F3TheFort Holiday Drop-In

The Forts annual holiday party will have a different feel this year.
With COVID still lingering we have decided to have a gathering but it will be a bit different.

We are encouraging The PAX to go to dinner with your M and either your Shieldlock, Whetstone, or small group of fellow PAX and their Ms. After dinner we will all gather for an hour or so of a social hour(s).
This will give our Ms the opportunity to meet the crazy fellas we spend the early mornings with but more importantly their M.

We are all fortunate to have this crazy group it is also just as important to try and let our Ms meet some other ladies in the community and possibly let them start great friendships as well.

Make it a day of F3. Start with the golf outing, go to dinner and then grab a couple beers, a bottle of J Lohr wine, a cocktail and let’s kick off the holiday season.

If COVID worries you or your M we will have an outdoor area to hang out at as well as indoor areas.

Where- Springfield Community Center- by the tennis courts/pool
420 Horton Grove, Fort Mill, SC 29715

Time- 7pm-9pmish

When- Dec 3rd, 2021

Contact- Backdraft with any concerns…

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F3 The Fort Anniversary Party

Get ready to celebrate the Anniversary of The Fort. Location will be next to The Springfield neighborhood pool under the pavilion. but the date is set Sept. 17th, 2021. 1830-2130 or 630pm- 930pm for anyone that dosn’t know how to do military time. Cant wait to see you all. It will be the same as last year and bring your own dinner and drinks. We will have a few people speaking.

Look forward to seeing everyone.

location- Springfield Neighborhood Pavilion, next to pool

time- 630pm- 930pm

what to bring- whatever you want to eat and drink.

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The Sweati 2020

The Sweati 2020-
79 HIM took to The Forts annual summer CSAUP event. It was 78 degrees when 24 Ruckers launched from The Coliseum at 0530. They had their disclaimer and direction to the first of the 3 pain stations. Just After at 0600 54 runners took to the route. They departed and ran about 2.5 miles and got to meet Bones at Golden Corral for the first pain station. He worked them over as they came in for about 10-15 minutes. Once he finished dishing the pain they took off to Pantheon only about 1.5 miles up the Road. Fishsticks was waiting for sprints and pain. He had the PAX attention for another 10-15 minutes. Once they left they brought the route back to YHC. While waiting for the PAX to return and doing burpees I decided that my other two Qs most likely put the PAX through so much I would give them a choice. Either 20 burpees at 5 light poles with bear crawls in-between or they could buyout of it for a $50. going to our brother Cash. Most wanted to take on both challenges. We wore black for Cash and am still amazed at the Photos coming in from across the Country showing support to this HIM. We love you Cash. Here is a link to the pay-pal account if you feel you would like to support.

paypal.me/f3thefort

Backdraft Out

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The Sweati

The Sweati
8/15/2020

Want to Run or Ruck and Sweat? Join YHC for both. Let’s get out of your comfort zone.

Come out and enjoy 5.75 miles of running or rucking. Included with your ticket is 3 pain stations that will test out if you have been posting to workouts over the summer/ Covid pandemic. This has been and will continue to be the summer sweatdown.

Launch from Coliseum (1025 Dave Gibson Blvd) you will be told where to go next.

Ruck- depart 0530
Run- depart 0600

Water will be available at pain stations. Bring your own if you are against trash.

Coffee will be provided by The Fort. Donations to the fund are accepted.

Q Source will follow at this site. Please bring chair and Q Source manual (not required)
Q source will start shortly after PAX catch there breathe.

Fellowship, popsicles, and coffee to follow.

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Preparedness- Are You Prepared?

Attn #HIM of the The Fort and Lake Wylie,

Preparedness is discussed in Foundation Point F5 of the the Q- Source.  As Defined Preparedness is: Getting Ready for the Expected While being Ready for The Unexpected. This is an all encompassing need to us as men.  It is valid in all parts out our lives;  Father, husband, boss, team member, Site-Q, WO Q ect.

The purpose for this pre-blast is in regards to life saving measures that Pax can take in the event of an unexpected medical emergency at home, work, or at an AO.  We have talked about it in Site-Q Meetings and at the last Invergence.

Last week HomeBrew ,a Pax from Lake Wylie, who is near and dear to our hearts, had just this type of medical emergency come crashing down on him after his 2.0 suffered a Febrile Seizure and stopped breathing.  He had no training but HAD to ACT. So he mimicked what he had seen on TV and was able to revive her before EMS was able to arrive.  Good On Ya for maintaining a cool head and doing what needed to be done.  CPR and Faith in the Sky Q is what saved her life.  I have maintained CPR/AED/First Aid certification for 6-8 years now for work.  I feel better knowing that if I am put in that sort of situation I have at minimum the base knowledge to try and keep someone alive till EMS-Fire arrive on site to take over.

Here is what HomeBrew and I are proposing.  This will be a friendly competition between The Fort and Lake Wylie regions.  From 4-1 to 4-15 every PAX from either region that completes certification or re-certifies in CPR/ AED/First Aid he and I + the Nan’tan and 1st F Q will complete 5 burpees.   The region that draws the most new or recerts will pass that number on to the “Loser”, but honestly- Who really loses in this situation? IE The Fort get 30 pax LKW gets 20 pax = LKW will do 150 burpees. The Fort will do 100. As you all know, I HATE BURPEES, but have committed to drive action across the regions.

The Certification I have been using comes from NationalCPRFoundation.com.  It is Red Cross compliant and should take between 30 mins to 1 hour to complete.  It is free unless you decide to purchases the hard copy certificates.  We will require a screen shot/ picture Tweeted or slacked to both HomeBrew and myself of the completed training for a CPR/AED/First aid at the end.  It will be added to the spreadsheet we will use to document Pax completion. The certification is good for 2 years.

It is highly recommended that All Site Qs get on board with this effort, but all PAX can benefit from this training. What better way to show leadership than making sure the Pax that Post to your AO know you have that training and are ready to act in the even that someone goes down.

Please join us in this and lets Ensure we are Prepared for the unexpected. Stay tuned to TwEETAR for a message from Homebrew.

Thanks

Duck Dynasty  🦆👑and HomeBrew 🏠🍺

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Mountain trip to Dupont State Forest on August 3rd with Trail Running, Rucking and Biking options – there will be a 2nd F afterwords

3rd F

Alright we are 2 years ago we did a mountain trip to Roan Mtn. it was one of the best trips I have made with my fellow F3 brothers. After 10-16 miles we went to Daniel Boone Inn to refuel.

With this in mind I wanted to continue to do this hopefully every year. So on August 3rd we are going to do another mountain trip. This time it will be Trail Running, Biking and Rucking options.

Our destination will be DuPont State Forest. We will leave from the Newport Walmart at 6 am it is a 2 1/2 hr trip. we will either go to the Hooker Falls Access or the Lake Imaging Access. For runners we will try and get 12-18 miles in for Mountain bikers Vuvuzela has about 20-30 mile rout lined up.

 

2nd F

Afterwords will will go to Daddy D’s and refuel.

 

Make sure you bring water and something for energy do not come unprepared you will regret it. I did exactly that last time. This will be an unforgettable trip that we will try and do every year. we need to clown car to get there since there are no rental vans available.

Reach out to me if you have any questions.  I have attached links below.

Dupont State Forest Trail Map-1

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g49206-d2069003-Reviews-Daddy_D_s_Suber_Soulfood-Hendersonville_North_Carolina.html

www.Dupontforest.com

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Being Vulnerable is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength

P.S.A attendance is highly recommended. March 27th mark your calendars. F3 St. Louis very own Miyagi and Aerobie has brought light to a sensitive subject that’s right Suicide-mental health awareness. A subject we try and avoid talking about at all or till it’s to late. YHC will be on Q at the Panethon if you can’t make it to the west side of town Stang is on Q at Tomahawk and will also discussing the subject.

I am encouraging you to step up and share your experience. Whether it be about yourself or family member or even a friend. YHC will testify how this subject has effected my life. Please remember what we talk about in COT stays in COT it’s okay to be vulnerable. We are stronger together rather than alone.

Quotes
Don’t be ashamed of your story it will inspire others. Author Unknown

“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.”

”I hide all my scars with an I’m fine.”

The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die. – Juliette Lewis

The world is a better place with you in it.

Suicide doesn’t end the chances of life getting worse, it eliminates the possibility of it ever getting any better. – unknown

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The Cornerstone – Challenge ( One Year Long )

To all the Pax of F3 Nation

Are you prepared to challenge your self for 2019? I am challenging all Pax’s to join me for 2019 we will take on one exercise for January (merkins single count) 100 reps every day. Then in February we will add another exercise which will be done every day on top of the 100 merkins and so on and so on. We will increase by adding one exercise each month.  These exercises will be above and beyond when you post. So by the end of the year there will be 12 exercises that need to be done everyday at the reps set.

Do you accept the challenge? Do you want to get better?

I will set the next month exercise and reps the week before to keep you on your toes

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Encouragement at The Arsenal

The Arsenal Q 10/25 – Sorry this one is late, I was on vacation and lost track of it…

5:00 Pre-Run

Fire Hazard

General

Punch List

Soft Pretzel

5:30 Workout

Fire Hazard

General

One Niner

Punch List

Sharknado

Slow Pitch

Soft Pretzel

Cobbler asked me to Q at The Arsenal what feels like forever ago. I liked the idea of “crossing the borders” from The Fort to Indian Land. It also helped that this is the closest AO to my house… so there’s that. The opportunity rose and I met it. Plus it’s a very versatile AO with many options. 

Rewind to 10/25:

Four PAX up for the pre-run at 5:00. Seven PAX showed up to increase their self esteem by way of “positive talk” for the main event. The clock struck 5:30 and we moseyed down to the football fields. 

We stopped for COP on the practice field for a little warming up. It consisted of:

Al Gores

SSH x 29

Merkins x 10

Moroccan Night Clubs x 23

Tappy Taps x 10

During the Al Gores I asked the group what kind of leadership skills they’ve gained from being part of F3. Hilarity ensued.

“I’ve been voluntold to do everything, so I’ve learned how to voluntell people what to do really well.”

“Fire Hazard has really built up my self esteem over the years.”

“I’ve gotten really good at mumble chatter.”

This came up later… but a great technique to speed up a group if runners involved getting in front of them and dropping a bomb of sorts to “encourage” a faster pace.

So we got some good laughs, it was a good quick discussion. We finished off the COP and moseyed over to the football field.

Football Field Circuit

Partner Workout

Each Partner Wheel Barrows every other 10 yards, both partners complete workouts equal to yard marker on the field that you land. Start at one end zone and work toward the other.

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

10 – Donkey Kicks

20 – Hand Release Merkins

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

40 – Air Squats

50 – LBCs

40 – Air Squats

30 – Jump Lunges (each leg)

20 – Hand Release Merkins

10 – Donkey Kicks

Endzone – Burpee Broad Jumps x 7

Out, Lap around the track.

Pick Up the six who may or may not have splashed merlot over the fence. Remixed the workout to add a little more pain. 

All Together

Bear Crawls every 25 yards, stop for a workout

25 Yards 

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

25 Yards

15 Bomb Jacks

25 Yards

15 Jump Squats

End with some Jack Webs to burn the shoulders – made it to 6 Push Ups & 24 Claps

Mosey up to parking lot

Duck Duck Goose Abs x 2 (Lay in a circle and hold legs at 90°, each PAX takes turns running around the circle throwing legs down, hold at 6” until next PAX gets up).

Hillbilly walkers for obliques x 10

Pistol Crunches x 10 each leg

Overall it was a tough workout with 7 HIM answering the call. The field was wet and made for some discomfort. In the words of Geronimo… get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Thanks for the opportunity to lead and sorry about the late backblast… Disney was calling my name! 

Punch List out. 

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Charter Band-aids for Little Warriors – PreBlast

As most of the PAX in the Fort and Rock regions knows my 5 year old daughter (Emma) is a leukemia survivor. We still make a trip every 4 weeks to get blood drawn to check her counts at Levine Children’s Hospital. We also stepped up and raised money last year (Christmas time) for a fellow brother bout-time out of Area 51 son Jennings who has leukemia also.

It has come to my attention that the budgets have been cut in some of the pediatric departments and the first thing to go is usually the character band aids. You say how important is to have these band-aids? Well as far as the cancer kids go every time the have their PORT’s (Port is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein) which for some kids is traumatic they get a band-aid over it. For others that are done with treatment such as my daughter Emma has to go back for the next 21 years to get checked (mainly blood counts). This not always easy for instance this past Wednesday she was poked 3 times. Well at the end the band aid can put a smile on a child’s face. This also goes for those kiddos that have to constantly get blood work done not just cancer kids.

So what I am challenging you to do is every week you go grocery shopping buy at least one box or more of character band-aids girls or boys. Also Spread the word in every COT. I will tweet out what AO’s I will be at and if anyone wants to step up and help me collect that would be awesome.

I also challenge others in different regions to pull together and do the same thing. My goal is to gather as much as possible and split it between Levine Children’s Hospital and Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital (St. Jude Affiliate Clinic) before Christmas.

Let a simple act of kindness put a smile on a little fighters face.

AYE. Lets do this.

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