we do if they never choose what's best for themselves? This is probably a very big part of the ongoing diplomatic discussions with the GoI. This is primarily a polical solution. I know in the North we were successful in hiring locals for many tasks. The biggest stumbling block that we seemed to face was that of security, which is at the heart of Gen Petraeus' plan. This is a military solution.

I took a much needed day of leave today. It's been nice to participate.

No rest day, had to take one earlier in the week

50m x12 (Work on Free Style)

Weighted Pu's
70=80-90-100-110-120-130

Shoulder Press
135x7

Glad you could join us, Wilson.

Hi Paul!! Fun to read your posts, good email with you back in the deployed days, and great to see you speak. Hope to meet you some day now that you're back from the land of the nasties! Semper CrossFit.

SC,

It's nice to hear from you as always. I will look forward to a meeting also. Keep us posted on your deadlifting! Paul