AF Special Tactics Prep
Hello everyone, I stumbled upon this website after searching for SOME kind of guidance on getting into shape for USAF Special Tactics. Your guides showed up and I followed them here... I have a couple questions for you!
I have no realistic physical background, other than the fact that I dropped over 80 pounds over this past year as I was tired of being overweight and needed a life change. I'm in the process of joining the Air Force and I've decided a career in Special Tactics is what truly appeals to me. I'm mainly considering CCT & TACP. My EAD is set at 1 Jun 2010, but I haven't finalized my enlistment or signed a DEP contract yet. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get into shape, as I've never done any type of training before.
I see that two of your guides may be what I'm looking for, so I was wondering if anyone could spare some guidance. "From Street to Elite Vol 1" seems like it may be exactly what I'm looking for, but I was hoping someone could tell me what types of workouts it involves. Unfortunately I don't have access to a pool or any type of special equipment, so that's a factor I have to keep in mind. There's a YMCA locally, but the pool is rather small and intended for children, so that's not much help for me... Every time I've gone over there it's full of kids. :(
Then there's the USAF TACP Elite Training Guide, which I'm not sure if it's geared for someone who has no fitness background. So.. I'm not sure which one would work better for me. I'm mainly struggling with my push ups and pull ups, and I haven't had a chance to gauge my running yet, as I'm in Oklahoma and I'm still dealing with the horrible winter weather... Being from Florida this is NOT my cup of tea.
I was told I could take the PAST at anytime, and multiple times, up to 45 days before I ship for BMT. I'm not sure if I should change my EAD date or not, as I have no idea how long it'll take to get into shape. I'm still going to join if I don't qualify... but I want to give it a damn good shot!
Any tips, BTDT or advice for a newbie like me?
Regards,
Ken
I have no realistic physical background, other than the fact that I dropped over 80 pounds over this past year as I was tired of being overweight and needed a life change. I'm in the process of joining the Air Force and I've decided a career in Special Tactics is what truly appeals to me. I'm mainly considering CCT & TACP. My EAD is set at 1 Jun 2010, but I haven't finalized my enlistment or signed a DEP contract yet. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get into shape, as I've never done any type of training before.
I see that two of your guides may be what I'm looking for, so I was wondering if anyone could spare some guidance. "From Street to Elite Vol 1" seems like it may be exactly what I'm looking for, but I was hoping someone could tell me what types of workouts it involves. Unfortunately I don't have access to a pool or any type of special equipment, so that's a factor I have to keep in mind. There's a YMCA locally, but the pool is rather small and intended for children, so that's not much help for me... Every time I've gone over there it's full of kids. :(
Then there's the USAF TACP Elite Training Guide, which I'm not sure if it's geared for someone who has no fitness background. So.. I'm not sure which one would work better for me. I'm mainly struggling with my push ups and pull ups, and I haven't had a chance to gauge my running yet, as I'm in Oklahoma and I'm still dealing with the horrible winter weather... Being from Florida this is NOT my cup of tea.
I was told I could take the PAST at anytime, and multiple times, up to 45 days before I ship for BMT. I'm not sure if I should change my EAD date or not, as I have no idea how long it'll take to get into shape. I'm still going to join if I don't qualify... but I want to give it a damn good shot!
Any tips, BTDT or advice for a newbie like me?
Regards,
Ken
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Max Willoughby on -
Hey Ken,
How goes it? Making any progress?
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Permalink Reply by Ken Yarbrough on
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Slowly but surely, started interval training and it's working better for me than what I was doing. Was basically trying to run full out with no prior training... and it was hurting, lemme tell ya, lol. I'm not sure where I'll be when my EAD rolls around. As of now I still don't have a contract, I did sign my IRR for the DEP on 10 Mar 2010, so it's been a little over a month now.
Messed up my wrist so I'm having to take a breather from push ups, kinda irked about that. I'll just be happy to get IN the Air Force. If I can't make the PAST with a wide margin of error before I leave, then I'm going to put it on the back-burner and take what I can get right now. I'll just continue training and give it a shot later on when my retraining window opens up.
School's almost over, so I'm stoked about that. Less things to focus on, thank god. May 7th and it's all fitness and work. Got a vacation to FL lined up right after school ends, get some good R&R there for a week. My weight has been fluctuating a bit, which concerns me. I bumped up from 179 to 186 over the course of 2 Feb to 10 Mar, and have stayed at 190 since then. Weighed in at 188.8 this morning so it looks like it may be going back down, not sure what the deal is. Have to be back under 187 by the first week of May, but I think I can shave off 2 lbs fairly easily, lol. I'm just glad I'm not tipping over 250 anymore!
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Permalink Reply by Max Willoughby on
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Sounds like you're on the right track. A little bit of weight fluctuation is normal, and the fact that you're keeping an eye on it is good.
Two things: First, if TACP (that's what you decided, right?) is what you want, go for it. If I were you I would try to get into that right out of basic, because once you're operational in the AF, you might find it hard to maintain fitness well enough that you'd be comfortable re-training. But if you do it from the beginning, you'll at least be at the fitness level of basic training. I'm not saying that is good enough, but that it's probably better than the average operational Airman. Make sense?
The other thing is that, if my memory serves me, TACP/PJ/CCT are on the list of specialties that you DO NOT have to be in your re-training window in order to train into . They'll take people outside their window because they're so short on people and attrition is so high. So if you do go that route, you don't have to wait on your window. I can check into this, or maybe someone else knows for sure.
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Permalink Reply by Ken Yarbrough on
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PJ & CCT have an early retraining option, not sure about TACP. Like I said, right now I'll just be glad to get into the operational Air Force, and I won't let myself go back to what I was... Fitness is now part of my lifestyle. I've found that I enjoy running, it lets me wind down after the day is over.
Who knows, right now I don't even have a ship date, lol.
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Permalink Reply by Chughes758 on -
TACP is the same. As four year you can get into it at 2 years and as a 6 3 years. Also, thing to note with TACP is it is the only one you can go to directly from overseas. Since your assignment if you decide to go to a different careerfield is a crapshoot that could be important.
I say just hold off on leaving, work hard so you know you can pass the PAST fairly easy, and it should be stupid easy because at the schoolhouse the PT does not reflect the standards to graduate or get in. I know you want to get to basic, I was dying to go before I came in, but if this is what you want to do work for it now.
Don't be like me though. I got into the schoolhouse, was not mentally prepared or as physically as I should be and fell by the wayside. Now I am sitting at a desk bored and hating it. Have a goal and don't deter from it!
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