READ THIS ACCOUNT FRON AN SFAS CANDIDATE ABOUT THE "NASTY NICK" OBSTACLE COURSE:
The first real physical test came in the way of an obstacle course known simply as "Nasty Nick" (named after the late Colonel Nick Rowe). The obstacle course boasts some pretty high rope climbs as well as some obstacles that measure a candidate's equilibrium and courage. The SF cadre is interested in finding out how a man reacts in unfamiliar terrain. We each live in our own comfort zones. We have these individual shells of protection that we utilize to avoid the outside world from exposing our softer insides. The cadre works to observe our performance in each obstacle and assess our hesitation when confronted by the danger of falling and possible maiming. There was no cadre around each obstacle waiting to catch you if you fell. There were enough of them around, however, to document your success, or failure, at most obstacles. Looking at some of these architectural nightmares, I appreciated how close one could come to a life changing physical paralysis should one fail to pay attention to detail, follow instructions, or was too weak. If one fell from an obstacle, whether it resulted in a compound fracture, or just a bruised ego, a cadre member would just stand over you with a pen and clipboard and with a monotone voice say: "Candidate you have failed to successfully complete this obstacle. Would you like to try again?" And that was that. No emotion, no encouragement, no alarm. Of course, if the injury were serious enough, an SF medic would check you out and decide whether it was unwise for either SF, or the Army, to allow you to continue. In this case, you were Medically Dropped (Med Drop -- see IVW) from the course and were given another chance at it in the future, provided a doctor's note in your medical records stated you have healed completely.
With this happy thought in mind, I headed into the obstacle course. By now, just after the first week, we had lost enough people to consolidate into just three huts. Our last man was now roster number 257. I was one of the first ten guys, from my group of 69 men. Naturally, Hut 3 was the last hut to tackle the obstacle. We were required to wear olive green, or yellow, Protec hockey helmets in order to protect our gray matter. The first obstacle, some horizontal poles that needed vaulting-over, presented no problem for me. However, in my excited state, I noticed that I felt as if I had just sprint a 100-yard dash. I reminded myself to calm down and breathe normally. The next obstacle was an impressive rope climb. One merely had to climb a rope and touch the knot at the top of the obstacle. Then, one was to slide down an angled rope to an anchor point down at the bottom. The rope was most likely about twenty-five feet up. It sure felt like it was thirty-five feet up; I was not sure. I began using a rope climb technique that used the assistance of my legs in concert with my arms. It was supposed to save energy throughout the course. Somehow, on the descent, I felt quite drained. It took me about three other successful rope obstacle climbs to realize that my technique was flawed and I was actually doing more work with my arms than I should be doing. After leaping onto logs of varying height, crawling under barbed wire, inside underground tunnels, traversing long "monkey bars" similar to those found in kids' jungle gyms everywhere, I came upon my last vertical rope obstacle. One had to jump on a horizontal log, attain a second or so of balance, jump to a vertical rope in front and climb its length to the top, touch the knot, climb over the horizontal log onto which the rope was tied, walk along a support beam, suspended about twenty to twenty-five feet off the ground, walk over a one-rope bridge without loosing balance, and walk another plank to a fast rope and finally, descend in a controlled manner at the other end.
By this point I was totally spent. I hardly had anything else left in me. But, I knew that quitting was not an option. This was not to be that last obstacle, however; there were about three others. But, this would be the last hard one, in my estimation. At the top of the obstacle I noticed an instructor shouting instructions to the candidates below. He also held a clipboard and that meant he was assessing this particular obstacle. Any hint of hesitation on my part would be recorded.
I double-timed up to the horizontal log and jumped on it. I leaped to the vertical rope and found my arms were totally exhausted of energy. I climbed up and by the time I got about eighteen inches from the vertical log at the top, I totally ran out of energy. .. CONTINUED AT http://7thspecialforces.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5CCDAD12D1DC34C2!187.entry
Join the Special Forces, contact Staff Sergeant Brito at 562.900.0575 or visit http://www.iguardcalifornia.com
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Combat Control Selection Schoolby 2ndCombatCamera15,545 views
It looked like a play ground that l take my 10 year old kids too.
betdan7777777 3 months ago
@EricBBrandon1 Yep I remember as well.
michaelsterling37 8 months ago
Oh...I had so much fun in that "playground"! Then returning back to camp and going into hand-to-gland training only improved things! I felt like walking hamburger! Nothing like getting to relax on a plywood bunk at the end of the day! The knots just won't go away!
EricBBrandon1 1 year ago