CrossFit Coal – CrossFit
Metcon
Mogadishu Mile (Time)
4 Rounds for time of:
-19 Ground to Overhead Dumbbell or Kettlebell @53/35 (swing or snatch)
-19 Front Squats @53/35
-19 KB/DB push-ups (one hand on KB/DB left then right for a total of 38)
-400 m run with KB
Your KB is your ‘Ranger Buddy…..you cannot lose physical contact with it at any time. You may rest it on your body, or set it on the ground with one hand touching it, but do not let it go completely.
*If you DO let your KB go, you forfeit the progress of that round, and you must start the round over.
Symbolism of the “Mogadishu Mile”
*You cover a total distance of one mile. Even though the soldiers actually walked between 2.5 and 3 miles depending on their starting point, it has become known as a “mile”. You carry your KB during the run to symbolize the gear the soldiers carried.
*19 reps – one honoring each soldier of Task Force Ranger killed during the battle and the day after.
*Ground to overhead – as the soldiers held up their rifles the entire time
*Squats – as they sought cover behind anything available
*Push-ups – as they fell to the ground and had to get back up
*Don’t let the KB go – symbolic for the dedication the soldiers showed towards their creed to ‘not leave a man behind
On October 3rd, 1993, members of the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force), supported by pilots from the 160th Aviation Regiment (Nightstalkers) and other SF units, went into the city of Mogadishu, Somalia to execute Operation ‘Gothic Serpent’, an attempt to apprehend key players in Mohammed Farrah Aidid’s dictatorship. While the initial mission went smoothly, things took a turn for the worse when two aircraft were shot down, forever coining the phrase ‘Blackhawk Down’. Determined to not leave a man behind, and also facing the task of securing the crash sites, Rangers and Deltas, scattered at several locations throughout the city, under heavy fire, most of them wounded, and low on supplies, held their positions until the morning hours of October 4th.
As help from the 10th Mountain Division finally arrived, the armored vehicles could not accommodate all of the soldiers. At this point, some of them began their exit to a rally point on foot, under heavy fire, dehydrated and sleep deprived, all of them wounded in one way or another. This has become known as the “Mogadishu Mile”.