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Rough ‘N’ Ready Challenge: “The Smoke-Jumper” by Mark Hatmaker


In August of 1937 lighting struck some dry tinder in Yellowstone National Park. The fire started small but via a long slow crawl eventually grew to become known as the infamous Blackwater Fire. The Blackwater Fire eventually consumed 1,700 acres and took the lives of 15 firefighters.
After Blackwater the US Forest service came to the conclusion that the only way to combat such fires was to somehow get an advance team to the fire before it grew to monumental proportions. The ideas was to take an elite cadre of firefighters who not only knew the ins and outs of dealing with conflagration, but who had skills in backcountry survival, woodcraft, and who could parachute from a plane. 
After the planning stages were thought over and a few initial trials were made these small units were tested in a literal trial by fire when on July 12, 1940 the first official aerial unit of firefighters were employed on the Marten Creek Fire in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest
These small advance units are essentially the Special Forces of firefighting. They came to be called Smokejumpers.
Lest anyone think that the comparison to the rigors of Special Forces is hyperbole, consider the following.
Alaska Smokejumper training is considered amongst the most demanding in the profession. Each year up to 200 applicants seek to earn the title smokejumper. 10 will make it to the Rookie Training status.



Applicants are expected to have 5 to 10 years of wildland firefighting experience before they even seek to apply. 
This is Robert Yeager, a former trainer of Rookie applicants. “We only choose people who can perform under stress. People who can control their nerves, their anxiety, and their adrenaline, people willing to accept life-or-death challenges.”
Amongst this elite cadre who have had the honor to be Smokejumpers: Willi Unsoeld, one of the first Americans to summit Mount Everest, and Stuart Roosa, the Apollo 14 command module pilot.
To get a taste of the grit required to be a Smokejumper I offer this variation of their entrance PT Qualification Test. 
If you pass it with flying colors, keep in mind there is still that 5-10 years of wildfire experience to get under one’s belt, a minimum of 40 parachute jumps with full gear and the ability to cut and rappel yourself out of trees post-jump [a common occurrence], oh, and let’s not forget tons and tons of grit.
THE SMOKEJUMPER
Part One

·        60 Sit-Ups in 2-Minutes

·        35 Push-Ups in 2-Minutes

·        10 Strict Pull-Ups


So far, so good, right?
Part Two


·        Run 1.5 miles under 9:30

·        Run 3 miles in under 22:30


Got that?
Part Three

 Don a 110-pound pack [that’s what these Hosses jump with.]

·        Cover three miles in under 55 minutes.


Enjoy the PT!
Oh, and this evening pour one out for these noble men and women!
[Big thanks to Mark Jenkins and Mark Thiessen for their National Geographic article “Into the Fire.”]
[Excerpted from our book ROUGH & READY: Old World Strength & Conditioning for ModernWarriors. See here for more Old School Tactics and Evil historically accurate and viciously verified http://www.extremeselfprotection.com 
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Comments

  1. Robert Mitchell Jr.May 17, 2019 at 2:46 AM

    110 lb of gear? I'm going to need a couple of days to drag that 3 miles!

    ReplyDelete

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