Don't Set a Timeline to Join -
Set a Performance Starting Line

It is not possible for me to share how many young people tell me they have a 4-6 month deadline before they join a challenging tactical profession. For most people, that is not a logical path for adequately preparing for this journey, especially if your choice of tactical profession is in the special ops arena. Face it - you may need more time than 4-6 months - but that is not a problem because most people do.  Don't set a timeline as a deadline to join, set performance goals as the determining factor before engaging the official enlistment process.  Think of it as a "performance line" you need to reach and don't be like most people. 

 Sure, I get it. You are excited to serve your country or community. You are "ready" to leave your current situation.  You just turned 18 and are an "adult" now - time to get a job.  All of these are valid points on why you set such a short timeline, but depending on your current fitness level and job you are pursuing, you could be several months or even years away from actually being truly ready to endure and perform at the level you need to. 

Ask Yourself - Are You REALLY Ready to Serve? (read this)

Because if you are not ready - it can be the Perfect Storm for Failure. 

More information with Stew Smith LIVE Q and A Video:

What is a Performance Starting Line? Ask yourself the following:

1 - Are you finished growing?  This is not a boy's game. Too many 17-19 year old's attend tough training and most do not make it. 18 maybe legally an adult, but for most people, they do not finish growing into full adult until 20-21 years old. Once again - the article above (Perfect Storm for Failure) applies to this age group as there are more than physical factors that come into play for the teenager today. Get through puberty first - then join.  Some success stories of teens making it through training are impressive. There were typically earlier to manhood, grew up hard working / hard living and had the mindset needed to endure at an early age. 

2 - Training Life - How long have you been physically training? This counts for manual labor jobs, sports, running, swimming, lifting, martial arts, etc for your entire life.  Anything you have been doing and for a long period of time helps with your ability to endure challenging selection programs.  But, the longer you have been training or specializing in something / neglecting other activities, the greater your injury history as well as your strengths and weakness divide. This divide could increase the need for longer periods of preparation for instance if you need to learn how to swim or cannot run far or fast enough due to over-use injuries. The less you have been training is also an issue.  If you are just getting started with athletic movement, you WILL need significant more time to prepare that could be on the 1-2 year time frame.

Related Articles:  What is Good Enough Spec Ops?  (Run, Swim, PT)
                            What is Good Enough -Strength?  (Lifts, plus load bearing)

3 - Where are you now?  Not just on the PST (or physical test you need to pass to get TO the training), but where are you on all the elements of fitness:  strength/power, speed/agility, endurance (run, swim, ruck), muscle stamina, flexibility / mobility, grip.  Are you good at all of these?  The graph below shows how important they all are to building the type of durability and work capacity needed to graduate physically / mentally challenging selection programs:

Use this Physical Assessment Tool to test yourself and discover any weaknesses you may have on the spectrum of the tactical fitness elements.  

4 - Can You Crush Selection Events? Once you have mastered the PT test, that is the first step to get TO the training.  A significant part of your preparation time, should also be to start preparing for future selection challenges which will include longer runs and rucks, longer swims with fins, pool skills, and load bearing of heavy equipment (logs, boats, backpacks, other gear, and even people).  For instance - 4 mile timed runs in under 28 minutes (boats, pants, beach), 2 mile swims in the ocean (70 minutes or less?), rucking at 10 min mile pace, grip strength to endure rope climbs, obstacles, gear carry, and other events like these will be required of you regularly (not just once or twice) WEEKLY.  Are you ready for that?

Finally, if you are still in high school and planning to enlist into special ops pipeline, assess yourself for real. Are you really ready? Because, statistically speaking, you are not. Getting TO the training is not the same as getting THROUGH the training. Both phases of tactical fitness require time and persistent preparation to make your body and mind hard enough to withstand the long days and cold, wet and sandy nights. 

If you are good to go and meeting all the performance levels, feel confident and ready to leave home, get going with the enlistment / officer candidate process.  My opinion is based on my own experiences: I would not have made it at 18 years old, as I barely met USNA Plebe Summer physical standards. I was a 3-sport athlete in high school and started training at age 12 with weights and calisthenics.  I also noticed in my own BUDS class that we started out with nearly 75-80% teenagers, but only graduated a handful of them as our class went from 120 starters to 28 graduates over the six months of BUDS training. 

But, if you are planning on going anyway - prove me wrong.  I hope you prove me wrong.  

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