Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Operation Blackhawk - The MISSION


Well a different blog post for actionpactpix:-

Introducing my newest photographer Shane Dove (who was the only one around and basically did ok under the instructions “Press here to take a shot and make sure the lens cap is off……oh and don’t drop the camera!”.)

I saw an link to an event called operation BlackHawk and decided that dressing in army fatigues and getting muddy seemed like a good idea, so I entered. Lucky for me Shane came a long and so I had a photographer with me since the event photographer was unavailable on the afternoon I went.

So what is OperationBlackhawk?

You get your fatigues on, go into the bunker and have a briefing, watch a video, get your make-up on and then are sent in formation to pick up your Packs and Guns (fake guns that are the exact replicas of real ones and they weigh the same too). Then you have to complete your mission, which involves running or walking with your pack (you choose between the “pussy pack” the 10kg or the 20kg……for the record I chose 10kg…..but falling in mud with what ends up being 15kg on your back when you add the other stuff, made me think that it might have been a bad choice). You do the pack run return your packs and your gun and then are ready to start part two of the challenge and that means mud mud and mud……….I actually teamed up with a group of girls from Kinglake who called themselves the mudmamas and we had a ball, it was a great day and loads of fun. Here are the pics taken:-

Operation Blackhawk was held at Nagambie about 1.5 hours north of Melbourne on a sheep farm, and if you ever decide to give it a go, I recommend that you take a bunch of friends that you can have a laugh with, and an anything goes attitude…..and at the finish it was FREEZING so be prepared!…..My shoes died a miserable death, my legs are bruised and bashed and I think I am still getting mud out of my hair….but it was worth it and some of the entry goes to a great cause being Autism.

Thanks Shane for capturing something I had a lot of fun doing and thanks to the mudmamas. More pics are here but this gives a good overview of the day……

Me and the mud mamas - ready for action and looking pretty clean


Lined up and receiving instructions

LOUD instructions

Not exactly the best way to carry a gun....the ground was slippery and the hole got deeper

Returning the weapons and the packs - so HALF done and HALF to go

Now we have to carry a heavy sandbag........

Get over walls

Get through more mud


With those bloody heavy sandbags and lots of deep holes that surprise you and then you fall AGAIN

Over more fences

This time we had to go under the wire on our backs......MY POOR HAIR!

Looking muddy and a bit battle worn by about now


The MUD never ended

and got DEEPER and DEEPER


Some obstacles were OVERS and these were UNDERS! - (Hold your breath)

Balancing was the key

Hahahahaha.....HEADPLANT!

Still Smiling.....

This was awesome - like a bath and a good chance to clan off the mud

Not everyone had to do this one - I didnt (TOO SCARED!)

Victorious and ready to be certified TOUGH!


Done and Dusted and Looking much worse for wear (But still all smiling)

 At the end you get a dog tag necklace that says CERTIFIED TOUGH! and it was worth it all!
Thanks again Shane for the pics......

Operation BlackHawk website


1 comment:

  1. LOL sounds like a fantastic day and great cause. Shane has done a wonderful job capturing the day with so many wonderful shots.

    I really enjoyed your post, well done Judith xx

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...