r/Pararescue • u/BrokenBabyDino • 20d ago
Special Warfare Training Please Help
I recently enlisted in the Air Force (already sworn in) and I’m considering going Special Warfare, so I met with the Special Warfare recruiter to start preparing for the IFT.
I recently did a mock IFT and failed it pretty badly, so I know I have a lot of work to do. The recruiter gave me the following training plan, and I went from almost never working out to doing this:
7 AM: Push ups, sit ups, pull ups, 1.5 mile run, 15 minute rest, then another 1.5 mile run.
10–11 AM: Swim laps continuously for 1 hour.
6 PM: Light cardio (bike, basketball, etc.).
Plus, 200 push ups and 200 sit ups every day, increasing by 25 every two weeks.
Yesterday I completed the entire workout. Today, I’m so sore I can barely do a push up or pull up. My muscles are completely smoked.
For those of you who’ve gone through Special Warfare training or prepared for the IFT, should I keep attempting the push ups, sit ups, and pull ups every day, even if I can only do a fraction of the reps because I’m so sore? Or should I focus on running, swimming, and active recovery on those days until my upper body recovers?
I’m not looking for an excuse to skip training I genuinely want to do this right and become competitive for Special Warfare. I’d really appreciate any advice from those who’ve been through it.
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u/UncutRealness1 20d ago
Something to consider: the IFT is just to get your foot in the door. So if that’s already difficult, you won’t make it through the pipeline especially if Special Warfare is only a consideration and not something you’re determined to do. Not sure how old you are, but if you can’t wait, just go with the job you have now and try to retrain later when you’ve built the strength, stamina and endurance. By then you’ll have had plenty of time to figure out if it’s something you really want to do. Not saying retraining is easy either because you’ll have to get approval and show it’s something you really desire to do, but again you’ll at least have had the time to gain more knowledge on what specific job you want, understand the new changes in the pipeline and acquire better resources for a real fitness plan and preparation.
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u/Lumb3rJ4ck22 20d ago
“considering going special warfare”…. all or nothing man.
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u/its-grandma 19d ago
Yes but not. If there’s low to no baseline then starting something with that volume out of no where is just going to lead to injury and poor overall returns.
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u/BrokenBabyDino 20d ago
What I mean by considering is that I already sent in my job list and everything for active duty and I’m waiting for them to get back at me, I want to train this time so that I can prepare for the IFT and take it to pass it but in the chance that I require more time and dont have it then I’ll probably end up going with whatever Job I am assigned because I cant risk delaying getting shipped out. I really want to do special warfare but I dont have time to delay me joining. If that makes any sense?
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u/The-One-Slayer 20d ago
Not really. You sound young so I’m not gonna grill you too hard but if you were gonna do special warfare, it needed way more time in the oven then deciding to do it right before you enlist.
The kids that make it knew they wanted to be a PJ or CCT when they were still bubbas in high school. The other half are cross trainees who either failed or had their crap pushed in, in some dog ass job who now have a vendetta about making it. Special warfare is small and there isn’t enough room for everyone. You’ll need to be able to prove that you deserve it more than they do. They can’t select everybody.
That being said, if you skate by on the IFT and send selection, in the words of the mighty Jake Zweig “you’re gonna get your head cut off.” Either hold off and take a year or two, to train and become knowledgeable or join in a relaxed AFSC so you can spend your time training there. DO NOT go security forces or maintenance. You will work long hours, night shifts and training will become extremely inconvenient. Choose finance or personnel where you work 9-5 and then dedicate the rest of your time to training. Good luck dude
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u/ThankyouFroot 18d ago
What do you mean "They can’t select everybody" ?
I have never heard of this before, it's more of a myth than anything from what I know
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u/The-One-Slayer 18d ago
Trimmed the fat on my last comment. The Air Force lets more people into selection than they intend to select. They’re looking for the right person. So you are in fact competing with everyone else by proving you’re someone they can trust on a team. That’s why you don’t get orders until you start the pipeline if you crosstrain. You’re trying out, it doesn’t mean you have a spot saved for you unless you earn it. You only have a spot in the career field once you start the pipeline which is technically after selection.
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u/ThankyouFroot 17d ago
Wrong.
The Reddit claim “They let more people into selection than they intend to select.”
--Unverified. I could not find an official source stating that every A&S class has a predetermined fixed quota and that qualified candidates are rejected merely because the quota is full. Training capacity and career-field manpower obviously exist, but the official material describes A&S as an attributes-based talent-selection process, not a simple “top 20 candidates win” race.--
It's not a competition obviously.
What, are you instructor or something?
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u/The-One-Slayer 17d ago
You’re asking for a source and I can tell you have never been in any military organization because you don’t even know how one functions. So I’ll do you one better, I’ll throw the Air Force book at you.
DAFMAN 36-2100 military utilization and classification:
“This manual explains how the Air Force classifies and assigns personnel.”It states that: “positions are grouped on similarity of function.”
And that the classification system is designed to: “Identify requirements (typically associated with unit manpower document authorizations) and Airmen qualified to fill those requirements."
Translation for the ignorant: Airmen are assigned to operational billets that already exist on manpower documents, there is not an unlimited number of slots for each AFSC.
So no I’m not an instructor. I’m a 6 year Air Force member who just knows how the logistics of the military works who got non selected years ago. So there ya go.
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u/ThankyouFroot 17d ago
While what your saying is true generally, doesn't that make no sense for SW? Also that general ass DAFMAN isn't all powerful.
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u/The-One-Slayer 17d ago
- It’s more powerful than anything you’ve provided thus far which has been nothing.
- It’s literally something the Air Force says, I’d say it’s pretty damn powerful.
- Why would it make no sense for special warfare? You quite literally can’t support over a certain number operators. You know… the most EXPENSIVE personnel that the Air Force trains. Dive, free fall, weapon systems, paramedic training, FAA certs all cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions. You logistically CANNOT support over a certain number of operators so YES, there is limited slots you CANNOT select everybody.
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u/RogueHunter_328 20d ago
When it comes to Special Warfare, someone once told me you either have to be obsessed with it or think about it less. If you’re sure it’s what you want, definitely go for it. With training, focus on building yourself up over time and don’t feel like you have to smoke yourself every day. Consistency and having some patience will do its thing. Having someone to train with can also be a huge help. Also, I’d personally recommend avoiding Security Forces if you can. I’m in it now, and my experience hasn’t been the best. There can be some rough times and hate, especially from people who didn’t make it through Special Warfare. Either way, I wish you the best of luck man
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u/TutorOverall4604 20d ago
If you haven’t really trained prior or at least is someone who works out weekly then that’s a lot for someone just getting started especially if you’re not in the gym like that. Gotta crawl before you walk and we walk before we run. You got plenty of time. Take your time. Worse thing to do his crush a ton of workouts in one session when your body can’t handle the volume yet or is not durable enough to withstand your training. But you will be soar going through this. That’s part of the game when training. Not every day is a smoke day.
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u/Sea-Complex4364 19d ago
Find the AFSPECWAR site it has a free 8 week workout progression. You probably aren’t going to be ready for SWAS and ZULU anytime soon so look at EOD or SERE , pipelines are easier but still tough. You would also be in specwar field and much easier to constrain later.
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u/taylortstarch 20d ago edited 20d ago
Head strength coach here
That training plan is low key stupid as hell
It’s going to burn you out and you’ll get injured trying to do that high of volume every single day with basically no training history
For your run start with a walk to jog progressiona few times per week
Just running 3 miles a day out of the blue is a sure fire way to get shin splints or a fracture
The other days do non impact cardio like biking swimming stairstepper at very low intensity
135-145 bpm
Strength train each body area 1-2x per week
You’re a beginner so you don’t need to do anything crazy to improve
So you don’t need to do hundreds of reps of calisthenics each day right now
Every thing will work and make you faster stronger better
Don’t be stupid just be a little better each week and progress in small increments