Military Pentathlon Obstacle Course

If you thought the IOCT was bad...............

A modern military pentathalon includes 5 events: shooting, a dry obstacle course, a wet obstacle course, throwing events, and a cross country run. We will concern ourselves solely with the dry obstacle course...for now.

The cadetes here at AMAN so fortunately have regular access to and time set aside for practice and grading on their ability to navigate the 500 meter and 20 obstacle course. For them, it's a constant test and something they can train for whenever and for however long they wish. For the "cadetes americanos" (American cadets) it is solely an embarassing exercise in painful humility.

If you will now turn your eyes to the video monitor to witness two videos; the first, a demonstration of all obstacles and some semblence of proper technique (20. Count them. I did.) and second a demonstration of how to be an Austrian and a total boss and a 2010 World Record holder. *Note* In the demonstration at about 3:15, our exhausted demonstrator is supposed to use only the horizontal beams during his ascent. The correct form for this obstacle is in the second video. *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gk6cKsL9sU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIZeBDplaqo

Nate, Orlando, and I all jogged through this course together to ensure we learned the proper and safe way of doing each obstacle (also at the behest of our host Lieutenants, not wanting to explain to a Lieutenant Colonel why they broke the American cadets during the first week) After watching our host friends go through and come out the other side bruised, dirty, and sometimes cut and bleeding a mere 3-4 minutes later, we were warned, "It is just as hard to go fast or slow. And it does not matter your speed when start, everyone is same speed at end; sad." As we lined up, I wondered if this was a misinterpretation (mal entendido) or not. Turns out, it wasn't.

As we watched the other cadets run, Nate and I joked that the real reason any kid grows up wanting to join the military is the prevalence of playgrounds for adults. If only I could go back in time and squash that thought, I thought to myself, spitting the sand I had just crawled through as I sprinted up a steeply inclined wall. The important difference between this course and the IOCT I've grown to know and love is that if you go slow, the IOCT is not so bad. It takes until after the rope climb before you're starting to get gassed and after that it's the entirely controlled effort event of running. Not so bad. Here, messing up an obstacle means doing it over. So it behooves you to push yourself on and between obstacles to ensure you have the momentum needed to navigate it successfully. Far too many of these obstacles instructions involved the words, "Leap" or "Climb" in conjunction with the adjective "Over", to include a miniturized version of The Shelf, named "The Irish Table" Cute. But awful.

In the world record video, you'll notice on the second ladder obstacle the man who ultimate ends up winning decides to ignore the ladder for his descent. Don't be alarmed, this is in fact a technique developed by former wolrd record holder and current professor of physical fitness at........yes, you guessed it, AMAN. Lieutenant Ribamar Bandeira, of far too many accolades and awards to list here (http://www.rio2011.mil.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=832%3Amilitary-pentathlon-icon-joins-brazilian-technical-committee&catid=60%3Anews&Itemid=96&lang=en) developed the "Bandeira" (also means "Flag" in Portuguese. Coincidence?) for this particular obstacle. Outstanding.

Back to the grind. We leapt and crawled and climbed and jumped and collapsed exhausted but victorious on the other side. Our test is in 1 month. Good. Good. (Bom.)

Packing for Rio. Air Transport training here I come. I'll post again soon! Portuguese word of the day is a twofer. Two for one that is. "Forte" is "Strong". Conversely, "Fraco" is..............wait for it..........wait for it.........it's going to be legen......wait for it........I hope you're not lactose intolerant because it's............dary! "Weak"

Tchau for now!