Kelly and I recently had the unique opportunity to visit the talented crew of Rifle Dynamics in Las Vegas, NV for a behind the scenes look at what they’re all about. It was great to meet such an awesome group of people running the show at a solid American company.

This article is packed full of awesome information on the AK platform, including an interview with owner Jim Fuller and his no-nonsense explanation of 922R Compliance, what to look for when purchasing an off-the-shelf AK, DIY tips on how to keep your AK in top shape and an exclusive first look at the first Rifle Dynamics Production AKs.

Learning all about how Rifle Dynamics got it’s start, was great to hear from Jim himself and what they’re bringing to the industry. Purpose built fighting rifles that you can stake your life on is what they do best. Their credo, “these must work under the most extreme conditions,” lives up to the quality they produce.

While being well known in the industry for manufacturing combloc (communist bloc) weapons, specifically the Kalashnikov, Rifle Dynamics got its start in 2007 after Jim realized that there weren’t many armorers or gunsmiths that understood the AK platform and the true needs of the fighting man. What started as a torture test and a hobby of learning about the platform, turned into all that Rifle Dynamics is today.

Something we noticed when touring Rifle Dynamics, was just how passionate everyone was about their job and wanting to provide the best craftsmanship possible to their end user. It’s always inspiring when you get to talk to the people behind the scenes and learn all about what makes them tick.

Whether you call it an AK, Kalashnikov, or Kalash, the timeless combloc firearm was one of the first assault rifles manufactured. AKs are well known for their reliability, ease of use and lower price point. That last point about price can be misleading, as not all AKs are created equal. Jim gets into that below in a video on what to look for when purchasing an AK, it’s a must watch for anyone considering an AK purchase.

The Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK) was the brainchild of weapon designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1946, when he entered the codenamed AK-1 in a competition started by the Soviet Army to find an assault rifle capable of firing the new shortened version of the 7.62x41mm cartridge, known as the M1943 (7.62x39mm). It’s also been said that the reason for the competition was to find a competitor to the Sturmgeweher 44 (StG44) that the Germans effectively employed against the Soviets in WWII. The StG44 fired the 7.92x33mm Kurz round, a shortened version of the 7.92x57mm Mauser round.

The codenamed AK-2 is what would become the AK-47, after a design improvement was suggested by Kalashnikov’s assistant in 1947. While not officially adopted by the Soviet Army until 1949, the Kalashnikov production was certainly not without faults. While starting the production with stamped sheet metal receivers (Type 1), there were problems with warping that caused high rejection rates.

A machined (milled) receiver was substituted and production continued, albeit very slowly. These steel milled receivers are referred to as Type 2 (1959 – 1953/54 and Type 3 receivers (1953/54 – 1959). In 1959 the original Type 1 warping problem was solved and a stamped sheet metal receiver was re-introduced as the Type 4 or AKM (M meaning modernized). The AKM is what’s traditionally encountered today and what most AK variants are based on, though still incorrectly called AK-47s instead of AKMs.

In 1974 the Soviets began fielding a new design that utilized the smaller 5.45x39mm cartridge, which they dubbed the AK-74. One thing you have to give to the Soviets, is that their naming convention is pretty straight forward! It’s been said that the utilization of a smaller round came out of the US adoption of the 5.56mm, although that was ten years earlier. The 5.45 did significantly reduce the weight of the 7.62x39mm round to about half.

1979 is when the AK-74 first saw service with Soviet forces in the Afghanistan conflict and is still in production today, along with the AKM. These two firearms share around a 50% parts commonality. Just like the history of the M-16, the AK isn’t without problems, but the history of the AK platform is a little easier on the end-user than the M-16 and it’s early malfunctions.

The AK was originally designed to stand up to the wet, muddy and freezing conditions in Russia and is still well know for these characteristics today. As mentioned earlier, all AKs are not created equal. Here’s Jim with what to look for in your next purchase.

As you can see from Jim’s video below, there are quite a few things the DIYer can tackle with the AK platform, but the majority of improvements to the AK require access to machining. This is why taking the same approach to the AK that we took with the AR in our DIY AR-15 Build, isn’t feasible.

The AK requires jigs and machining that the average person doesn’t have access to, such as being able to properly dimple the receiver for strength or utilizing harder rivets vs. standard american aluminum rivets; working on the AK is definitely a tedious process. Don’t get me wrong, there’s certainly a lot of tedious work that goes into the AR as well, but you can build an AR from the ground up with just a few tools and a vice, not so with an AK.

Also, if something is out of spec on your AK it will never run right. It’s better to leave the more complicated processes to professionals, like the crew at Rifle Dynamics. This is why I left my Romanian SAR-1 with the crew at Rifle Dynamics for some work and can’t wait to report back on the modifications I’m having done. With the success of the Battle Comp 1.5 we permanently attached during our DIY AR-15 Build, one of the things I’m having done is getting a Battle Comp AKBC installed.

Call me a traditionalist, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of the wood stock and handguard you see in the photos here of what my SAR-1 looked like when I left it with Rifle Dynamics. Still to this day it’s some of the nicest wood I’ve seen on an AK. Jim mentioned how well the SAR-1 was built by the Romanians and a great base gun to start with. I was particularly impressed with the fact that it had the correct headspacing, as a lot of the off-the-shelf AKs don’t.

One last tip request came to us via Facebook, where Kurt asked what the Rifle Dynamics preferred to use for lubrication on AKs. Jim’s answer was White Lithium Grease. Check out the photos at the bottom of this article for the point on the AK Bolt and Bolt Carrier that Jim recommends lubing at. By placing the grease at these key locations, it will lube the AK in the necessary spots as it’s charged a few times.

If you’d like to learn more about what you can do with the AK platform at home, be sure to check out the Panteao Productions AK Armorer’s Bench DVD with Jim Fuller.

In true Soviet style, Rifle Dynamics has kept things simple by offering four models of their new production rifles. The RD 700 series is chambered in 7.62x39mm, while the RD 500 series is chambered in 5.45x39mm. Each series has the option of a triangle sidefolder stock or a Magpul CTR with the RD AKM-4 stock adapter.

• RD 501 – 5.45×39 w/ Triangle Sidefolder
• RD 502 – 5.45×39 w/ Magpul CTR
• RD 701 – 7.62×39 w/ Triangle Sidefolder
• RD 702 – 7.62×39 w/ Magpul CTR

Built from stock Saiga IZ 132′s (7.62) and IZ 240′s (5.45), Rifle Dynamics strips them down to bare receivers, pulls the barrels and starts the rebuild process. The Saiga platform is utilized for the quality of the Russian cold hammer forged chrome-lined barrels and properly heat-treated receivers.

All models feature custom front end work, such as the barrel being cut, crowned, threaded and pinned to an overall length (OAL) of 16.25″ to include the compensator. The Battle Comp AKBC is included on the 700 Series and the Battle Comp 2.0 on the 500 Series.

Other modifications include:

• Bolton Gen 2 Gas Block
• Ultimak Scope Rail
• K-Var Lower Handguard
• US Palm Pistol Grip
• US Trigger Group
• Krebs Retainer Plate
• Fuller Rear Sight Mod
• Sandblasting and Parkerizing with Norrells Moly Resin Finish in your choice of Black or FDE

A few other attention to detail items that Rifle Dynamics includes and are well known for, are fitting the trigger group, fitting the bolt carrier/rails, re-headspacing, polishing/correcting angles on the bolt lugs and front trunnion for smooth locking and unlocking. They also dehorn the trigger guard, magazine release, safety and charging handle. Factory side rails are removed for less weight and a cleaner look, with all unused holes TIG welded and cleaned up.

You can see there’s a tremendous amount of work that Rifle Dynamics puts into each one of these new production rifles and as the video below shows, they shoot like a champ! Having personally fired the RD 501, I can’t say enough good things about what the crew at Rifle Dynamics have accomplished out of the AK platform! Reach out to Rifle Dynamics if you’re interested in their new production AKs, they’re going quick!

A new product from Rifle Dynamics, that’s just been announced, is their exclusive Battle Comp AKBC74. The new compensator will fit 24mm right hand thread on most 5.45 AKs equipped with a 24mm front sight base. There’s also a prototype being kicked around for 7.62 as well.

Kelly and I really enjoyed the opportunity to run some guns out of Rifle Dynamics’ arsenal. We shot the production rifles, a few fully-auto AKs and Krinks, as well as the AES-10B and PKM. While I love shooting full-auto, I cringe every time I do at the cost of that wall of lead!

We’d like to thank Jim, Karen, Roger, Billy and the entire Rifle Dynamics crew for rolling out the red carpet and their incredible hospitality. We appreciate them taking the time out of their busy production schedule to meet with us. Hopefully we can return the favor next time they’re out this way in Texas.

I highly recommend the professional crew at Rifle Dynamics for your next AK project, check them out online and be sure to stop by and visit their Facebook page while you’re at it!

ITS Tactical is teaming up with our friends at MADCAT Aviator Operator and whomever would like to join us this Memorial Day here in Dallas, TX for Carry The Load.

Carry The Load is a 20-hour Memorial Day event honoring and thanking members of the military, law enforcement, firefighers and their families for the sacrifices they make.

It’s a life-changing journey for people as they walk or run as long or as little as they can in the 20-hour period. Like the service members they honor, they carry more than they have to, longer than they think they can.

We’ve organized a team to participate in the event and are calling on you to show up and help us Carry The Load. As mentioned, there’s no commitment to the whole 20 hours that we’ll be there, to register for free on our team we’ve dubbed the ITS Tactical Joint Task Force, click here. Even if you can’t make it out, you can help us reach our goal of raising  $2,000 for the event. To donate to our team, please click here.

As a GORUCK Tough member, I’ll be carrying my weighted GORUCK GR2 pack in honor of my friends that have fallen. We’re also still finalizing what team weight we’ll be carrying. Throw up a suggestion in the comments if you have one. Please also share this post with anyone you think might be interested in participating or donating.

Even if you don’t think you’ll be able to stay long at the event, we’d love to still have you on the team. We’re also calling on any Texas-based businesses in the industry to join us in coming out and participating on our team. We’d like to get everyone together that we can for this event.

Carry The Load – Dallas starts on Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. and goes through Monday, May 28 at 12:12 p.m. It’s being held at Reverchon Park in Dallas, TX. If you’d like to participate and join our team, sign up here.

Help ITS Tactical and MADCAT remember our fallen this Memorial Day!

We’ve got a couple a great new items releasing today, including our Grow a Pair Morale Patch and a 4-Piece Bogota Titanium Toolset. You guys have been asking for a quality-built traditional pick set and we’re happy to finally offer one that’s made in the US and made out of titanium!

The 4-piece toolset includes three straight picks and one tension wrench, together weighing just 0.3 ounces. Their inherently “flat” shape make them easy to store and not to mention corrosion resistant and non-magnetic.

You can pick up our new items in the ITS Tactical Store starting today!

I have fond memories of being involved in the Boy Scouts of America from my youth, the majority of those having taken place outdoors and on campouts. I believe scouting is what started my sense of adventure and gave me the confidence needed to explore not just the outdoors, but all aspects of life.

Scouting is that last true organization left in the US that’s promoting the leadership, integrity, confidence and life skills this next generation needs and can’t get anywhere else. Scouting is taking these young men out of their element of video games, socializing and organized sports for just long enough to teach them how to rely on themselves. While there’s certainly a place for team sports and what’s learned there, it’s still very much an “all about me” activity. Today’s sports superstars aren’t helping that stereotype either.

Fundamentally, I feel like this is what’s wrong with society today. People have lost the skill-set that should be held above all others. Self reliance. I don’t mean putting on a tin foil hat and being holed up in a bunker, I mean true self reliance in all aspects of life.

One of the best quotes I overheard during my time in the Navy, that goes along with self reliance, was when I was at BUD/s. I was in a duty section before I’d officially started BUD/s and we had to clean up the grinder, or the large asphalt area where PT takes place. A fellow student was relaying to an instructor that he couldn’t find anymore trash bags and the instructors response was “if your life depended on it, could you find a trash bag?” Guess what, the student took off and found a trash bag. That may seem like a simple example, but it’s stuck with me since then and I’ve always remembered that when I wanted to mentally give up on a task or thought something I’d undertaken was too hard.

Granted this was an example used from my time in the Navy, but scouting is what helped me have the courage to get there in the first place. I strongly believe that. I’ll go off on a small tangent here and also say that knowing you can accomplish certain goals through practice and determination is what mental fortitude is all about. I’m proud to say that while never achieving my goal of becoming a Navy SEAL due to an injury, my mental fortitude is what got me through Hell Week and two thirds of BUD/s. I owe that all to not only what I knew about myself from growing up, but what I was able to achieve in the two years I spent training for it. Most things in life are 90% mental just like BUD/s was.

I’ve been involved in scouting with my step-son for a little over two years now as a volunteer Assistant Scoutmaster. My step-son, who’s just turned 14, started scouting when he was 12 and we couldn’t have picked a better time for him to pick it up. I’ve been in his life since he was 5, but he hadn’t had the desire to try scouting until a few years ago.

I never wanted to push him into it, as he’s been very involved with baseball and football from an early age. I feel that since starting scouting he’s learned some very important life lessons, is extremely confident in his abilities (self reliance) and has exhibited great leadership skills. Again, scouting has played a big role in getting him there. He’s progressing well through the ranks, but again, I’m not pushing him. I do often remind him of the merits of making it to Eagle Scout and the great things it can do for his future.

I’ve often used the example that if he and another person were vying for the same position at a company, with the exact same qualifications, being an Eagle Scout would certainly tip the scale in his favor. I also point out all the public figures that are Eagle Scouts, including our Tactical Governor Rick Perry and Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, to name a few. I also particularly like Mike’s perspective on achieving Eagle Scout.

Volunteering my time as been a great way for me to give back to today’s youth and help them learn important skills that they’ll look back on one day in their lives. This may sound sappy, but it really lights me up to see a boy’s reaction when he finally understands how to tie a knot, accomplishes something like rappelling down a 50 ft. tower, or that look in his eye when he shoots a .22 rifle for the first time. This is what every young person needs in their lives, to accomplish life’s challenges and learn more about themselves.

This is why I’m such a big advocate of skill-sets and why I started ITS back in 2009, to continue to give back after I left the military the best way I knew how, to share my knowledge and build a community around it. Scouting has been another great avenue to do this and both it and ITS have been tremendously rewarding.

I’d encourage everyone to get their children, friends and family involved in scouting. The organization is doing well as a whole, but could be even better with your help. Please do what you can to support one of the last remaining avenues kids have these days for this kind of personal development.

I’m stoked to introduce a new program and workbook that’s debuting today from my good friend and former Air Force PJ (Pararescue Jumper), Nate Morrison. I’ve known Nate since my Navy days in 2004, when I met him through a friend while training in Systema with James Williams.

Nate was one of the first and most prominent individuals to see the direct benefits of both kettlebell training and non-fatiguing high-intensity strength training and their application to the field of tactical strength and conditioning. Easily recognizing the short-falls of typical body-building methods and old-school PT methods, Nate not only was one of the first, but also quite simply the most vocal in the US in applying specific preparation to address the specific needs and demands of the tactical athlete.

Nate has been involved in both Army and Air Force Special Operations for the past 18 years and is currently a Military Freefall and Mountain Warfare Instructor. I’ve been proud to have him as a contributor to ITS Tactical and I’m anxious to tell you all about The Morrison System.

I’ve had an advanced copy of The Morrison System for a few weeks now and have been busy reading ever since. My experience with fitness, nutrition and living well has been self-taught through weeding through the piles and piles of useless information out there and experimenting on my body to find what works. I feel like everyone is different and has certain ideas of the fitness levels they’d like to attain and maintain.

For me, I spent two plus years training for my shot at BUD/s in the Navy, which was very specialized training for the events found in that pipeline. During that time, I not only learned what my body was capable of, but that the mind truly does control the body. This is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in any workout routine, whether it’s tackling a new methodology or simply being consistent and dedicated to your fitness goals.

One of the first things that caught my eye in The Morrison System, comes from the preface, where Nate talks about the basics. “Keep it simple, tune everything else out, train right and train hard. That is the way of the true professional.” I couldn’t agree more with this philosophy and that you become what you do consistently. Nate also advocates a core belief I advocate here on ITS, which is not only the how, but the why.

The Morrison System was designed to deliver an effective training protocol to Special Operations, mountaineers and adventure athletes. That being said, it’s also designed to properly align your training, no matter what your sport or occupation may be.

Whether you’re in the general fitness crowd or someone who wants an all around strength and conditioning program, the “whole human being” aspect of TMS seems to work well around this. What’s unique, is the attention that’s paid to the variables of training, individual response to training and actually teaching you how to recover properly; avoiding pain and injury commonly associated with overtraining.

Nate also mentions that you won’t be so wiped out while following TMS that you can’t function. Remember, functional fitness is about being able to function!

The Morrison System and the accompanying Planning Workbook are available here starting today. I’m looking forward to getting started on TMS myself and report back with my results on ITS. I feel that it represents a fresh approach to fitness that’s truly modular and capable of adapting to everyone’s fitness goals.

We had a blast meeting everyone at the 1st Annual Silencers Are Legal Shoot that took place at Elm Fork Shooting Sports in Dallas. The video that Silencerco put together below, is a great compilation of the event and everyone that was involved. We were proud to sponsor the event and can’t wait to do it again next year!

Yesterday morning while stopping at a gas station to put air in my tire, I was approached by a stranger. The first words out of his mouth were to ask “if I was from around here,” immediately sending me into condition orange.

It’s interesting to note that this happened just a day after I sat through a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) renewal class, where we got into a good discussion during the class about muggings, vehicle thefts and how you’d react during those situations.

We all have our preconceived notions of how we’d react in a violent encounter, but the truth is that we’ll never truly know until we’re put in that exact situation.

I’d like to explain my statement earlier about condition orange and provide a brief example of the Cooper Color Code here for reference. We’ve previously mentioned Colonel Jeff Cooper here on ITS, in regard to his carry conditions and firearm safety rules, but he is also known for advocating a color code to describe a person’s state of mind. Not so much in regards to a level of alertness, but purely the mental state.

The following comes from his book, Principles of Personal Defense:

• Condition White – You are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary is totally inept.
• Condition Yellow – You bring yourself to the understanding that your life may be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.
• Condition Orange – You have determined upon a specific adversary and are prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not in a lethal mode.
• Condition Red – You are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant.

Condition Orange is definitely what my body kicked into when presented with this stranger that approached me in the parking lot of the gas station. I’d like to explain one more principle of what occurred to me though, before going into the rest of the story.

The body alarm response is what naturally happens to your body during an elevated state of awareness and the adrenaline dump that comes along with it. This is typically referred to as “fight or flight,” but more appropriately described as BAR.

During a body alarm response, the characteristics exhibited are rapid heart beat and it’s counterpart, rapid breathing; tingling of the extremities, degradation in fine motor skills, tunnel vision and that sinking sensation in your stomach. You should embrace these characteristics as your body’s early warning system and be glad they’re working, not let them control you and succumb to the “fear” you might think this means.

As blood is drawn into your core from your extremities (that tingling sensation and possibly numbness), you may recall the smallest of details during this heightened level of awareness. Blood being drawn away is also what can cause loss of fine motor skills, which aren’t as “fine” as you might expect. Check out this article on ITS for more on the loss of fine motor skills.

There are ways to control body alarm response through, meaning that through training and preparing yourself, you can mitigate it’s effects. One of the most powerful training tools is embracing it.

Now back to my story. What happened is, as I was walking inside to get change for the air pump at the gas station, I was approached by a cleanly-dressed stranger. He had come from the direction of a nicer vehicle that was parked alongside the convenience store building of the gas station. I immediately assumed that it was his vehicle, but I quickly flipped through a memory of just a few seconds ago where I’d noticed him floating around a gas pump.

As he approached my path to the convenience store entrance, my plan was to ignore him and keep walking inside. This plan quickly went out the window, as he encroached  rapidly while asking the question, “are you from around here?” That particular question, along with the quick approach into my personal space, immediately sent me into condition orange.

My first reaction, even before answering him was to look at his hands and start walking backwards. I’m actually really proud of myself, as this is what I’ve been over and over with in my head, “watch their hands, watch their hands.” I’ll ding myself on walking backwards rather than stopping prior to when I did, but I think a lot of that is how we realistically encounter people every day.

In a perfect world, I’d like to say that I follow the 21 ft. rule, which was highlighted by an article in SWAT Magazine in 1983 called How Close is Too Close? In that article, it states that a healthy adult male can cover the distance of 7 yards (about 21 ft.) in 1.5 seconds. Coincidently, the study also showed that took about 1.5 seconds to draw a sidearm and put two rounds center mass on a human-size target at 7 yards.

You make that quickly approaching adult male an armed attacker and you can see why it’s called the 21 ft. rule. Realistically, we allow people within this 21 ft. perimeter each and every day; for me this day was no exception.

Putting distance between myself and this stranger was also something I was proud of, although moving backwards is never a good thing. Just like the guy in the movie Snatch say, “whenever you’re in reverse, things come from behind you.”

As I put distance between myself and the stranger I answered yes to his question. At this point he continued to approach with his hands down by his side, while stating “Do you know if there’s a Petsmart around…” I cut into his statement, putting up my left hand and saying “Just wait right there and I’ll answer your question.” My right hand also moved backwards towards my gun. I never placed my hand on it, or gave away its position, I was just cognizant of where I was moving my hand to.

His immediate response was to put both his hands up and say “Ok, I was just trying to find the Petsmart… I found the Petco, I just can’t find the Petsmart.” By now I think he realized that I didn’t like him invading my personal space and he finally seemed aware of me putting distance between us.

I gave him some simple directions to Petsmart, but was very short with him, continuing to watch his body position. After he said thanks for the directions, he turned around and walked off as I walked closer to the building’s door. I noticed him walk right past the car I had assumed belonged to him and round the corner behind the building. After getting change for the air pump, I exited the building.

Ensuring to keep my head on a swivel all the way back to the air pump, I didn’t see the stranger again. I brushed off the encounter until I was back in my vehicle and on the road. It was then I really took stock of what happened and the indicators that warranted my elevated condition. I truly feel that my actions prevented me from becoming a victim, or at least made me appear to be a hard target. I think the stranger was up to no good and my reaction to his closing distance made him rethink his battle plan.

I wanted to share my story with you today, because I think it helps to reinforce how important it is to listen to your body and an example of how your conditioning can take over, even when you don’t plan for it to. I think that If I hadn’t mentally rehearsed this scenario thousands of times in my head and been exposed to it during my training, the outcome would have been dramatically different.

If you’ve got a similar story to share, post it in the comments, I’d be interested to hear of situations like this that might have happened to you.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting the Battle Comp crew at a recent event and am thrilled to announce their participation in the Vendor Discount Code program for our members.

Simply visit your Vendor Discount Code page to claim your code for 10% your entire order and be sure to tell Battle Comp that ITS Tactical sent you!

I’ve worn a watch compass for the better part of 6 years now and have always favored the Suunto Clipper, despite it’s drawbacks and owning a total of four of them throughout this time. While this could be why the watch compass was recently discontinued by Suunto, I’ve been searching for a good replacement since the last one I had gave up the ghost.

I slammed it against a ladder about a month ago, causing the bezel and the compass to separate from the carrier and go flying across our warehouse here at ITS HQ. I tried to superglue the clipper back together again, but for some reason, either the superglue reacted strangely with the compass and caused the liquid to discolor and leak out, or there was a hairline fracture from the impact that I didn’t catch.

Either way, I went on an internet search to find a replacement, or even see if I could find a vendor that still had the Suunto Clipper in stock.

The first compass I came across that looked halfway decent was the Brunton Watchband Slider Compass. I had seen some other “cheaper” options, but went with a name brand, hoping that they’d live up to the quality of the Suunto Clipper.

I was wrong. The Brunton is simply glued to a rubber watchband slider and I knew the first knock it took would send it flying. Sure enough, the other day my wrist hit up against a display at a store and the liquid filled compass sailed into the sunset.

One of the inherent issues with the small liquid-filled watch compasses is if they take a good hit, they’ll develop an air bubble. This air bubble can lead to the compass becoming inaccurate, due to the bubble pressing the dial down in a direction it shouldn’t. After retrieving the Brunton, I noticed an air bubble had formed as well. Instead of gluing this one back together, I’m on a mission again to find an alternative, as the Brunton doesn’t warrant an attempt at repair. It’s an inherently poor design.

Watch compasses aren’t the most accurate devices in the world, but for backup purposes I really like having one around. As you might have read in my review of my G-Shock Watch and Suunto Clipper, they’re also prone to becoming demagnetized easily if you wear a wedding ring on your wrist band as I commonly did before I realized it was causing an issue. When I was working out, I’d put my wedding ring on my watch to prevent losing it.

So again, I’m on the hunt for a new watch compass. Anyone have ideas on what I should try next?

We’ve had lots of great feedback on our ETA Trauma Kit Pouches and are happy to announce today that due to popular demand, they’re now available in black! We’re also announcing the release of our Single Point Koozie today. We had a great response to the sneak peak we showed over our Facebook Page!

In further release news, we had a blast at the Silencers Are Legal Shoot last weekend. Our booth was hopping and we were so swamped that none of us had the opportunity to go shoot! That being said, we have a few of the Silencers Are Legal patches left that we made up for the event and to benefit the American Silencer Association. These are limited to this single run and are available in the store while supplies last!

Everyone’s been clamoring for more Molly Stix and Memorial bracelets; we’re happy to announce these are back in stock as well. We’ve also restocked our popular Honey Badger Morale Patches, Honey Badger T-Shirts and Calico Jack PVC Morale Patches.

As we move forward in ensuring all our T-Shirts are made in the USA, we’ve released an Army Green version of our Logo T-Shirt. These are silkscreened by hand in the USA on American Apparel Fine Jersey Cotton T’s.

There’s a new TV show coming to the Pursuit Channel, called Trigger Time, that “brings together firearms professionals from across the US to provide the highest level of firearms info and training.”

My good friend Brannon LeBouef is heading up the Personal Protection section of the show and an excellent instructor. I’ve gotten to know Brannon through our last Hog Hunt and his work as the Chief Operations Officer and Instructor for Haley Strategic Partners.

In addition to Brannon, there’s Rob Pincus, Jason Redding, Jason “Jabo” Long and Jim Gilliland, filling out the impressive list of hosts. I’m looking forward to checking out Trigger Time. It’s filming now and tentatively scheduled to air June 25th.

Head over to the Trigger Time TV Facebook Page for some updates they’ve been providing during filming.

We were recently sent a testimonial on the usage of our EDC Trauma Kit by a first responder to an accident, where a man jumped from a moving car on a Tulsa, OK expressway and was struck by two vehicles. Below is the write-up that he sent us, which is a not only a great recap of the incident, but also an honest evaluation of our kit with some lessons learned.

Recently I had placed an order for the ITS Tactical EDC Trauma Kit and got my “Box of Awesome” in the normal quick fashion. I wanted to be able to basically carry a blowout kit, but didn’t want to be the guy in the office that people whispered about. Having returned home from Afghanistan late last February, I’d gotten very used to having one readily available at all times.

Understanding that I now manage a retail store, there was the hesitation of having to explain it to someone. A full size blowout kit was a bit big to be carried in my work pants back pocket. I already have a decent EDC setup, but I really wanted to be able to carry some type of blowout kit, so I decided to give the ITS EDC Trauma Kit a shot.

The first few days it was bulky and uncomfortable, but no one noticed it, or at least no one said anything about it if they did. After about a week, my wife stopped giving me that look and I started popping it into my back pocket every morning. I felt better knowing I was discreetly soothing that little itch I get when the unprepared monster creeps in. The kit did smooth out and I can now put it in my pocket rather easily without issue. In fact, the coyote pouch actually looks like a wallet when it does pop up, so people have yet to say anything to me about it.

After work, two days a week I go to class until ten at night, after which I drag myself home and start over again. With the recent addition of another child to the family, sleep has been a commodity that would be easier to find than hot water in Afghanistan. Wash, rinse and repeat, the schedule goes with the occasional skydive to break the monotony when my wife thinks my eyes are just a bit glazed over. This has been my life while trying to finish my degree in between deployments.

Last week on my way home from class it looked like it was going to be just another tedious drive home to start the cycle over again. On my way home I noticed a vehicle at a strange angle on my way home. As lights flashed by from on coming vehicles, I could see a body in the middle of the highway. It had to be a body, I thought to myself, there’s nothing like the outline of a body of the ground. If you’ve ever been deployed or work in a line of work where you see that sort of thing, you know the feeling. I have a hard time explaining that to people who have never seen that sort of thing, but it’s just a shape you’d know.

I slammed on my breaks and ran around to the back of my jeep where I keep a limited med kit. Having an addiction to adrenalin as my wife loving calls it and the father of a 5-year-old, you just learn to keep that stuff around. I grabbed the bag and ran back to the shape I was praying wasn’t a body. After all, better to be the crazy vet guy than have to try and deal with the worst day of someone else’s life. Sad to say it was the later of the two options and the guy was in pretty bad shape.

Just like in most traumatic incidents, there were a few people milling around taking pictures and one guy a little closer, but not touching the guy bleeding out in the middle of the highway. It seems like that’s just the way the human tribe works, some people respond and others just don’t think of it.  It’s not that they don’t want to help and if you tell them to do something they will, but otherwise they’ll just watch. The actions I took, seemed like they just happened, it’s not that I thought of what to do, I just did it. I guess that saying about not rising to the occasion, but sinking to your lowest level of training is true.

When you get down on the ground with a person that’s bleeding heavily, you’re going to get dirty and that’s just a fact. The backup blowout kits we carried in our calf pocket in Afghanistan didn’t have gloves and the thought behind it was that they were for a last ditch effort or in the case something caught you so off guard, you didn’t have your kit on.  Turns out when I tore my kit open, I tossed those to the side somewhere and just got to work without thinking about it. The guy on the ground had severe head trauma and his most of his face was gone. His trachea was off to one side and his ankle was barely connected.

With a bit of yelling and stimulus, the guy on the ground moaned and gurgled which meant it’s time to get dirty. He was rapidly bleeding out from his head injuries with a compound fracture (mostly amputation) and no doubt internal bleeding since he was choking on blood. I grabbed the guy that was close enough, but not touching him and asked if he knew what happened. He said something about a motorcycle, but the important part was that he got close enough for me to ask him to maintain the victims airway so I could work. My kit was rather thin but then I remembered I had my EDC kit in my pocket and that compound fracture needed a tourniquet. To be honest, it was mostly an amputation but there was a bit of skin holding it all together.

I pulled out my EDC kit from my back pocket and tore it open looking for the tourniquet.  Well imagine my surprise when I pulled out something that didn’t look anything like what I was used to. You see, tourniquets have things you turn to make them tight. It’s kind of a rule and even when you pull one out of your fourth point of contact on an objective, you have to have a stick or something to twist until the blood stops squirting. It’s just something standard that comes with tourniquets, but this SWAT-T tourniquet didn’t even have a buckle.

To be honest, once I got it open I didn’t even take the time to read the illustration on how to turn shapes into other shapes, etc. I pulled that thing tight and just started wrapping till I couldn’t pull anymore. With the pressure from the wrapping holding it in place, it stayed tucked and I went back to check his airway and to try and get the people around to do other things that could actually help.  When I went back to check the bleeding on what was left of his lower leg it had stopped and I couldn’t find a pulse below the tourniquet. So score one for innovations, because otherwise I’m sure my improvisation would have resulted in jokes flying around for years.

To make a long story short we stopped the bleeding with the tourniquet successfully and managed to keep him breathing till emergency crews arrived.  The ending, as many of you know, isn’t always nice and in this case the gentleman only had a few hours left. The important thing to me was that I did the best I could to give him a chance. If I hadn’t had my EDC Kit on me, I have no doubt the process may not have even given him that. So if you ever have a doubt that you need to carry something on you for blowouts I can tell you that you do.

The kit paid for itself that night and looking back I have some training scars, like not putting gloves on and having no idea what the actual tourniquet looked like. I know what I need to work on now and to be honest if that was the worst thing I did wrong, I’ll take that. My kit worked and my training worked which is really what we all wonder sometimes when the heat kicks up. Bryan and ITS did a great job putting this kit together and I cannot endorse it enough!

Photo Credit: KTUL.com

In the wake of President Obama using the SEALs raid on Bin Laden’s Abbottabad, Pakistan compound for political gain, I’d like to ask that we all remember the bigger picture. The world’s most wanted terrorist is dead and today should be one of celebration.

Celebration you say? Yes, the fact that US HUMINT (human intelligence) led us to Bin Laden’s door step should be celebrated for all those that have perished leading up to the operation and those that are still falling in support of continuing operations that deconstruct the terrorist network overseas. Bin Laden’s death certainly didn’t change the battlefield, but it did serve to unite the country in the toppling of a keystone.

One year ago at 23:36 Eastern time, President Obama addressed the nation and announced that US Special Operations conducted an operation deep inside a compound in Aboottabad, Paskistan that left Osama Bin Laden dead after a firefight.

Here at ITS Tactical, we created a 5.1.11 Prevail Morale Patch days after the operation in partnership with America’s Mighty Warriors. AMW is run by Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee, mother of Marc Lee, the first SEAL killed in Iraq on August, 2nd 2006. We continue to donate the profits from the 5.1.11 patch sales to America’s Mighty Warriors.

Marc perished during house-to-house clearing in Ramadi, Iraq and earlier that day put him self in the direct line of fire not once, but twice, to draw attention away from an injured teammate. The second time to allow a medic to reach the fortified position on the rooftop they were on.

Debbie Lee’s Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Charity, America’s Mighty Warriors, was founded to help our military, their families and those that have fallen through their loss. Today I’m celebrating Bin Laden’s death for Marc Lee, Alex Ghane and Jason Workman, who I was in BUD/s with and who I know are celebrating themselves as they look down over us from Valhalla.

We’re getting ramped up here at ITS HQ to head out to Elm Fork Shooting Range in Dallas, TX this Saturday for the Silencers Are Legal Shoot. The shoot is put on by our friends at Silencerco and we’re not only a sponsor of the event, but we’ll also have a booth set up at the shoot.

We’ll have the ITS Store set up on Saturday with an exclusive morale patch we had made up just for the shoot (shown in the photo to the right.) We’ll be donating the proceeds to the American Silencer Association, so be sure to stop by and pick up a patch while you’re there. You can also stop by for a free Kill Cliff endurance and recovery drink (while supplies last.)

There’s an awesome raffle that’s going on during the shoot as well that benefits the ASA. There’s some fantastic prizes to be won, including silencers from Silencerco, AAC, SWR, a Nightforce scope and other goodies from us and our friends at Lone Star Medics and Strikemark.

Tickets to the shoot are only $12 and raffle tickets are $10. In order to avoid inventory issues and overselling items, the ITS Store will be temporarily closed starting today and will reopen Monday, April 30th. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Not every athlete has the luxury of having a professional coach train them multiple times a week. Location, cost, work and family can all hinder one’s ability to train consistently. The lack of a world class training center and a professional coach is no excuse not to be fit. 3-4 hours a week and a few simple tools can get you to a fairly high level of fitness.

One of the most most amazing tools you can acquire if training solo is a sandbag. They’re cheap, easy to come by, easy to build and their awkward size and shape make them great training tools for the real world. They’re a great piece of equipment if you are on deployment and have limited access to more conventional training tools too.

The best thing about a sandbag is how amazingly hard they are. I’ve seen more then one elite-level garage gym coach or fighter walk into a session and get absolutely crushed by these things. They truly are amazing training tools.

The first thing you’ll need is a good old military duffle bag. We strongly suggest using the cotton canvas ones that you can find at most any surplus store vs. the nylon blend type with the back pack straps. The older cotton canvas ones will take the abuse better and are generally more durable.

The first thing you’ll need to do is cut anything metal and sharp off the bag, such as the hook that closes the bag. You really don’t need to cut out the eyelet, but can if you really want to. If you’re looking for a nicer bag we suggest buying the bag from MilitaryAthlete.com – they run $50 and are well worth it, this is what we use exclusively in our gym.

Once you get your bag you’ll need to fill it with something. If you live in a cold place the best thing you can use is wood pellets for a stove, down here in Texas it’s a little warm for stoves, so we use a rubber mulch that’s available from Home Depot. We’ve also had good luck with deer corn. Avoid fillers such as pea gravel because they have a tendency to wear holes in the bag from the inside. Absolutely never, ever, use dog food – trust us on this one.

We suggest that male athletes start with a 60 lb. bag, females with a 40 lb. bag. As you get stronger you can gradually add more filling and increase the size of the bag. Our stronger males here use the 100lb bag and usually put on a weighted vest or plate carrier to increase the load. Eventually you’ll get to a point where no more material will fit in the bag. ITS Tactical did a great article a while back on how to make a “pill” for weighted rucksack runs, using one of these is a great way to increase the weight of your bag quickly. A 20lb dumbell also works well.

Once you have your bag loaded up with 60lbs of filler it’s time to close it up. Gutted parachute cord works the best. Take a 20” piece of cord, make a loop and then tie an overhand knot. Make sure you have at least a 5” tail on the short side.

Take the longer running end, go around the bag into the loop, then double back on it ensuring it’s tight. You should be able to really crank on it to keep the filler from trickling out. Keeping it tight, wrap the long end several times around the bag then tie it to the other tail with a simple square knot. If you want, you can use 100 mph. tape to double it up. Now you’re ready to play.

Almost anything you can do with a barbell you can do with a sandbag – cleans, presses, squats, you name it. The great thing about a sandbag is how unwieldy it is. If you ask me, that makes it an even better training too,l since things in the real world are not always perfectly balanced like that shiny new $300 barbell.

1. The first and most important thing to learn, is how to pick one up correctly.
2. Straddle the bag with the pigtail facing to the rear.
3. Set your back by lifting your chest and hinging at the hips.
4. Squat down and grab the bag keeping your back flat.
5. Pick the bag up and once it passes your knees explode at the hips.
6. Receive the bag in the position appropriate for the exercise.

Once you can pick up your bag safely, the fun begins.

Like I mentioned earlier you can do almost anything with a sandbag that you can with a barbell, below is a list of some of the exercises we do here at our facility. We once had a team competition where teams had to transport a 80lb bag 5 miles over uneven terrain so your imagination is the limit.

Here’s a quick video demonstrating the sandbag exercises outlined below:

• Sandbag Cleans
• Sandbag Clean Squat and Press
• Sandbag Front Squats
• Sandbag Walking Lunges
• Sandbag Getups
• Sandbag Burpee
• Sandbag Curtis P
• Sandbag Drag

If you live in a warm climate, your bag will get pretty sweaty every session. Always leave it out to dry or place it in front of a fan. We also spray our bags with a light dose of Lysol to keep the funk off. Every month or so, empty out your bag and run it through the washer. If you bag gets a hole in it, a local sew shop can patch it for you for a few bucks.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Jake Saenz as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Jake is a former Special operations soldier that lives and coaches in Austin, Texas. His gym, Atomic Athlete, is a performance based strength and conditioning company that focuses on making athletes stronger, faster, and harder to kill. Their training focuses on outside performance and uses well thought out programming and periodization to get athletes of all types to elite levels of fitness. As a partner gym of Military Athlete, Jake has the opportunity to travel across the nation assisting Rob Shaul in preparing soldiers for combat deployments and missions.

Thanks to http://onlinephd.org/ for the awesome infographic!

We’ve now taken the proven design from our ETA Trauma Kits, along with feedback from our end users and created an inert version of our kits. The ETA Trauma Kit (INERT) was made with the sole purpose of providing a lower cost option of our kits to train with.

The components you’ll find in the inert kit are all the same items you’re used to seeing in our kits, with the exception of the Combat Gauze Inert Moulage Trainer. This blue packaged Combat Gauze is for simulated training only and not for medical use. It’s the same z-folded Combat Gauze in our ETA Trauma Kits, but it lacks the hemostatic agent necessary to stop real bleeding. The inert Combat Gauze also features a resealable closure, so you can repack it and train with it again.

With these Inert ETA Trauma Kits, there also may be expired components included. It’s important that this kit is not used to “refill” another of our ETA Trauma Kits, as this inert kit was designed with the sole purpose being used in a dedicated training environment. Along with the bright blue tell-tale pack of inert combat gauze, we’ve also stamped our insert card in blue with “INERT.” Again, this kit is for training ONLY!

The reason we’ve chosen to include an inert version of every component from our ETA Trauma Kits, is to ensure you’re training with the identical items you’ll be using in a real life situation. In the event you have to use an ETA Trauma Kit, you don’t want it being the first time you’ve ever had exposure to the components. Train like you fight.

What started as an internal joke here at ITS, has manifested itself into our newest morale patch. While our Grab Your Helmet Patch is definitely not for the easily offended, we feel it’s perfect for those situations where it really has reached that level.

These 4″ tall x 3.5″ wide Grab Your Helmet Patches feature the kind of helmet you’d most likely grab when things get retarded, a ballistic-rated one! The subdued patch features hook velcro sewn on the back to stick them anywhere you want!

“There’s always sign.”

Sign is the physical evidence of any disturbance of the environment left behind by animals, humans or objects. The detection of this sign is called sign cutting. A person (or animal) cannot traverse ground without leaving some sort of telltale sign. This sign is what we’re trying to find and track.

When most people think of tracking, they usually think of following footprints. But a trained tracker looks for more. He looks for kicked-over rocks, soil depressions, clothing fibers, changes in vegetation, changes in the environment, ambient noise or lack thereof, etc. Basically, the tracker looks for the disturbance — the sign — left behind by the person or persons being tracked.

Sign cutting and tracking has been around for millennia. It is a natural extension of hunting, both animals and people. On our continent, Native Americans perfected the art of sign cutting tracking both men and animals. To this day, there are special units of Native American law enforcement trackers protecting this nation. Many other rescue and law enforcement entities in the United States use tracking to locate people. Today, the tradition of tracking persons for law enforcement purposes is usually associated with the men and women of the United States Border Patrol.

The U.S. Border Patrol currently trains its agents in sign cutting, and even after the adoption of modern technology, sign cutting remains one of the most effective tools at its disposal to locate persons and gather intelligence. Sensors and cameras can be fooled and rendered ineffective, but as one of our seasoned agents likes to say: “The sign never lies.”

In this article, I will touch upon the basics of sign cutting. I have to admit that I am by no means a master in this field. I do, however, use it on a daily basis as an enforcement tool. I take responsibility for mistakes in this article.

Sign cutting and the tracking of persons have multiple uses. These uses include, but are not limited to:

• Search & Rescue / Missing Person
• Perimeter / Property Security
• Intelligence Gathering
• Locating & Interdicting Subjects for Law Enforcement or military operations.

When you are sign cutting, it is important to identify your target. Are you looking for a lost or missing person? If not, are you looking for poachers or criminals? Your target determines what other precautions are needed. If it’s a lost child or hiker, consider bringing food, water and an emergency blanket along to assist a person exposed to the elements.

If you’re tracking poachers or criminals, then you have to factor in your security. Poachers and criminals do not want to be found, and will sometimes attempt to hide their sign or improvise countermeasures to avoid detection. For this scenario, it is advised never to track alone. At a minimum, communications gear (cell phone, radio) is advised, in addition to some form of self protection.

Sign cutting and tracking actually require very little as far as gear goes. At the very least, you want to have a good flashlight and spare batteries, even when working during daylight hours. Tracking operations can drag for hours in some areas, and what began as a morning look-see can easily become a night tracking operation.

Before you go spend some serious cash on your tracking torch, consider the following: Modern LED flashlights with bazillion-candlepower ratings are actually not as effective as a plain old incandescent bulb flashlight. The brighter, whiter beam of the LED flashlights tends to wash out most footprints and other details. A regular incandescent bulb flashlight allows for more contrast when viewing the sign at night. Of course, if you are following sign at night, you should have two flashlights. Two is one, one is none.

When you cut for sign from a vehicle, you want to have a spotlight, or cutting light. As with the flashlights, avoid the ones that can be seen from Venus. You want to keep it at a low angle, for better contrast. This might make your arm go numb from hanging it from your car or truck window, but nothing says you can’t tape it to a stick to make the task more comfortable for you.

Since tracking operations can drag for hours, you should bring basic sustenance items with you. Water, some food, a first aid kit, extra batteries, communications gear and anything else you might need for the next few hours. This I where you want to keep it light. Adjust your load depending on your needs. That cool pack or tricked out rifle can get really heavy after a few hours.

As mentioned before, tracking involves following footprints, among other sign. Footprints give you an idea of who you’re following. You must be able to read the footprints.

The size of the footprint usually determines if you’re following a man (larger, wider footprint), a woman (smaller, narrower footprint), or a child (small print). The number of footprints also lets you know how many you are following.

The type of sole helps you stay on track when crossing other footprints, and helps you identify the person being tracked. The sole can be anything from a running W, a cowboy boot (plain with separate heel), a work boot or Vibram-type lug sole, a cross-trainer or Chuck Taylor or a waffle pattern (Mr. Peanut), among others.

The depression of the footprint can tell you if the person is large/heavy or if he or she is carrying a heavy load. The angle or dig determines the direction. When all you have is toe digs (half-moon shapes), then the person was running. When a person walks backwards, the dig is towards the heel.

Depending on the terrain, a person may leave clear footprints or no footprints at all. Hard-packed terrain, and areas with good drainage, makes it difficult for a person to leave clearly defined footprints. This is when you look for other sign. Are there scrapes on the soil, similar to scrapes by coarse sandpaper? Are there rocks kicked over, with the moist (darker) area exposed? Is the vegetation disturbed in any way – broken branches, snapped twigs, crushed or stomped plants and leaves?

Another form of sign is clothing fibers stuck to vegetation. Don’t limit yourself to specific forms of sign. You always want to look for other disturbances. In the early morning, if you look at the vegetation from an angle (towards the sun), is the dew disturbed in any way? Did it rain earlier? Disturbances on moist terrain stand out because the color or shine changes. Fresh prints on moist soil are not as ‘shiny’ as the rest of the soil.

The freshness of the sign or prints helps determine time. Are the prints sharp and very detailed? You might try stepping next to the print, and comparing it to yours. Does it look just as sharp? Usually, sharper prints are fresh, laid within an hour. Keep in mind that prints can look fresher or older than they are based on a number of factors. Prints in low areas and washes usually look fresher than they are, while prints exposed to rain and wind will look older.

If you’re protecting a ranch or any other property, it is a good idea to walk it to determine how long it takes to traverse the area. When you find sign, this helps you determine whether to get out and track the sign on foot or trying to leapfrog the sign and cutting for it at another location, once you have determined a direction of travel. People sometimes guide off structures or natural terrain features, making it easier to determine the person’s travel route. Get to know the ranchers and property owners in the vicinity. They know the area and can provide invaluable intelligence.

Being familiar with the environment helps in many ways. Insects and animals help too. Are the crickets chirping away at night as they normally do? If they stopped, this usually indicates the presence of animals or people. Animals can indicate the presence of humans by their reaction. Most people think about barking dogs as an indicator, but other animals can also help you detect a disturbance.

One of our best trackers, a former Marine we call The General, was once on the trail of a group of illegal aliens at night when he lost their sign in a pasture. After walking for a few minutes in the direction the group was traveling, he came upon an open field with fresh sign for cattle, but the cows had moved about fifty yards away. He knew from experience that cows don’t usually move at night. They like to hang out in the same spot. The only reason for the herd to move was to avoid something: the group. The General was able to reacquire the sign on the other side of the field where the cows had been, and eventually found the group. Know your environment.

There are tracking courses currently offered in many areas if you’re interested in learning this skill. There’s also a ton of information available in books and the web, but this is a skill that has to be practiced outdoors. This is the only way to understand it and gain experience to become proficient at it.

The U.S. Border Patrol sometimes provides sign cutting and tracking courses to law enforcement and search and rescue agencies, as well as civilians. We also assist other agencies with tracking operations when called. If you live in a border state, contact your nearest Border Patrol sector HQ for more information.

As with any skill, practice and patience makes for a better tracker. Good luck.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please welcome José J. Soto as a contributor on ITS Tactical. José has been a U.S. Border Patrol agent for 15 years and previously served for six years as a U.S. Army Infantryman. We’re looking forward to more of José’s expertise here on ITS Tactical.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: This post was written by Brett and Kate McKay and originally ran onThe Art of Manliness. Have men these days “gone soft?” Is our generation less manly than past generations? Are we less tough than our grandfathers?

I see guys debate these kinds of questions all the time. Of course it’s hard to quantify “toughness,” but there is one area where we can definitively say we’ve slipped–the Army fitness test isn’t as hard as it used to be.

The Army first introduced a formal fitness test to the troops in 1942. Millions of men were being called up to fight in World War II and not all of them were prepared for the rigors of combat. To get the men in fighting shape, the Army implemented a systematic physical development program as part of the Combat Basic Training course. The Army Ground Forces Test was designed to assess whether the program was having its desired effect. The test included squat jumps, sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, and a 300-yard run. The emphasis was on functional fitness and giving American GI’s the strength, mobility, and endurance they would need to tackle real tasks on the battlefield.

In 1946, a Physical Training School was created at Fort Bragg with the mission of exploring how to take the goal of functional fitness farther. The training program developed at the school and the fitness test were codified in the 1946 edition of FM 21-20, the Army’s physical training manual.

Basically, Grandpa was doing Cross-Fit before it was cool.

In 1953, the Physical Training School closed and its focus on combat readiness was lost; in the ensuing decades, the military began to concentrate more on general fitness, focusing on aerobic over anaerobic exercises. The fitness test was revised several times during the 60s and 70s and standards began to be assessed on a sliding scale based on age and gender.

In 1984, the Army Physical Readiness Test was introduced and it continues to be used today. It has only three elements: sit-ups, push-ups, and a two-mile run. In 1987, General Schwarzkopf became concerned that only 5% of soldiers were able to achieve the highest score on the test, so the standards were eased and more provisions were made for age and gender.

Also, whereas soldiers who failed the test used to be discharged, this rule has been greatly relaxed.

For the past couple of decades, many critics have said that the physical fitness standards for the troops are too easy and more importantly, don’t assess the kind of skills soldiers actually need in our current conflicts. In a time of new equipment like body armor, men are humping large loads for long periods, and are much more likely to be sprinting and crouching than running for miles at a time.

When Dr. Edward Thomas, an instructor at the Army Physical Fitness School, re-discovered the WWII fitness test and administered it to soldiers in the 1990s, he was surprised at the result: soberingly low scores. While the numbers of required repetitions for things like push-ups are higher in the modern test than the WWII version, the standard for the precision with which the repetitions must be completed has been relaxed. Consequently, when Thomas tested the modern soldiers, they could only do a fraction of the repetitions required of WWII GIs.

In the last several years, the Army has been changing its physical training program to concentrate more on functional fitness and is currently developing a new fitness test which will be rolled out in the future and incorporate things like a shuttle run and long jump.

_______________________________

Well all that interesting history aside, I thought readers, civilians and soldiers alike, would enjoy seeing how they stacked up against their grandfathers by taking the WWII fitness test. Why take the test? Well as the introduction to the original test itself says, “Tests motivate the men to improve their physical condition. Frequently men do not realize what poor condition they are in. When the tests reveal their deficiencies, they are much more receptive to an intensive physical training program in order to remedy their shortcomings.”

So maybe taking the test will inspire you to get in shape (or inspire you to feel awesome about how in shape you already are).

If you’re a coach, it might be fun to have your guys take the test–seems like it would be a great team-building exercise for your own little band of brothers.

Before we get to the test, let’s go over a couple of guidelines:

• As mentioned above, the WWII test requires that the exercises be done with strict precision. To get an accurate assessment of how you did, don’t sacrifice quality for quantity!
• In the chart below, you will see two batteries of tests–one for doing outdoors, one for doing indoors. Pick one of the other–not both. The fifth test in the indoor battery includes two variations–choose one or the other.

This event requires a horizontal bar. This may be made of a pipe or gymnasium horizontal bar, or other rigid horizontal support which is not over 1½ inches in diameter. The bar should be high enough to permit the performer to hang at full length without touching the ground. A height of 7 feet, 9 inches to 8 feet is recommended.

Starting Position. Hanging at full length from the bar with arms straight. The forward grasp is used with the palms turned away from the face.

Movement. Pull up until the chin is above the level of the bar. Then lower the body until elbows are completely straight. Continue for as many repetitions as possible.

Instructions. The men should be told that it is permissible to raise the legs and flex the hips when pulling up but not to kick or execute a jerking motion with trunk or legs. The body must be kept from swinging. The chin must be raised above the bar. The arms must be completely straight at the bottom of the movement.

Administration and Scoring. Each time the performer pulls his chin above the bar in correct form, he is given credit for one pullup. He is not credited with a pullup if he fails to raise his chin above the level of the bar or if he stops to rest.  If the performer does not straighten his arms at the bottom of a movement, if he kicks or jerks, only half a pullup will be counted. If there are four half-pullups, the performer should be stopped and retested later. If the performer starts to swing, the judge should stop the swinging with his hands. Some such aid as a resin-bag or a cake of magnesium carbonate should be available to prevent the hands from slipping.

Starting Position. Squatting on right heel with fingers laced on top of head, palms down. The feet are 4 to 6 inches apart with the heel of the left foot on a line with the toes of the right foot.

Movement. Spring upward until both knees are straight and both feet clear the ground. Jump just enough to permit straightening the knees without touching the ground. Do not jump any higher than necessary to accomplish this purpose. Keep the upper body erect. While off the ground, reverse the position of the feet bringing the right foot in front. Then drop to a squat on the left heel. Keep the knees pointing forward. Spring up again and continue for as many repetitions as possible.

Instructions. The men should be told that the most common errors are: getting the feet too far apart, forward and backward, and failing to squat down on the rear heel. The correct position should be demonstrated clearly, and the men should be given sufficient practice to master it. The action must be continuous throughout. Before beginning the event, the men should be told that it requires courage almost to the same extent as it requires strength and endurance and that they should not give up until they cannot make another movement.

Administration and Scoring. The performer is credited with one squat jump each time he springs up from the squat to the erect position and returns. The movement is not scored if he fails to descend to a complete squat, if he does not straighten his legs completely and reverse his feet while he is in the air, if he removes his hand from his head, or if he discontinues the movement and comes to a stop. If he loses his balance and removes a hand from his head momentarily, or falls but immediately recovers and continues, he shall not be penalized. If the performer gets his feet too far apart but comes to a squat on the rear foot, there is no penalty. Some men cannot squat all the way down on the heel. If they go down as far as possible they should not be penalized.

Starting Position. The performer assumes the front leaning rest position with the body straight from head to heels. His palms are directly underneath the shoulders and elbows are straight. Fingers pointed forward. The judge sits on the ground beside the performer, with one palm down on the ground underneath the lowest part of the performer’s chest.

Movement. Lower body until chest touches the ground (in informal practice), or touches the hand of the judge (in formal testing). Elbows must point directly to the rear. Return to the original position by straightening elbows. Keep the entire body in a straight line throughout. Repeat as many times as possible.

Instructions. The performer is told: that the arms must be straight at the start and completion of the movement; that the chest must touch the judge’s hand; and that the stomach, thighs, or legs must not touch the floor. Hands and feet must not move from their positions. He is also told that the whole body must be kept straight as he pushes the shoulders upward; that is, the shoulders should not be raised first, and then the hips or vice versa. The judge uses his free hand to guide the man in case he is raising his hips too much or raising his shoulders first. In the first instance, he taps the man on the top of the hips to straighten them out; in the second case he taps underneath the abdomen to make him raise his abdomen with the same speed as his shoulders.

Administration and Scoring. The performer is credited with one pushup each time his arms are completely straightened and the exercise is performed in acceptable form.  There is no penalty for the hips being slightly out of line if the whole body is moving upward at about the same speed. The men may proceed but may not stop to rest. If a man violates any of the instructions given above, he is credited with a half-pushup. If and when the performer is no longer able to hold a correct front leaning rest, the test is terminated.

Starting Position. Performer lies on his back with knees straight, feet approximately 18 inches apart and fingers laced behind head and elbows on the ground. The scorer kneels on the ground at the performer’s feet and presses the performer’s ankles firmly down against the ground.

Movement. Raise upper body rotating it somewhat to the left, and then forward far enough to touch the right elbow to the left knee. The knees may bend slightly when sitting up. Lower the body until the back and elbows again touches the ground. Again sit up, but this time rotate the trunk to the right and touch left elbow to the right knee. Again lower the body until the back touches the ground. Perform as many situps as possible in two minutes. Rest pauses are permitted during the test but count toward the 2-minute period.

Instructions. The performer should be warned that he must keep his knees straight until he starts to sit up; that he must touch his knee with the opposite elbow; and that he may not push up from the ground with his elbow.

Administration and Scoring. Performer is given credit for each situp completed within the 2-minute period. No score is given if he unclasps his hand from his head, if he pushes up from his elbow, or if he keeps his knees bent while lying back on the ground. He is not penalized if the elbow misses the knee slightly. He must, however, sit up far enough so that the elbow almost touches the knee. Time should be announced every 20 seconds. At the end of 2 minutes, the timer calls: STOP and the judge counts the full number of situps completed before the stop command.

A course 60 yards long is laid out on flat level ground with lanes 4 feet wide for for each runner. Both ends of the course have cross-marks at right angles to the lanes. The cross-mark at one end serves as a starting line; the one at the other end, as a finish line. In the middle of the cross mark at either end of each lane is a stake which is at least 1½ feet high.  If possible the lanes should be marked out in lime. If there are no lanes, it is recommended that the stakes be numbered or painted different colors. Each performer must run around his stake without grasping it.

Starting Position. Standing behind the starting mark in the lane with rear foot braced by another man’s foot placed crossways behind it.

Movement.  At the starting signal, run to the stake at the farther end of the lane. Run around the stake at the finish line. Then return and run around the stake at the starting line. Continue until five lengths of the course, or 300 yards have been run. Make each turn from right to left. The run will finish at the opposite end of the course from which it started.

Instructions. The men should be told to run about 9/10ths full speed, to run straight down the lane, to turn around the far stake from right to left without touching it, and to return running around the stakes one after another until they have traveled five full lengths. The men should also be instructed to walk around slowly for 3 or 4 minutes after completing the run. Recovery will be much more rapid if they walk than if they lie down.

Administration and Scoring. Each runner has one inspector, or judge, who stands at the finish line. The judge watches his runner to see that he makes the turns properly and observes all the rules. This inspector also holds the man’s card and records his performance. A timekeeper stands on one of the lines in the middle of the course, 20 feet away from the finish line. The men are started by the starter with ordinary signals of: “Get on your mark; get set; go.” Since the timer starts his watch by the “go”, the starter should also use a hand signal.

When the first runner is about 30 yards away from the finish line, the timer begins to count the seconds aloud using “hup” for the half-seconds. For example, he counts “44, hup, 45, hup, 46, hup, 47, hup, 48, hip, etc.” The judge for each man listens to the count and at the same time watches his runner. He then records the last full second or half-second, which was counted before the man reached the finish line. After the inspector records the time on the man’s scorecard he returns the card to him.

TEST 5A: INDOOR SHUTTLE RUN

A course 25 yards long is laid out on the gymnasium floor with a lane 4 feet wide for each runner. The lanes should be marked on the floor with water-solvent coloring, chalk, paint or adhesive tape.  Turning boards are placed at both ends of the course.  Each turning board is placed at a 45º angle, facing inside the lane and toward the runner. The turning boards must be firmly braced and made of heavy material.  They should be from 12 to 16 inches in width. The lower edges of the turning boards are flush with the end of the lines of the running area. The number of each lane will be painted on the face of its board.

Starting Position. Ready for a sprint start, with one foot braced against a turning board and the other foot and the hands extended into the lane.

Movement. On the starting signal, run to the turning board at the other end of the lane. Touch board with foot or feet. Turn and continue running until completing ten shuttle trips or laps (for a total of 250 yards). Touch the turning board at the end of each lap, except the final one. At the end of the final lap, the runner will continue across the turning board. Any footwork may be used in making the turn provided the foot or feet touch the turning board each time.

Instructions. Each runner must stay in his own lane. Any method may be used in making the turn, although it is recommended that the forward foot touch the block on the turn. In the event a runner falls or is hindered by another participant entering his lane during the progress of the run, he may be permitted to repeat the run later in the same period.

Administration and Scoring. This event is administered and scored as the 300-yard run. The time of the run is taken as the runner’s body passes beyond the turning board on the final lap.

TEST 5A(l): 60 SECOND SQUAT THRUST

When it is not possible to employ the indoor shuttle run as a substitute for the 300-yard run the 60-second squat thrust should be used.

Starting Position. Attention.

Movement. Bend at knees and hips and, squatting down, place hands on ground shoulder width apart. Keep the elbows inside the knees. Thrust feet and legs backward to a front leaning rest position. Keep body straight from head to heels. Support weight on hands and toes. Recover to the squatting position. Then recover to starting position.

Instructions. The men should be told that in executing this movement for speed the shoulders should be well ahead of the hands when the legs are thrust backwards.  Extending the legs too far backward, so that the shoulders are behind the hands, makes it difficult to return to the original position with speed. On the preliminary practice, the performer is told he will score better if he does not make a full knee-bend, but bends his knees only to about a right angle; and that he should keep his arms straight. It is not a failure if he bends his arms but the performer will not be able to score as well.

Administration and Scoring. A score is given for the successful performance of each complete squat thrust. No score is given if: the feet start backward before the hands are placed on the ground; the hips are raised above the shoulder-heel line when the feet are back; or the performer does not fully recover to the erect position on the fourth count. The judge should not count aloud as this is apt to confuse other nearby judges. If the man is performing the event incorrectly, the judge should coach him, or stop him and have him repeat the test after more coaching.

How Did You Do? Check the Score Sheet.

Sources:

• Future of the APFT
• TSAC Report
• FM 21-20
• ihpra.org

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