Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1528235
urs of recommended rest. What a jokester. We drop our gear, take our places on the bunk beds. I try to stick to a low glycemic in- dex diet in civilian life. Can you imagine that vibe? Asking the organizers if they have any oat milk for coffee? The hit of the evening is hot dogs in buns and warm tea. Spartan conditions, and now I know that I am here where I wanted to be. Good teamwork effort. A great atmosphere and a sense of humor. And fortunately, we slept under a roof. The next day – departure, rappelling, de- scent from a vertical wall. "Awesome! I want to do it again!" Unfortunately, there's no time for more than two rounds. One of the guys overcomes his fear of heights. You can see he's fighting with himself, and every step costs him a lot. He conquers him- self, respect! Crossing a stream on a rope, transporting the injured on the same rope. Return to the shelter. And lunch! Someone from the tourists asks me, "Who are you? Mi- litary?" The only answer close to the truth is "enthusiastic amateurs" under the watchful eyes of professionals. Lunch and then off to the guest house. We're returning to civi- lization. No shooting, and I summarize the day with the conclusion that focusing only on the shooting range significantly narrows your perspective. I appreciate the complexi- ty of operating in the woods and mountains and the skills that SOF operators must pos- sess. Snowshoes, sleds, and a ski slope are the main themes of the last day of training. Picture it in your mind. Did I mention we wo- uldn't be using a ski lift? In two separate gro- ups, we strapped ourselves to the sleds and went up the slope. Naturally, some skiers interested in what we were doing came over with their helpful advice. Fortunately, we co- uldn't really hear or see them because our goggles were drenched in sweat. One of the onlookers commented, "This is pointless." The response was, "Not everything has to make sense." It may sound strange, but those words motivated me. We chose to be here; we trust Matka and Łasuch. It might make more sense to do something else than push ourselves up a slope, but we're here be- cause each of us has our own reason. One of our teammates, who got injured the previous day, was lying in one of the sleds. A solid guy, he resisted lying down for a whi- le, saying he didn't want to make it harder for his buddies. The staff knew what they were doing, though, and encouraged both him and the group with a simple argument: "Either you lie down there, or we'll find so- meone heavier." We finished the exercises and returned for lunch. There was a sense of calm. We suspected they were trying to lull us into complacency. Soon, everything became clear. A lecture on hypothermia. So, we would indeed be walking through those streams like in the promotional brochure. I mentally prepared myself, knowing that the longer I thought about it, the harder it would be to enter the water. We arrived at the location. I volunteered to go first. I'd cross with a rope, tie it to set up a handline, and the rest of the team, along with the injured member and our gear on rafts, would follow. The distance wasn't great. It was cold, but after getting out of the water and drying off with a towel, it felt very pleasant. I tied the rope. The team crossed, and I got ready to start a fire. I had never done that before using flint and birch shavings. It worked fairly quickly. The team made it across, and my endorphins were at an all-time high. Fantastic. We headed back, had dinner, and started moving toward the finale. After dinner, we were given the final mission. We began planning. No secrets were reve- aled here, it's been a part of this business for a long time. I love planning, but you co- uld see the challenges. We weren't experts yet, and we didn't have a set standard. We were learning as we went. "Matka" was doing a fantastic job, presenting us with REPORT