French Commando School – Lessons on Survival and Appreciation

So Mr. Belding Retweeted this post about lessons learned from French Commando School last week – YHC read it and felt inspired. Then realized that it was from Dredd.  Felt that the story had something to do with being inspired by HOFF and his Commando shorts and duck tape over the nipples picture…actually that is one site YHC wishes he could forget, but no – it was a thoughtful piece on surviving – with your brothers. We would apply those lessons throughout the workout. Today is T-Bones birthday.  He is old as the dirt between the creases of my nether region – yes men, the nether region – and it was old dirt. Happy Birthday T-Bone. 9 men showed up at 4:45 for an EC Ruck of 2.5 miles, 3 more joined for the Thang and to experience how the French Commandos survive.

This workout was designed to be done with or without a Ruck. The idea is to keep the body moving like the French Commandos – no rest, except to mosey to the next site…Oh yeah, YHC is a mean teacher so there was an assignment during each mosey. The intent is to bring the 2nd F into the 1st F, T-Bone brought the 3rd F in the end with the F3 Triple Play.

Warm up: at the flag 25 SSH-IC; 25 Flutterkicks-IC; 10 Slo Merkins-IC. Then mosey to the parking lot by Dowdy-Ficklen. Wanted to set a 12 min cap for each round. To give time for T-Bone to bring the 3rd F into the end of the workout.

The Thang: Round 1 – 10 Burpees > squats for 6 then do more til the Q says stop; Explain the next exercise before stopping the SSH (Commandos don’t take breaks); 20 Merkins > Peter Parkers for the 6 til the Q says stop – same thing; no breaks; 30-WWIIs > Flutter Kicks for the 6 (same thing) All can be done with a Ruck or without;  (Then mosey to the Murphy Field – talk about your Family/LOVE – YES LOVE – Commandos love to talk about LOVE – its the only thing worth fighting for). The point is to know your brothers as a Commando – they will have your back when you need it and often when you don’t realize you need a brother – the 2nd F.

Round 2 – Buddy Drag the length of Murphy Field with your partner (you love them already) then they drag you back (Similar to the JAG workout). Squats for the 6 til the q says stop; THEN Bear Crawl the length of Murphy Field > Flutterkicks for the 6 til the Q says stop; THEN Inch worm back Merkins for the 6 til the Q says stop. Then Lt Dans there and back. Then mosey down the hill to the lower lot – Talk about PAIN or FEAR with the same partner (Commandos have to know when they will need to cover their buddies 6 even closer).

Round 3 – Burpee Hill – Burpee Ladder at the top and the bottom; even numbers starting with 2, then 4, then 6, for 12 min.  We got up to 10 burpees. Then Mosey back to the flag and talk about the next thing you want to LEAD (F3, Church, Family, anywhere)

End with some Mary just because: 10 Boxcutters IC; 10 Freddie Mercury IC. T-Bone wrapped up this morning with some 3rd F.  Because Tonk-Q was present the idea was to make sure there were no breaks during the workout to make sure the 3rd F didn’t interfere with the 1st F beatdown.  Read the Moleskin for details. From the looks on everyones face it seemed like the message brought everything home.

COT/BOM: Prayers for Snookie and all that he does for the community. Perogi from Mini-Me’s region and the 3 men traveling to PA to be with him as he lays a family member to rest. Cousin ITs foster son’s 3 yr old birthday – prayers for the family situation as well. T-Bone’s daughter – it could be a long road ahead for a full healing even though progress is being made. Prayers for Papa Smurf. Prayers for our ability to gather as men of faith.

Moleskin Part 1 (Bono):  “When you see that shovel flag posted outside, it’s hard to hold it together” is what Mini Me said when explaining the tradition his region has in sending 3-4 men to the funeral of any brother. It’s a powerful way to maintain the culture of brotherhood and bonds. It was a quick story that is perfect for todays workout.

Survival is more of an attitude then a physical test. In the book “Mans Search for Meaning”, Victor Frankl explains how some men can survive Auschwitz by sheer hope, where other stronger men die quickly in a matter of days. The 1st F is what makes us strong, but it does not keep us strong. The 1st F is what prepares us as we Push the Rock, as Papa Tweeted the other day. The 2nd F is the glue that keeps us together. Today was also about getting to know the men you do battle with every day in the gloom. Be sure to spend some time as you mosey, getting to know the men around you. That is how you survive tough times. But today was also about the 3rd F. It’s that faith, love, and belief that instills a spirit in the men of F3. It’s what keeps me coming out in the gloom, wanting, hoping, and full of desire to be challenged and to connect to my fellow men.

It’s amazing how men from across F3 Nation come out and connect. It’s because we all share a similar core. Even though we are as different as the people on earth, we are united. Visitors from out of town always remind us of the power of this brotherhood. The power to survive any situation and the accountability to make sure we keep Pushing the Rock.

Moleskin Part 2 (T-Bone) This is worth the read. So we wrapped up the 1st F a minute or two early so YHC (T-Bone) could share a little testimony.  Today (Feb 1) is my birthday and it was my mom’s birthday as well.  For those of you who don’t know, she passed away in June 2015.  My father lives about 4 doors down and we take care of him, cooking dinner, lawncare, etc.  He’s always trying to give us money in exchange, which has become very frustrating for me, as I’m not interested in his money and do things for him out of love, not for payment.  This has been very challenging for me and sometimes manifests itself as frustration, anger or resentment. I’ve talked to my M about this in the past.  Shes doesn’t have those same feelings and I’ve thought that maybe she has more grace and compassion than I or that I was feeling these things because it was MY father and not hers and she simply didn’t understand.

Rewind to last week when I was in Raleigh for some leadership training and team members were given a book to read entitled 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman and Paul White  The book discusses ways to show appreciation and thereby improve engagement for employees through one of 5 Appreciation Languages:  Tangible Gifts, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.  As humans, we are each different and typically identify strongly with one of the Languages.  When someone expresses appreciation to us, if it’s not in the Language that we typically identify, the appreciation is often meaningless.  The authors also note that we typically default to our own Appreciation Language when expressing appreciation to someone else (e.g. if receiving Tangible Gifts is the way you like to be appreciated, you’ll tend to give Tangible Gifts in order to express appreciation to another).

As YHC was reading the chapter on Tangible Gifts, a light went off in my head!  My Dad’s primary language of appreciation is Tangible Gifts and his way of showing love and appreciation is by giving tangible gifts (typically in the form of cash).  As YHC began to process this, it became painfully clear that he (my Dad) has been trying to express love and appreciation through Tangible Gifts, while YHC was feeling more frustration, anger and resentment each time he did.  Now that I understood, my feelings of frustration, anger and resentment almost immediately dissipated!  YHC spent time with my Dad on Saturday and didn’t harbor any of those toxic feelings YHC had previously harbored.  What a burden that had been lifted!  More importantly, it was ME who had to make the change and not anyone else.  Self-examination and reflection can be a painful, difficult process, and I’m thankful that almost like a flip of the switch, my dad’s Language was easily understood, resulting in clarity for me.

If you’ve been around me long enough, you know things don’t end there.  I’m always going to challenge the PAX and raise the bar when it comes to situations like this.  So my challenge to the PAX is to pick up of copy and read  5 Languages of Love by Gary Chapman, which discusses those same Languages, but in the context of love and marriage as opposed to appreciation in the workplace.  Read the book, apply what you learn to your marriage, your friendships and your relationships, and I guarantee that you’ll be a better man for it!    The ball is in your court.  Are you a PAX that tweets #ISI, or are you a PAX that lives it out?  My prayer is that it impacts each of you in the way it’s impacted me.