This HTL was going to be different from most. It was going to be scenario-driven, with a progression of events that would start with the Heavy, continue during the Tough, and end in the Light. Most HTLs and TLs treat each individual event as its own self-contained element, with the Light being a more condensed and less detailed version of the Tough, and the Tough being the condensed version of the Heavy (and without the individually tested components). Here at the Hard Hitter HTL, each event would build on the previous one for a unique and memorable weekend.
Prior to the event, the Cadres advised that we learn about the political situation in Venezuela. Someone created a Facebook group to help organize the participants for the three events. We got a tip from the monthly GORUCK challenge notes that we'd be doing the Robbie Miller WOD (expected for all Heavies anyways), the 300 (new to me), and the Will WOD (heard about it when it was done at the Crossfit games, but never tried it until this was published). We prepped Hero Cards to carry with us, to honor Green Berets who were KIA. Some people stepped up to be platoon leaders for our evolutions.
For the previous HTL, I had taken Friday off, so that I could maximize rest before having to stay up for a long time. This time, that wasn't an option, because I had to work a half-day Friday in the office. The week leading up to this HTL was actually going to be the most demanding week at work all year. I had to co-facilitate a week-long meeting that many were traveling in for to determine the next evolution of our website, and that involved staying late after the meetings to prep for the following day. I was afraid that I'd need caffeine (which I only take before events) just to get through the week. It wasn't going to be ideal. The week did go more calmly than expected, so that was good, and the post-meeting prep time didn't take any longer than I normally stay at work anyways.
For gear, I was pretty happy with how everything worked for the
Mog Mile HTL that took place 5 weeks prior. I again prepped 3 rucks, although I ended up using the same Rucker 2.0 the whole time because it didn't get too wet and gross. I didn't have to bring hobo shower supplies this time because I got to share a room with some other participants who didn't want me to sleep out in the cold. It was going to be notably colder for this event, so I did have different clothing choices to make. When I had been driving to the Heavy at Mog, my car thermometer legitimately stayed at 100 degrees for quite a while. This time, it was going to be in the mid forties? to upper fifties, or something like that. Fortunately, the forecast for rain died down, so we expected to miss that.
I had tested out a 3-layer system at the
Veterans Day Tough a week prior, and that worked well. Layers were key because during breaks and instructional periods, it could easily get cold, especially if your clothes were wet with sweat, and it was windy. On the other hand, when you got moving, it could get quite hot, so full-zip clothing or even lifting up my shirt if it got really hot could help with ventilation. A hat, buffs, and gloves were also very helpful, and they don't take up much space. I had planned on wearing the clothes from the Veterans Day Tough again, but I ended up leaving it in Charleston by accident, so I had to come up with a Plan B. Fortunately, I have plenty of clothes to choose from, that I've accumulated from years of running, OCRs, and GORUCK events. I did recently discover an article on
cold weather ruck clothing suggestions from DFQfitness.com, and REI happened to have a sale on the Smartwool base layers that it recommended. I didn't plan on having it arrive in time for the HTL, but it did, so I ended up getting 2 sets and wore those. It's generally not recommended that you try new clothes for the first time at an event, but I tend to do fine with new shoes and clothes without a break-in period. I can generally tell if something will work as soon as I put it on, so I went with it.
For my base layer, I had the Smartwool 250 Base Layer tops and bottoms. I wore Simple Pants on the bottom. I actually wore my Heavy clothes to work on Friday, and went right into the evening to do the event with those same clothes. Before the event, it felt much warmer than expected as I waited in the parking lot, so I almost considered leaving my fleece jacket mid-layer behind, but fortunately, I got a little chilly later on while hanging out and talking to people before the event, so I went back to my car to grab it with only a few minutes to spare before start time. I had a mid-weight GORUCK Simple Windbreaker as my outer layer. I wore a tac hat for a little head warmth and sun/rain protection, plus 2 buffs for neck warmth, and the gloves that I wear for hand protection during work on the ground double as hand warmth. AT surprised me with a sweet "Tiny but Mighty" patch, so that went on the Tac Hat.
I had a space blanket in my ruck for emergency heat, if it got bad enough that I wanted to bother taking it out. I was also originally planning on bringing Hot Hands, but we were asked to bring phones to the event (surprising), so I used my the phone case for the phone instead of the Hot Hands. I don't remember if I even ended up bringing the Hot Hands - probably not. I wore the same shoes that I wore for my two 50 Mile Star Courses and the previous HTL (and some training rucks).... the Salomon XR Mission. That's lots of mileage from events alone. There's not a ton of cushioning in there, but it's what I have that feels the best right now. Not perfect, but it has worked well enough to get me through the other events.
There was a big class for the Heavy, with 52 participants starting. It was maybe the next-to-last HTL of the year, and the last set with the current format where each event can be completed individually, for those who don't want to do all three. Another reason for the big class was that it is one of two special series of GORUCK events each year that honors David B. Roten, Jr.
The Hard Hitter GORUCK event honors the life of Staff Sergeant (SSG) David B. Roten Jr, who served in the United States Army as a decorated Special Forces Weapons Sergeant. After his honorable discharge in 2010, David supported the U.S. Government in austere environments and was killed in action on November 27, 2014.
He lived and served with unwavering commitment, passion, and courage, always pushing himself beyond his limits to be the very best. In how he both lived and died, he inspired others to greatness and continues to do so to this day.
THE HEAVY
At the start, the Cadres introduced themselves and explained how the weekend would go. We'd get a little taste of what it would be like to try to go from being a civilian off the street (an 18 X-ray) to going through basic training, then going through Special Forces Selection and Assessment, then the Q course. If we made it that far and got on a team, the real work of putting out 100% all the time while going on missions would begin.
Basic Training started with roll call, receiving roster numbers, and having them written on strips of cloth that we tied on our rucks. Next, the Cadres began the process of breaking us down and beating the individualism out of us, so that we became a single cohesive team. It was like "Simon Says" with PT and time hacks. You don't move until you're told to. Don't anticipate the commands. Similar to the Veterans Day Tough, we had to unpack and repack our rucks. One benefit of that Tough was that I realized that it would be helpful to put my snacks in a gallon-sized bag, so that I could move that stuff in and out as a group, instead of as 10-ish individual pieces (I brought more jerky and tangy fruit leathers this time, and fewer sugary carb-based foods, based on what I craved more at the previous HTL). It's still challenging. The ruck plate and the water bladder (which I gave another try with a Salomon model this time, which worked much better than the Source brand model) with the hose to detach and unthread through the pass-through port were the most cumbersome. I had to sneak-unpack some leftover items during our rolling left and right as I rolled over my ruck.
During the smoke session, we rolled left and right, ran in place on the "go" command, got on our backs and bellies, did flutter kicks, did front leaning rests and mountain climbers, and did pushups, in various combinations. Every now and then, we had to quickly get back in formation and be absolutely still and at attention. Whenever someone was still moving by the time the count ran down to zero, which was every time, we had to do PT while they stood at the front to see the consequences of their acting as individuals. Whenever someone jumped a command and started doing the next task before being given the go-ahead to start, more PT. There were 4 Cadres - Chuy, Fagan, Hammer, and Ragnar, so there were plenty of sharks swimming around us to make sure we were following instructions and doing the exercises with proper form, even when they stealthily checked us without using flashlights. We jogged around the park in cadence and did some animal movements back and forth between the back fence and our starting area. Eventually, we finally got our act together and formed up correctly. Next, we did low crawls, high crawls, buddy drags, and buddy carries. I was glad to not have a ruck on, so I was content to be doing those movements back and forth across the field. Once we completed that, I think that was the end of Basic Training, and we got to start SFAS.
We moved into the APFT next. We split in half, with one half starting as graders, and the other half starting as the exercisers. The Cadre demonstrated proper form, to make sure grading was to the standard. With pushups, I was grading first, so when it was my turn to go, I knew that the womens standard for this event was 13 pushups. When I got to 13, I knew that I could stop and meet the standard and save my energy, but 13 didn't feel right, so I kept going... not all-out, but maybe 95% effort. I was still fresh, so it didn't feel detrimental at the time. I ended up with 49, which is about where I typically test. Next were sit-ups. Abs are harder to make sore than my arms, so I wasn't as worried about overdoing anything here, and therefore did 73. Next was the 2-mile run, where we were given the standards before we began - 16:34? for males, and 19:XX? for females. We de-layered as we wanted, and got on the starting line. This was another scenario where I had to consider how hard I wanted to go. I could meet the mens' standard if I wanted to, but there was absolutely no point in doing that. I didn't want to take the time standard for granted, either, so I wanted to go hard enough to make sure I'd make it without worries. I ended up giving a decent effort... maybe slightly harder than I needed to, but it was a chance to stretch out my legs.
After each event, we wrote our reps or times on the cloth with our roster numbers. Failures to meet the standard were marked in red. That gave extra incentive not to fall below the standard. We didn't know what it would mean if you got so many failures, but I didn't want to find out, and I wanted to do my best to meet them.
The next event was the Timed 12. What surprised me was that we had a 3 hour time hack, and not the 3:30 time hack that you see most of the time. I had done Timed 12's 3x previously as part of PATHFINDER challenges, in 3:08:09 (bonking in the last few miles) in 2018, then 2:58:36 in early 2019, and then 2:44:37 a couple of months ago. If I could incorporate shuffles and avoid blowing up, I could do it, since it was still early enough in Heavy. It was an individual event, so I didn't know how hard everyone was going and what kind of pace they were going for. As we got some miles under our belts, we all settled into certain pace clusters, though. I ate and drank, and watched the tenth-of-a-mile markers that were painted on the ground. As usual, watches weren't allowed, so we had to go by feel when it came to times and paces. I had roller bladed on this part of the Swamp Rabbit Trail before, so I knew that there would be a train monument miles later, long wooded stretches, and a couple of street crossings, but it was far beyond the usual stretch that I used to run, so I wasn't as familiar with this trail.
Eventually, we got to the Cadre that signaled our turnaround point where could head back. We hit the mid-point with a 10-min buffer on our split, which was a big relief. There was light misty rain, enough to provide a little bit of cooling without being annoying or worrysome. I just focused on keeping the pace, keeping up, and not blowing up. It was good to have my teammates nearby, because they give me strength.
If the push-ups and the 2-miler presented some uncertainty about how hard to go, the next task did it even more! It was a run of unknown time and unknown distance. It could've been anything from a short sprint (though probably not, because it would be congested and hard to set up quickly enough to not have chaos) to something more substantial. I guess this task is there because when you're on missions, sometimes, you have to do things where not all of the details are known, and you have to figure out how to give your best anyways, careful to get the mission done successfully, while managing the risk of overdoing anything. There were some super strong athletes in the class, as you'd expect, and they were way out ahead, and their headlamps in the far distance let me know that I had at least that far still to go. There was one guy holding his light in his hand, so as it swung back each time, it looked for a while like it could be a Cadre signaling the turnaround point, but after a few minutes, I realized that it was just another candidate.
We kept running, and eventually, some runners started coming back on the other side. The good thing about an out-and-back course on an unknown distance run is that you know the distance on the way back, at least, and can correct your pace as needed. I had started anticipating a 5 mile run partway through, since that's the Selection standard, but we ended up turning around somewhere between the 1.5-2 mile mark on the trail. The effort felt about right, though, so I continued with that pace. It turns out that only 2 people had made it back within the standard, which was probably a 8 min/mile standard, and for this event, they didn't have different standards based on gender. I should've gotten a red mark because I finished in 35:10 (vs the 32:XX standard), but the red marker wasn't around, so everyone continued to use the black marker for the time being. I felt better knowing that I missed it by a lot, rather than by a little, since it means that I didn't kill myself with a fast pace for nothing. If I missed the standard and only 2 people got it, though, it must've been a tough one, especially after a 12 mile ruck and the 2 mile run.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the next event was a ruck of unknown time and distance. We paired up for safety, to prevent situations where anyone got into an incident on course. My partner AW (also one of my roommates for the following night) and I decided to give a reasonable effort, suspecting that whatever the distance would be, we'd still have a 15 min/mi standard. I don't think we were told afterwards what the standard time ended up being for the distance, but we got back in 47:40.
I think log PT was next. There were 10 logs to share among the class. We lined up tallest to shortest. As a leftover, I joined up with one of the groups of four, which was one of the taller groups, since they probably had 5 people on most of the shorter people logs. They were like giants, so I did my best to push up and help, but I probably contributed next to nothing. We took the log up to our waists, to our shoulders, did shoulder-to-shoulder overhead presses, overhead press holds, side bends, and 3-count tiered squats. During this evolution, we had a small handful of drops, which was surprising.
The Cadres tried getting into our heads by telling us that Selection wasn't for everyone, and that it was OK to quit. We could be back at home, warm and in bed, with food, instead of out hear in the cold suffering. I don't have a lot of experience with logs, so I can only guess what it is about it that makes it easy to throw in the towel then. Maybe it's because your weaknesses are more front-and-center when you're having to move in synch with your log mates. There's no hiding or failing without messing things up for everyone. There's the pressure to not drag your team down, even though the team would generally really rather you stay and try to push through, even if they have to suffer a bit more to help you get through. It also hurts to do overhead holds, and it is scary to have a log over your head, knowing that it's going to hurt way more if you drop it.
That wasn't all with the logs. With the drops, I was re-allocated to a team that needed more people to fill in the vacancies. This team was more well matched height-wise, so I got more of a taste of the log there. It was hard, and it's an area I need to work on. We had races around the field with our log teams, with warnings to not be last. If the log PT was that bad, I didn't want to think about what the punishment for being last would be. We finished with log situps.
Next came Rifle PT. If I'm bad at logs, I've even worse at Rifle PT. My form was terrible, but I did my best. Cadre Chuy continued to come around trying to get people to quit. He came by me, too, but I knew and I suspected that he knew that I wasn't going to quit.
Next came the Robbie Miller WOD. Even after we had already rucked 12 plus 3-4 miles, we had another 3 miles, plus 12 rounds of 6 reps of ruck thrusters (a mod for pullups), 6 burpee squats, 6x 4-ct mountain climbers, and 6 ruck getups, followed by 3 more miles. For safety, we had to be in pairs again. The idea was that we'd pair up with people with similar run times, but with the numbers in different groups, the only other person to pair up with was someone who was going to take more time. I decided to try to set him up with a group towards the back once we got going, and join up as a third with a group further up, for better matching.
Daylight was coming now, and we had made it through a lot already, so we ground through the workouts. I like the Robbie Miller WOD. It's a good combo of exercises. I practiced with it, so I know that I prefer doing the getups with the ruck on front, using legs for momentum, even if I look crazy. Once the exercises were done, we head out for the other 3 miles. The Cadres took the buddy rule pretty seriously, because on our way back, we came across a pair that had been tied together with a candy cane rope, who got to carry sledge hammers as bonus items. It was amusing, but I also felt bad for them at the same time.
When we got back, the Cadres split us up into 4 teams as we finished, trying to make it even, I'm guessing. There were four piles of coupons that we filed behind. I noticed that the piles were not equally sized (some had an extra coupon like the team weight or sledge hammers), but I didn't know why, since some of the coupons could've been split.
We took care of priorities of work for a while, then we got our next set of instructions. We had 2 min to figure out how to allocate the coupons among our team members, then be prepared to go an unknown distance without ever being able to put the coupons down during swaps. There were a lot of coupons, and one of them was a 5-gallon lid-less bucket nearly full of water, which we were not allowed to spill. Who knew what would happen to us if we did arrive at our destination with less than the required amount. Time ran out quickly, so we eventually just had to get everything off the ground and start moving.
The Cadres must've been concerned about what the teams came up with for carrying strategies, since we had a trial lap around the baseball field to test out our setups and make any necessary adjustments. One of the teams had come up with a brilliant idea before the start of securing the water within the bucket. It was going to be tough enough competing against them from a strength perspective, but we were being outsmarted, too. Fortunately, someone from my team came up with the idea of using duct tape to try to reach a similar effect... not quite as good, but it would at least give us a better chance at surviving this. It was going to be tough, with no real chances to get breaks. Even the flag bearer on each team would have to carry a coupon, too, while on flag duty. The teams were competing against one another, but we also had to keep all four teams together with no gaps, which was kind of tricky. It was rough, because Cadre Hammer was keeping us on a quick pace, so there was no relief. I was mostly on the sandbag plus flag, with a round on the water bucket. Fortunately, we didn't have to go terribly far. We went to a field at the next intersection.
We got an opportunity to share stories of some of the Green Berets that we were honoring. We did lose another teammate from being med dropped with cramping, unfortunately. It was "Team Week" at SFAS, so we did some relay races next. There were going to be three contests.
The first one involved carrying four ammo cans (2 medium, 1 large, and 1 humungous) around a water jug on the far end. I was second in line. The first guy took the 2 mediums in one hand and the large in the other with straps, and took the humongous one around on a second lap, so I did the same. I fiddled with trying to use the straps on the big one for too long, but made it through with a couple of pauses. The second relay race was even more difficult, with a low crawl with a 40# SB drag or push (for women, 60# for men), followed by front-facing SB tosses with no stepping allowed on the way back. I had to get a lesson in form on the way back, so that I wouldn't mess up my back, and to help me be more efficient. That low crawl felt like it took forever, and it kicked up a lot of dust that we inhaled, since everyone was coughing and having runny noses afterwards.
The Cadre felt like we weren't taking priorities of work seriously enough as the ones who went early in the relay finished, so we got handed log PT. PT, then more laps around the field, with and without the log, and with animal movements. More PT. It was the last thing we wanted at that point. We got some water buckets thrown on us while we were doing the PT, too, which made the experience more realistic... but it was also good because we ended up not having to carry that water back. That had been the worst thing to carry.
There wasn't a third relay, because the same team (the one with the water carrying idea) had already crushed everyone else at two of the three events. It did pay to be a winner, since they got to ruck back to the start with just a flag. The rest of us had the pleasure of figuring out a way to take all of our coupons, plus the winning team's coupons, back to the start. It had been so hard getting to the field just with our coupons (I had doubted whether we were going to be able to do that), and now, we had even more to bring back. We had no choice but to double up on stuff, so I grabbed a sandbag and an ammo can. I did single-arm carries alternating arms for as long as I could before I felt like I wouldn't be able to do that much longer. Fortunately, my teammates were there, and AT, DS, and some guy gave me some breaks on it even though they were already double-carrying stuff.
We finally go to the end, and we got to put the coupons down. We moved tables and bleachers around, too. We passed SFAS, and got to go to Q course, where we would focus on learning skills to get us ready for missions. We had more freedom and could be treated more like humans once again, though if we started getting too sloppy, they threatened to send us back to Basic Training. We learned how to do the wedge formation, and do hand signals for stopping, doing the modified wedge, and going single file. We learned the role of the alpha team vs the bravo team on fire squads. We learned the 5 principles of Patrolling (Planning, Reconnaissance, Security, Control, Common Sense), SLLS (Stop, Look, Listen, Smell), and the 7 principles of Unconventional Warfare (Preparation, Initial Contact, Infiltration, Organization, Employment, Build-up, Transition).
We had to pay attention, even though we were tired and cold, because we'd need to learn these for our subsequent missions. It was a real treat to get to learn from these Cadres, because what they do/did for a living was teaching the best of the best and locals how to do this kind of thing. We practiced some movements.
We finished by gathering around the images of the Green Berets who had been killed that year. The Cadres told their stories. David Roten's mom came and spoke about how people who have lost loved ones want to continue to have opportunities to tell the stories of those who are no longer with us, to keep their memory alive. It was a privilege to be a part of carrying on their memory and their legacy with the events from the past 24 hours.
The patching ceremony was different than usual. As extra incentive to make sure we came back for the T and the L, those of us who planned to go for the HTL (which was nearly everyone) put their patches into a bucket right after we received them. We had covered about 26 miles of rucking, and another 6 ish miles of running.
H/T INTERMISSION
The Heavy ended at 6pm. The Tough was going to start at 9pm. WB, whose friendly face had been there for us at the turnaround points for some of the runs and rucks, surprised us with Chick-fil-A, which I promptly inhaled. I rushed off to the hotel with the crew, where we showered, changed (I slept in my clothes for the Tough), and got in about an hour of sleep. I didn't have a charger for my phone, which I suspected was dead by now because the battery drains quickly even in airplane mode, but my roommates set their alarms. I didn't even hear the alarms go off, but they woke me up, and we quickly got ready to go. That one hour of sleep had felt like 5 minutes because it went by so quickly, but I did fall asleep. When you get up, you wonder if you're really about to send yourself back out there into the cold to do another 12 hours of an endurance event, but you make yourself move. It helps to have teammates there on the same mission, because not going won't be a choice. The hotel was only a mile and a half away, so we got there just in time for final preparations (I brushed my teeth and maybe grabbed another energy drink), and got in formation.
THE TOUGH
It was another big class for the Tough. There were fresh bodies, plus some newbies, plus many HTLers (though not all) back for the Tough. We started with the 300 WOD. Instead of 25 pullups at the beginning and end, we had inverted rows with rucks, which was really hard. There were also 50x Dead Lifts (40-80#, depending on your weight), 50 ruck pushups (I did this last and was the last or among the last to finish, so I got help with this when someone started holding up my ruck), 50 ruck step-ups, 50 ruck clean and press with alternate arms (one arm always had to help the other arm to make it through this), 50 ruck overhead floor wipers. Since there were way more people than stations, we could do the exercises in whichever sequence we wanted. The goal was to finish this workout in 25 minutes. These exercises are really hard... at least they're hard after you've done a heavy.
After the workout, the TL and 4 ATLs went off to teach the non-Heavy people (about half of the class) what we learned during the Q-course. Part of a Green Beret's job is to train and work with local forces to empower them. The other half of us took care of priorities of work, and then reviewed the content ourselves, too. I'm impressed by ATL/TLs like SB who can step up and lead with great skill and energy even after many hours of exhausting work. I'm ready to just zone out by then.
Next, it was time to organize a mass of coupons and get ready to head out. I think we had 30 minutes to organize. There were many coupons, and a class of maybe 60-some? We were too slow at one point (partially because of me, because I couldn't find a good combo of people for one of the two stretchers fast enough), we had to do PT. Then, we got back to the task of organizing and then headed out. I started on the large awkward but not heavy ammo can. Then I moved onto a sandbag. Then I spent the rest of the evolution on a pole. We had an extended break at Falls Park, about a mile into it. We took turns pulling security during the break. I love Falls Park. It's so pretty.
We set off again. I was back on the Swamp Rabbit trail for the first time in about 2.5 years since I moved to CLT. They had built a little building and park area since I left (the Cancer Survivors Park), and we took another break there. We got going again, and went to Cleveland Park, where we were supposed to find a volleyball court, but we took a break somewhere else. We switched TL/ATLs, and our coupon configurations were deconstructed. Then, it was time to move again, but everything was taken apart, so we just had to grab stuff and get moving. I got one of those humungous ammo cans, which isn't as bad if you carry it on your back vs if you try to bear hug it, but it is still no fun at all. Fortunately, we only had to go maybe half a mile, before we met up with locals as part of our mission scenario. I couldn't hear what was going on, but sandbags were rice, and ammo cans were ammo, and we were able to trade off our ammo, and I no longer had to carry that terrible ammo can. I grabbed a sandbag next, and we continued on the trail to Cain Halter YMCA.
There, we came across more locals, now that we had successfully crossed the border into Venezuela. I was pulling security, and not too sure of what was going on. There was apparently some conflict between us and the locals. People would go off in a small group on the trail, and come back. Apparently, we didn't work with the locals with enough tact or respect, so we had a redo of the interaction. The second time went better, and the rest of the class got to listen in to understand what was going on. There were some logs of high value and sensitivity that we needed to secure to save the world, and one of the locals was going to take us to where it was hidden.
I volunteered in the next set of ATLs, and stayed with and talked to the local. The route seemed to be right along the Swamp Rabbit Trail, so I felt quite comfortable. I've run along that segment of trail countless times, back and forth, during marathon training. Where the trail ended, we had to go a bit further, so we walked a couple more blocks to a bridge where some scouts confirmed the exact location of the logs. We formed a giant security circle with coupons in the middle, and our TL/ATL group put together a plan for retrieving the logs and coming up with a way to transport everything back. With 10 logs, plus coupons, it seemed very difficult. Fortunately, a stranger who said that he was friends with our local contact came along, and offered to take ammo and food from us. I didn't trust this guy, since anyone can say that they're friends with anyone. The other ATLs came up with a way to make sure that our local contact got the supplies, and it must've been sufficient, because the Cadres gave us the go-ahead to give away the rest of the coupons, so that we just had to take the logs back. I tried hard to keep the team informed of what was going on, since I had felt clueless earlier in the night.
We organized by height, we got the coupons up in the air as the Cadre was counting down, and started moving. It was good that I was an ATL, because I knew the way back and could double as the navigator. On the way back, the sun started coming back up. We took a pause at the triangular war memorial in Cleveland Park, where we reflected on the names engraved in the wall, and shared more hero stories. In a really touching and impactful moment, Chuy shared about how it is that people like him are able to serve and live so sacrificially in this life. It's because he knows that there's something greater and looks ahead to that higher purpose.
We took a team pic and then moved on again. Sunrise during a Tough is always a great thing. It's even better when you've also completed a Heavy and know that there's just a Light left. We moved along back to the start, where we put the logs away, and put the coupons back in Fagan's truck.
Before we could get patches, we had a quiz, though. We had to do overhead holds while each question was asked. Different people got randomly selected to answer. Answer correctly, and we go on to the next question. Answer incorrectly, and we had to do some PT. Those overhead holds, though... I didn't know the answers to all of the questions (some were very obscure), but some of them, people should've gotten. We eventually finished the quiz.
We did the same deal for patches, putting the Tough patches in the bucket after we got them. The T/L candidates did the same. We had covered about 9 miles of rucking.
T/L INTERMISSION
We had a little more time between events this time, but you still want to maximize rest time. We had a bit longer of a drive to the start of the Light, too, so that would eat up about 25 additional minutes. I grabbed gear and headed over to the hotel with the crew. With my boxes, I decided to head upstairs to the room first and shower while I was there, so I missed breakfast, but I had a bar to eat and some tea to drink, and was all good. Somehow, even with the longer intermission, there was only an hour of time left to sleep again, but any sleep is good. I again fell asleep almost immediately, and did have a charged phone with an alarm to wake up to this time. Only a Light left. It was a little easier to get out of bed for this. We geared up, took a stop by my car back at the park to get gloves, and drove to 13 Stripes Brewing in Taylors, SC, for the start of the Light.
THE LIGHT
It was great to see more friends at the Light. There were many newbies, too, which is always exciting. Many were new to GORUCK, period. This would not be a typical Light for them, because of the scenario we were playing through.
We separated into two groups - the H/T people (the SF role players), and the L people (the local guerillas). We gathered around the guerilla leaders, so that our Cadre's randomly picked ATLs and TL could talk to them and figure out how we could help them. It was really helpful to hear the interaction, and learn how Green Berets need to build good rapport with the locals they're working with. You look for ways to help, which can be through non-material support. You treat people with respect, and not be overly threatening in your demeanor. Understand differences in culture, and be aware that things you may take for granted may be of utmost importance to the locals.
We agreed to help train the guerillas and help them do recon on targets. We split into 4 groups, and started by making sure that our trainees had all of the gear they needed. Then, we started explaining how to ruck in formation, adhere to flag rules, do half step, and road guard. AT was our ATL, so she was totally in her element when teaching the guerillas in our group, and got everyone up to speed and ready for action in no time.
Our group went out with Cadre Hammer. We were in potentially hostile territory, so we had to be aware of our surroundings at all times. We rucked about 0.75 mi to a store that sold alcohol and tobacco. We made notes and took pictures of the lighting, security, surroundings, windows, size, building material, and people. We quickly had to go back, since we were on a time hack, and the guerilla leaders were counting on us to come back with the intel by a certain time. We did some shuffling, to make up time. We were lucky to have AT's husband come along as a shadow, since he got some great shots of us in action along the way.
We got back, and the TLs/ATLs provided summary reports to the guerilla leaders. Our TL for the Light was really good. She might've been volunteered by the Cadre, but she was a pro at explaining things to everyone confidently and getting the job done. It was kind of funny. When the Spanish-speaking guerilla leaders were first introduced to the TL and ATLs, the leader asked the translator, "a woman?", when he found out who our TL was.
We decided that we'd continue to help them by providing physical training. It was time for the Will Buddy Hero WOD. We worked in pairs for this, and an HTLer asked if I wanted to team up. We were a good match. We were among those who took the most time on the WOD, but we were trying to make every rep count, especially since it was a hero WOD. We had 10 rounds of 10 ruck squats, 10 4-ct American Ruck Twists (I hadn't tried it with 4-ct ones before... those were the hardest... 2-cts are bad enough), 10 ruck pushups (also hard), and 10 ruck high pulls. Those 4 exercises honor the 4 daughters that SFC Will Lindsay left behind. The ranger beads on my ruck came in handy again, for counting the rounds. When pairs finished, they got assigned either a log team or a sandbag to carry. I don't know if it's because we took among the longest or because we probably were of unequal height, but we got a 40#SB, which I didn't mind at all, so we started shuffling with it. We ended up catching up with many teams, which was good.
I thought we might have one final evolution after that, but it was actually time to check the ground for trash, to leave the area better than we found it. Then, we had a chance to share more hero cards. There were some really touching ones. The people who come to Lights as their first events often have some amazing stories of why they are there, like the brother and sister pair who had come to the
Vietnam Light in CHS.
We finished with the patching ceremony. We finally got to reach into the bucket and get our H and T patches back, to go with our L and HTL patches. It was a great feeling to get to welcome SB into the HTL family. Long overdue.
THE AFTERPARTY
After the event, we got to turn around and head into 13 Stripes Brewing for the afterparty. They had closed down the place early just for us. The first $400 of beer was sponsored by GORUCK. There was a silent auction. Participants and shadows and support got to gather together to celebrate recap the great series of events from the weekend.
One tradition from the Hard Hitter events is a series of Hard Hitter Awards that they give out to selected participants at the end. The sledgehammer symbol on the patches and in the coupons that we had carried symbolized the weekly award that David used to win 90% of the time when he was on his team. He had always worked super hard, performing to the highest standards, and inspiring his teammates with his dedication. The awardees who would be recognized for having some of those same traits were encouraged to carry on that legacy. I got called up, followed by some others. It was a little agonizing for a moment before everyone got called up, because I knew that it wouldn't feel right being up there without the two without whom I wouldn't be where I am on my GORUCK journey. SB and AT gave me the training guidance to get to a point where I could take on the HTL, the courage to show up and go for it, and the kind of friendship and comraderie that makes it worth going back to do these crazy events for over and over again.
JB aka "4" was up there, too. A more impressive yet humble guy you won't find anywhere else. He's a stud who does incredible things, but all he does is build up and encourage others. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't really know PM yet, even after spending like 40 hours with him, but I'm sure he's an amazing human being. DS, who I've done a couple of events with before in FL & GA was solid. Looking back at videos, she not only puts in the work (and helped me out during that final coupon carry in the Heavy), but she also encouraged "51" aka Croutons and helped him get through the Robbie Miller WOD with great patience and resolve.
In a nice surprise, SB also got an extra award for being the ultimate embodiment of what being a GRT and Hard Hitter is all about. On an individual level, it's hard to beat her strength, grit, and experience. On a team level, she uses those qualities for the benefit of others by encouraging, teaching, and inspiring them to do things they never thought they could do, and her ability to lead teams is renowned in GORUCK land.
Family members of David Roten spoke, and we shared a toast, to honor the true Hard Hitters and heroes pictured on the wall. I hope the HTL event and similar events continue in the future, so that we can continue to gather together, do epic things, and honor those who do this stuff for real and live and die for the freedom that we enjoy.
POST HTL
There was a long queue for food orders at the brewery, so we picked up fast food on the way back to the hotel. It was great sharing stories and celebrating in the hotel afterwards. AW got to room with 3 Hard Hitter Award women that night, haha.
I was surprised that I wasn't too tired after the work week and then the HTL. I maybe could've driven back that night, but the shower and warm bed were nice. I got to wake up late enough to get breakfast at the hotel but early enough to still get to work on time, even with inbound CLT traffic. Taking off Monday might've been nice, but I had follow-up sessions from the previous week's meeting to lead. I was actually less tired at work than I expected, too.... maybe not peppy, but at least able to string thoughts together.
In the week that followed, it was odd that I sometimes wished that I was still back there on the field in the night with my teammates. Until the next one...
