A Rainy Struggle for The Right to Trek

Naminoue Beach, Wakasa Kaigan Dori road, Wakasa, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

Let’s do this thing…. AGAIN!

Photos Courtesy of Kristy Taylor

Let’s start this AAR back in January, when Trek 007 was announced.  My buddy from GRC 347 and I started talking about going, which got my wife got interested in Trek 007, it being the smarter part of GORUCK and all. She decided she wanted to go, and I informed that she would have to do a GORUCK Challenge first, as participation in all Capstone events require the completion of a Challenge. With that, we signed ourselves up for the May 11th Challenge, and for San Francisco Trek 007 in October.

May 11th 2013

0500

My wife and I wake up, and start to get ready. For the past 2 weeks she has been sick, and developed a nervous eye tick with the worry and anticipation over today. Today she gets a firsthand introduction into the world of GORUCK. We loaded the bags into the car last night, so all we have to do is get dressed, eat some hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and a honey waffle (these things are amazing!) before we head out. We head out the door and start the drive to the start point in the rain…

0615

We get to the start point, park, and start to look around. It is still raining, so we are doing our best to delay the inevitable misery that will hit us. We finally bail out of the car to go find a bathroom. On the way back to the car to get our gear, I see a familiar face, Cadre Garet Noon… After a quick hello, we go to the car, grab our things, including two guidons and the American flag. When we get back to Garet, he informs us that due to the symbolism of carrying a flag in Japan, (it essentially is seen as a signal of marching into battle), we would not be carrying the flags today. We make quick trip back to the car, drop off the guidons, head back to talk to the team, many of whom we met Thursday night at dinner, stretch, and get ready.

0700

Garet gets us formed up on the beach, selects another alumni and me that he remembers from December to be the Team Leader and Assistant Team Leader (ATL). At this point we get our first set of instructions and Pre-Combat Inspections (PCI). This involves making sure everyone’s bricks are labeled with name and phone number. Since it’s still raining, this turns into a debacle of epic proportions, as our Sharpie marker will not stick to the tape that was used to wrap all the bricks. Someone finally finds some rite-in-the-rain paper, and we get everything labeled. I take up my position behind the formation as the ATL, and we get ready to start. Exercises, exercises, and more exercises. Infantry movement techniques, buddy carries, crawls, walks, ranger push-ups, animal based exercises. It’s all a bit of a blur, but it was all to ensure we were fit enough to patrol the streets of Naha!

This Welcome Party takes its toll, and our team is now down to 17. I am sure the man we lost will be back, and will destroy it.  He has a strong background as a power-lifter, and just needs to work on some endurance training now.

At this point Team Leader and ATL are swapped out.  Garet still does not know that my wife is in the class, and selects her to be the Team Leader. Our goal is Shuri Castle.  For those of you unfamiliar with Okinawa, this is one of the highest points in Naha. We do not make our time hack to Shuri Castle. Our punishment: no usage of straps on our rucks for the next movement.  This became a bit of a recurring trend, as we were unable to make time hacks all day.

Without breaking OPSEC, I would like to go into some generalizations about this Challenge. First of all, I and a couple other people thought it was more difficult than Class 347. Second, it was much more realistic. By that I mean most, if not all, of our missions were legit missions that seemed like the kind of thing a Special Operations Member would actually be called in to do. This was a big change from Class 347 as well, and honestly I feel made it better. It is pretty cool to get to watch the Cadre and the company grow, and develop.

After a grueling TACEVAC (Tactical Evacuation Care) to the medic station at Naminoue Shrine, a quick sprint around the block brought us to a park, where Garet put us in the front leaning rest, and informed us that when he said, “Down” we were to say “GORUCK” and when he said, “Up” we were to say, “Tough”. With that GORUCK Challenge Class 556 was complete, and 17 personnel had earned a GORUCK Tough patch.

It was here that the class discovered the team weight had more than just weight rods from a weight vest in it. It had also been packed with a USMC Bottle Opener, USAF Challenge Coin, American and Okinawan Flag lapel pins, and a Baby USMC Dress Blue bib, for Garet.

I also briefed the class quickly on the $1 Million GBF Challenge, and specifically Operation Cab Money, and was able to get $100 in donations.

I left my wife in the park to head back and get the car. Note to anyone preparing to do a Challenge, leave a change of clothes in the car. I also left a can of coconut cream and 2 scoops of protein powder in the car. What none of us realized was that the power had been cut to the parking lot and we were locked in. In true GRT fashion, after talking to several bystanders who attempted to call the owner of the lot, we drove over the grass and down a ramp onto the street.

Some final thoughts from my wife:

“I’m not sure Trek is worth this”, “Why can’t I move?”

Overall it was a very difficult event for my wife, as it is for many.  She is not an avid fitness enthusiast as many of us in the community are. She ultimately did this Challenge so that she could go to Trek with me, and to show me how much she loves me.  When others asked her if she would do it again she replies, “HELL NO!” and I fully believe that she will not do another Challenge, or even a Capstone besides Trek. She is thinking about shadowing me in Normandy though, so that’s something. As much as she suffered, struggled, and pushed through during this challenge, when she talks to her family and friends about it, I can hear a tinge of pride in her voice. I’m very proud of her, and only wish that nasty blister she got on her little toe would just go away already.

This was one hell of a Challenge that I will certainly never forget. Always remember, if you’re the biggest guy, you’re going to be a casualty, so drop a few pounds and be nice to your team…