To give a quick background, we were introduced to Ed a few months ago and were lucky enough to listen and pick his brain for about 12 hours over a period of 2 days and yet still have tons of notes. Ed is a wealth of knowledge and the information he provides only scratches the surface of what one can learn from him.

Once again, we’d like to thank Ed immensely for taking the time to field some questions for ITS readers. What Ed doesn’t know until now is that the first thing we did after our interview, was to sit and write out eight pages of notes related to everything we talked about regarding training, career, etc. If you want to be successful at an endeavor, then find someone who has achieved success in a given field, find out what they did to get there and strive to live up to their accomplishments.

We’ll also leave it up to you to do your own research as to who Ed Bugarin is, there’s plenty of biographical information about him on the Internet. We’ll start with a comment Ed made that really intrigued us, which was when he was talking about preparation for rucking or ruck running. Ed mentioned that (in comparison to many other SOF-prep plans) he just went out and did it.

ITS Tactical: What are your thoughts regarding ruck weight, distance and pace for everyone from beginners to seasoned athletes?

Ed Bugarin: I was already conditioned to ruck runs but if you’re not, here’s my recommendation. First step is to learn correct movement techniques (POSE walk/running). Once you get that down, or as you begin to learn correct movement, start with a weight that allows you to maintain the correct stance/position for walking/running.

Slowly adding weight enables the body to adapt to the stress and allows the skin to take the abrasion of the points where the ruck and straps rub against the body. As with running, start at a short distance based on what you’re used to and gradually increase the distance. As with any exercise program, allow the body to slowly adapt to the stress of what you’re doing. This minimizes the chance of injury; train smart.

You could add the exact weight you will be using for the ruck run, but I think you’ll get negative results because if you’re not used to carrying a heavy ruck, you’ll immediately hate it. If you hate something, you’re less likely to do it.

ITS: You’d stated that you’re still doing weighted ruck runs these days (at age 63). What paces are you hitting on these rucks?

Ed: I turned 63 on January 9, 2013, not too long ago. At ASPOC (Assessment & Selection Preparatory Orientation Course) where I’m currently an instructor, I did the following with the students carrying a 45 lb ruck. That’s not including water, radios and other items that I was required to carry.

4 mile ruck run (temperature 32 degrees) = 39:29 (9:52 minutes per mile). One week later we did a 6 mile ruck run (37 degrees) = 55:11 (9 minutes 5 seconds per mile). Five days later we did a 10 mile ruck run (64 degrees) = 1:47:18 (10 minutes 43 seconds per mile).

I overdressed for the 10 miler. Notice how the temperature played a part in my performance? In the last course, I finished the 10 mile ruck run in 1:42:00.

ITS: Is there a maximum weight at which you would recommend not trying to run or jog?

Ed: Carrying a ruck is a funny thing. I weigh a little over 155 lb. When carrying a 45 lb. ruck, plus a few additional items, I’m looking at carrying almost 1/3 my body weight. A person that weighs 185 carries the same weight, the percentage of weight he/she is carrying is less. I currently have a student that weighs 128 lb. in the course. His ruck, like every students’, weighs over 50 lbs. with additional items. We weight rucks dry which means without water or food. Add a 7 lb. rifle and this kid is carrying almost half his body weight. There are other students on my team that weigh from 175-200 lb. The percentage that they are carrying are much less. This 128 lb. student always comes in last. He finished the 10 mile ruck run in 2:27:30. He still met the ASPOC goal of being able to move at a 15 minutes per mile pace or faster. So when it comes to ruck runs, is there a fairness about it?

To compare what I’ve just mentioned, I weigh a little over 155 lb. I am carrying the same weight minus the rifle. I beat 23 of 25 students on my team every time. I’m over twice the age of my students. Average age is around 24. Having the experience of running with a ruck, the fitness level and good technique helps me go faster than most. My fastest student finished the 4 and 6 mile ruck runs at an 8 minute 8 second pace per mile, faster than most people can run the same distance without carrying a ruck. He finished the 10 miler in 1:36:15 finishing first for the students. Only one person beat him and that was a veteran instructor who is about 48 years old.

ITS: One story you told us was about the Upper Body Round Robin test workout (which ironically after you told us about it we started seeing it pop up more over the past few months). Tell us how you and the others on your team came about this test and how often did you do it? (Few people who have read of it will have any idea that it was an old Delta/CAG workout started by your generation).

Ed: While serving with the CT force I wanted to increase my fitness since I was supposedly in the best unit in the military. There were some things I wasn’t good at. One was pull-ups. My philosophy was if you didn’t like something, which for me was pull-ups, it was because you weren’t good at it. I started doing pull-ups consistently. It wasn’t long before I could do 20 pull-ups with no problem. To this day, I love pull-ups. Getting back to the question. I focused on three areas of my upper body and my speed/endurance for my cardio. To test or measure strength/fitness, I set the standard of 100 lbs. for the upper body. That meant that I had to be able to bench press 100 lbs. over my body weight and do a bar dip and pull up with 100 lb. attached to my body. For speed, I had to be able to run 3 miles under 18 minutes. This test had to be completed one exercise after the other, with minimal rest. The only exercise I couldn’t perform was the bench press. I was able to get up to 85 lb. above my body weight, but I think if I really put more effort into increasing my bench press, I would have accomplished my goal. I wasn’t really into bench pressing as much as other exercises.

I would always workout with the same people all the time. Some of us would come in at 0400 every morning. We started talking about what challenges we could impose on ourselves. One guy was a good swimmer so he wanted to see swimming in the test. We also added a ruck run since that was something we had to do. Another was a rope climb. We eventually ended up with what we considered tests that would test our overall fitness. One of the guys on my team even created the scale for each event. One hundred points was for the guy in our group who did the event the fastest. Anyone who exceeded this was given more points since the scale went beyond 100 points. I still have the original paper that the whole thing was created on. In the end, some of the leadership must have seen value in what we were doing and with dismay from many who weren’t as enthused about exercise as we were, used our tests/workouts and created what was called the Upper Body Round Robin (UBRR pronounced “uh bar”). Yes, there were many that were displeased with of us for starting something just for our personal benefit.

After retirement, I wanted to create an event that was simple but still challenged the upper body and the cardiovascular system. I retired in February 1992. I didn’t have a job at that time so I started working on my dream of such an event. It took until December of the same year until I finally put together such an event. Some of the challenges of the event were what exercises to use, what the event would be called and how to score it. I ran a validation in January 1993. This came about by asking everyone I knew who exercised to come out and see how they fared. I had people who were strictly runners, body builders and those who dabbled in running and weight lifting. The validation was a success. No changes were necessary. So shortly after that I started holding competitions, about every few months in Hawaii. These were low-key events since not many people did both. Only those willing to challenge themselves and were not afraid of being humbled showed up. The event is called the STREND Fitness Challenge. STREND is an acronym of the words STRength and ENDurance. STREND is a trademark I created and own. To learn about the event go to strend.com.

ITS: Would you be able to take us through a couple of different weeks of your current training to get an idea as to how much you are still getting after it?

Ed: My current weekly workouts consist of running about 35-50 miles a week (always focusing on good technique). I also do a weight program which I created called SHIFT (STREND High Intensity Fitness Training). It’s a workout that’s designed to be completed in 30 minutes or less. I do it 3 times a week, usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is a one day rest between workouts. I usually run or swim before or after the workouts. I also kayak, swim as already mentioned and ride a bike. Runs consist of road and trails. I enter races up to marathon distances.

I do ruck runs to keep my body conditioned because of my work at ASPOC. Cadre who work at ASPOC arrive a week before the students. We do a 4 mile run for time with the goal of a sub 8 minutes per mile pace. This course I did the 4 mile run in 28 minutes 3 seconds. The next day we do a 4 mile ruck run with a goal of 13 minutes per mile pace or faster. Two days later we do a 6 mile run for time , sub 8 minute miles. The following day we do the 6 mile ruck run with a goal of 13 minutes per mile pace. In between these runs we do other activities like learning and performing exercises that will be taught to the students. Exercises include forward planks (1 min), side planks (30 seconds), push-ups, burpees and an assortment of other calisthenics. We also do calisthenics using the 45 lb. rucksack. It’s quite a crash course for the cadre.

Three courses are run every year and this is my third year. Sometimes we get new cadre that think that they can get in shape while they are here. These guys get a rude awakening right away. I actually get out of shape when I get there because the activity level isn’t as much as what I do when at home.

ITS: We have to ask… could you still jump in and hang with the operators today?

Ed: I would have to wholeheartedly say YES. I would have no fear about going back to the unit and becoming an operator again.

ITS: Could you give the readers a few ideas on how you might have a candidate prepare for something such as SFAS, or even a Special Missions Unit selection? What frequency of running, rucking, swimming, PT and weights you would recommend?

Ed: Running, ruck running and weight training should be a no-brainer for most. CAG selection course is probably the most demanding, so endurance is very important. What I see most people forget to work on is their water skills. Swimming as a whole is easy, but swimming while wearing a uniform is foreign to most. In MARSOC (Marine Special Operations Course) students must swim 300 meters in 12 minutes while wearing a uniform and using only the breast or side stroke. Also try treading water for 15 minutes while wearing a uniform, not floating. That’s the easy stuff.

Another thing to train for is land navigation. Land navigation is a vehicle that is used as a primary test. Being able to navigate through the wilderness using a map and compass, no GPS. Did I forget to mention a 45 lb. plus pack and a 7 lb. weapon. And there is a time requirement that you don’t know or will never know. Do this for days with, distances unknown. Land navigation is a very important skill, if you can’t find your points in the wilderness it doesn’t matter how good your physical conditioning is.

ITS: Aside from the outwardly physical stuff we talked about, you made a couple of great comments which really shed light on perhaps the most important side, the mental. You made a comment about being one of the “4:00 a.m. guys”, the “Pilot Team”, and wanting to be in the mix of the top 10% – if “they” were looking for one guy to send on an operation. Where did your competitiveness, drive and focus come from and how did it evolve?

Ed: To me, one of the things that drove me in the military was the willingness to serve my country. I used Special Ops as the vehicle. To get through the challenges and hardships of the Assessment & Selection Course you have to have the desire to succeed and that comes from your heart. You commit 110% to your goal. If you have any doubts there is a good chance you’ll lose heart and you will quit. Being a Cadre during Assessment & Selection, I’ve seen it.

ITS: Perhaps in a few words, as a final question, what are a few pieces of advice you’d pass on to guys seeking to enter the SOF community and what do you see as possibly the most important but most over-looked aspect of SOF operations?

Ed: If you make the cut and become a Special Operations Operator, don’t forget why you are there, to serve your country. I’ve seen many operators from different units who beat their chest and think they’re special. These are the guys I shun. An operator isn’t special, rather he/she is unique. You see all kinds of movies about the Navy SEALS. They even play roles in these movies. Quite the opposite for CAG. That’s why CAG operators are called the silent professional. Being a skilled and well trained professional always is most important in my mind.

ITS: Actually, one more question. You live in an amazingly beautiful part of the country. How do you get out the door every day? Just kidding, who wouldn’t train there!

Ed: Daily training is a bad habit I learned while in CAG. It’s HARD to be HARD!

ITS: Ed, thank you again for your service and time, not just now but over the hours you let us pick your brain.

Since first hearing of the Black Powder Red Earth Graphic Novel, I’d been wanting to read it. I’m actually a huge comic book / graphic novel fan and was stoked to meet BPRE mastermind Jon Chang recently and get a copy to check out!

Jon also put me in touch with co-storywriter and Special Operations Contractor Kane Smith, who I had the chance to interview. His Q&A below really gives some great insight into the plot development. No spoilers, I promise!

Black Powder Red Earth

I really enjoyed BPRE and the authenticity of the backstory, which is lost in many comics and graphic novels today. As mentioned, I read comics fairly often and while tales of unbelievable feats are common place, it’s refreshing to read a graphic novel like BPRE that took the time to get it right without violating OPSEC.

 2017. The nation of Iraq, mired in horrific civil war, splinters into three nations: Kurdistan, New Baghdad and Basran. Within 6 months Iranian religious, government and military proxies dominate Basran, host to over 60% of the former nation’s oil reserves.

Backed by Saudi petrodollars, the GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council) Protectorate contracts Cold Harbor, a private military corporation, to wage a war of ruthless intrigue and clandestine violence in the post-Iraq state using American special operations contractors.

2019. Now.

BPRE has a dark and gritty hard-crime feel to it that keeps the reader wanting more. I won’t spoil the Q&A below, but this is something I’d highly recommend you check out, even if you’re not a comic/graphic novel fan. There’s also a Facebook App Operational Roleplay Game that Echelon has developed to coincide with the BPRE novel.

Q&A with Kane Smith

Q: Can you give our readers a little insight into your background?

A: Sure, I spent 9 years on active duty in the Army and 3 in the National Guard. I was an infantryman and special operations medic. After the military I was looking for a way to pay for college and ended up applying at Blackwater to pay for school. My original intent was to work 6 month to a year to pay off my truck and put some money away for medical school.

After working for a while and taking a hard look at the cost, time and pay off I decided to skip med school and go into business. I finished my under grad in pre-med and now am in the middle of an Executive MBA program at Harvard. I have been doing Special Operations Contracting since 2005 and have worked as an independent contractor for several companies. I still take contracts, which are mixed in with another oil and gas consulting business I run.

Q: What was your inspiration for BPRE?

A: Most of the plot for BPRE was based off of vignettes from my experiences in the Middle East; either contracting or military. The main characters, Grinch and Token, are actually based off myself and a friend (who’s now deceased). The other characters are amalgamations of 2 or more people.

One of the biggest challenges was keeping things authentic without compromising our non-disclosure agreements and/or things that could be detrimental to the troops and U.S. Government.

Our collaboration started as a dramatized history of contracting in Iraq. At the time we were first introduced, Jon had been developing BPRE with his company Echelon Software, as a hard sci-fi story about proxy wars fought by contractors in the near future. After some discussion we decided to fold the two projects into one, trying to retain the best of both.

This allowed us to create a work of speculative fiction that capitalized on my direct experiences in theater and deeper strategic insights Chang had gleaned on the region from doing a variety of think-tank and strategic consulting work for US Oil + Gas Companies.

Q: How important was realism and authenticity in the BPRE story line?

A: Very important, everything in the BPRE world is real. The characters are amalgamations of real people; the technology is real; even the background story, designed by Chang 3+ years ago, is starting to become a reality (see Erik Prince’s new proxy army in UAE).

With the exception of some of the brutal gunfights and the outright executions, it’s the closest thing to what’s happened to date and what’s coming next that you will find. We spent enormous amounts of time and energy to research and detail a back-story that was consistent with what’s going on today and what was a natural progression of events from my day-to-day in the field.

When the time came to produce the graphic novel, we had already completed more than half dozen photo shoots at simulated Iraqi training sites in the US with a variety of former SOF guys playing the parts of both aggressors and friendlies. By this time I had also captured hundreds of photos (in Iraq proper) of the exact locations in the stories to provide the artist, Josh Taylor, with the best possible reference to create the renderings in the books.

Q: Did you consult with prior and past team members when writing the story line? I can imagine putting together as much detail as you did took some serious work.

A: To keep us honest, I brought in dozens of my military and contractor friends to consult on the project. As I said before, every story in the series actually happened to myself or someone I know.

Q: BPRE had a great dark and gritty hard-crime feel to it, was this planned from the beginning?

A: I don’t know if it was so much planned as just reality. We simply created a slight deviation off of real life and the story kind of told itself.

For those readers who haven’t deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, it’s hard to accurately convey what its like there. The massive corruption and lawlessness is really hard for an American to truly grasp.

I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the brutal reality of a war torn country with billions of dollars in resources that people would do ANYTHING to get at.

Q: Where do you see BPRE going and what audience was it designed to cater towards?

A: I have to be honest with this one. I have no idea. First of all Chang does all the marketing and press stuff. I got on this project just because it was fun and there really wasn’t anything like it out there. There is a whole counter culture in the PMC world that doesn’t really get any press. Before September 2007, I don’t think most of America could tell you what a military contractor was or what Blackwater was (unless you count some really bad press in New Orleans).

I think this world and story is very compelling and just makes a good read. I felt it was enough to tell the story, put the product out there and see what happens. Since we started this specific narrative, we’ve had people approaching us to develop the story into a feature film or mini-series. I think at this point we’re just going to see what gets the most traction and follow it where it goes. I’m just happy to see BPRE get released and that people are enjoying it.

Q: What was the underlying theme you were trying to aim for in BPRE?

A: We were trying to capture the realities of being a long term Special Operations Contractor caught up in the business for years and having to face some difficult choices about ethics, life, and the reality of a very brutal world. Our basic premise was, “What would happen if Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni superpowers hired Blackwater to fight Iran for them in Iraq.”

Q: Can we expect future projects between you and the publisher, Echelon Software?

A: Absolutely, Echelon and I are working closely on several BPRE projects including video games and a novel that span this story arc and events that follow it.

Q: How about a teaser on what we’ll see in future BPRE graphic novels?

A: Violence, The first book is really setting up the situation for the next three. There are some large action sequences and some vicious betrayals coming up soon. Be sure to check out issue two for some good fun. It should be released before the end of the year.

Notes

I’d like to thank Kane Smith for the awesome interview and Jon Chang for all his help. I look forward to following the future success of BPRE and can’t wait to read the next issue!

Pick up Black Powder Red Earth on Amazon and check out the BPRE Website for more information and updates on when you can expect the next issue!

Have you read BPRE? Leave a comment below and let us know what you thought!

In case you missed last night’s exclusive Ustream Interview with Steve and Philip of Digital Concealment Systems (A-TACS), I’ve embedded the recorded interview video below and will briefly touch on some awesome news unveiled in the broadcast.

It was great to be able to talk with a company the way we were able to with DCS, and represents a transparency not commonly seen in the tactical industry. We all felt the interview went very well and will continue to bring the community many more great interviews.

Big News

Here’s a few things that Steve and Philip announced last night that they are working on:

• Currently developing a snow version of A-TACS
• A green version of A-TACS should be unveiled at the SHOT Show in January, 2011
• Working with Danner to complement their total concealment with a 1000d all-over camo boot
• Boot will have a mottled color sole to blend in and a prototype should be out in the next few weeks
• Steve mentioned that while interviewing snipers, they mentioned boot soles were something easily identified with optics
• Mottled colored sole was originally tried in a hunting boot, but was not adopted by that community
• A-TACS apparel will be available to everyone through EOTAC and will be available soon
• Steve mentioned that the next fabric they’re testing the A-TACS pattern on is Nomex
• A-TACS concept is creating patterns of organic pixels, and rather than create geographically specific patterns, they’re trying to address environment specifics (ex. arid, temperate)
• A-TACS had the chance to be pattern in big summer movie (they can’t say which one), but the movie was looking for products to put on actors. They don’t know if they’ll have a bit part in it yet, but they’ll know more soon.

Notes

We’d like to say thank you to everyone that tuned in live, your comments were awesome and we can’t wait to continue the live interview series on ITS Tactical. We appreciate the time that DCS took after-hours to be our first guinea pigs with our interviews, and again it was great to get an insight into their developments.

Let us know what you thought of the interview in the comments, what companies or individuals would you like to see interviewed in the future?

If you forgot to mark your calendars, it’s not too late! ITS Tactical will be interviewing A-TACS and we want your input!

We’ll be using the comment feature on Ustream to let you ask live questions and get answers right on the spot. Be sure to register for an account so we know exactly who is asking questions.

The live interview will be at 8 p.m. Central Time tonight. If that time doesn’t work for you, the show will be available for viewing later, there just won’t be a way to ask questions.

Click here to check out the show page and RSVP for the interview. We hope to see you there!

We’re going to start rolling out a new series on ITS Tactical soon, doing live interviews with individuals, companies and whomever you guys would be interested to talk to in the industry.

We had such great success with our last Plank Owner Roundtable via Ustream, that we’ve decided to expand its use here on ITS Tactical. We’ll be using the comment feature available on Ustream to let you guys ask live questions to whomever we’re interviewing! Click here to check out the show and bookmark its location.

What we need to know from all of our readers is what time would be the best for you to tune in to these live broadcasts? Our first interview in the series will be Monday, June 7th with A-TACS ! Of course all our broadcasts will be recorded and available for your viewing pleasure at a later time, but to get your questions in, you’ll need to tune in live. Click here to RSVP to attend!

There’s a poll below, so let us know what time works best and also leave a comment with any suggestions on who you’d like to see interviewed! We’ve got some great interviews coming up for you!
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