Air Force Special Warfare Training Guide
Download the FREE 92-page PDF guide on how to prepare for Pararescue, OED, Combat Controller, EOD, Special Reconnaissance, & Combat Rescue Officer (CRO) Selection
What you will learn
The first step in creating a robust training program is understanding where to focus your efforts. Everyone knows you'll have to ruck, run, and do pushups and pullups. But, the volume and intensity of each can and should vary wildly based on your strengths and weaknesses. In this step you'll learn how to comprehensively assess for your strengths and weaknesses (much more than another PT test).
Of course you need to regularly do some combination of running, rucking, and swimming to get a contract and eventually pass selection. But, how often, how far, how hard, and how to mix it in with everything else is the hard part. Learn the exact methods and process we use to design our training programs.
Strength and power development is one of the primary pillars of SOF prep training. There is no deadlift test to get into SOF, but you do need to be strong enough to lug around a heavy pack day after day, scale a wall, do countless pushups and pull-ups and move efficiently. Learn how to do so in a way that will amplify every other aspect of your training program.
Special operators are masters of work capacity. They aren’t overspecialized in any physiological capacity; instead, they can do a lot of everything. This allows them to be extremely adaptable and resilient in the field. For someone looking to attend a SOF selection course, work capacity refers to your ability to sprint, run, ruck, swim, carry things, climb things, and do calisthenics. Learn how to mix in the right amount of work capacity training to be ready for selection.
Movement means a lot more than going into the gym and doing stuff that makes you tired, or how good your barbell back squat looks. If you understand how complexity and stress interact, you’ll be able to choose the right movements for the right goal in your programs, get the most out your workouts, and build training progressions that enable you to execute a greater range of skills under a wider range of difficult conditions. Learn how we build movement work into every training session.
Everyone who shows up at selection has attained the physical standards for a contract, yet 50-90% of them will fail anyway. The research is clear - being more fit does give you a higher likelihood of success, but only marginally. Mental and emotional factors play a central role in success in SOF selection. Learn the most important mental skills we emphasize with our clients.
Nutrition is a vital part of the overall process of building and maintaining physiological resilience. Having energy on demand, regardless of circumstances, is key to thriving in the chaotic environment in which special operations units work. Nutrition also plays a significant role in recovery, which is half of the adaptation process.
Your body’s response to training is both very specific and general in nature. The more variables that you can take into account, the more effective your program will be. Understanding the principles that govern how your body responds to training will demystify the training process and help ensure that you make continual progress.
What people say about it
For nearly a decade, Craig and Jon have shaped the way I have trained both current and future Operators; this is an essential guide, not just for active and aspiring special operators and the people who train them, but for anyone looking for a detailed, systematic approach to building unbreakable athletes.
Dr. Kevin Serre, Ph.D.
High-Performance Manager, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command
I just got selected in the May SFAS class. Thank you for the great programming; the workouts definitely translated well to the work we had to do.
Online Client
SF Operator
Don't miss out on the Air Force Special Warfare Training Guide
92 pages of FREE content on how to prepare for all Air Force Special Warfare pipelines. The guide includes: