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The first book I ever bought on military fitness was The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness by former Navy SEAL Stew Smith. I was a teenager, maybe 15 or 16 years old, and for me, the Navy SEALs were the epitome of physical fitness and preparation. The book contained sections on nutrition, stretching, a collection of different exercises, some information about pullups and dips, running and swimming at BUD/S, etc. But the meat of the book were the workout plans. There was a beginner, intermediate, and a 12-weeks-to-BUD/S plan. The idea was that someone would start with the beginner program, work that until they could fulfill theRead More →

I usually don’t comment on current affairs because commenting on them is time-critical and I don’t have the time nor do I feel inclined to fire-off an article under that pressure; I like to take my time and really work that article. However, recent events do force me to comment on a very particular issue, an AI just beat a fighter pilot and some people think this is the end of military aviation as we know it. Nevermind that such sweeping generalizations on the military are usually wrong, it is an interesting development. It is especially interesting for me, since I have a background inRead More →

Over the years I have read and listened to a lot of resources that have influenced the way I think about mindset, specifically the right mindset to solve problems in human violence. I think it is important to understand why some individuals and units can create a culture that sets them up for success in conflict and why others fail. Here is a collection of the resources that influenced me the most. I’d like to share them with you and see what you think of them. Matt Larsen on Managing Violence PodcastMatt Larsen is the father of the modern US Army combatives program. As aRead More →