Get to know Repeato – XQ of GrowRuck

Italian Job: Repeato, tell us a bit about yourself.

Repeato: I’m a lucky man blessed with an amazing M (Lindsay) and 3 shorties (Graycen 8, Baird 4, and Hadley 8 mos.). Born and raised in North Carolina. I lived in Greensboro up through 5th grade and attended Colfax Elementary way out in the county at the time. I understand there is a workout there now which blows my mind. I have to get to a beatdown there soon. Formative middle and high school years were in Asheville and then on to Appalachian State University — go ‘Neers. While in grad school, I met my M and we married in 2010. I was in the FBI for about five years, spent a few more years as a DoD contractor, and then another five years at NC State University working in national security-related research partnerships. I actually just switched mammons this week and I’m now in the cybersecurity tech startup world – a huge change for me that’s going to be a lot of fun.  I’ve got a two year old yellow lab, Lincoln, who enjoys long early morning rucks just as much as I do. I’m a big fan of smoked pulled swine, pancakes, and elixirs of fermented mashes of grain, yeast, and water that’s at least 51% corn.

IJ: Now that’s an elevator pitch! How did you get your handle?

R: That’s a great question that’s somewhat lost to the annals of Carpex history. Best we can remember on that 9 May 2017 morning at the Field of Dreams AO, a combo of a Callahan Q and ShutIn chirping from the sidelines during COT, the men lazily came up with Repeato. I tell people it’s because I went to App State for both undergrad and grad school without a break and perhaps that sounded like I had to repeat a year? Or because I was from NC, left for a while and came back. Or because ASU won 3 straight FCS championships while I was there? No one really recalls. But I have not come across another Repeato in the Nation… if you’re out there, please hit me up!

IJ: What is your role with F3 Nation?

R: I’m humbled and privileged to serve the Nation as the XQ of GrowRuck.

IJ: For those unfamiliar with the concept, why should men consider attending a GrowRuck weekend?

R: Presently, a GrowRuck Training Exercise is the premier, practical, and hands on Leadership Development Process experience an F3 PAX can endeavor. During the weekend we reinforce what it means to be missional, you’ll be pragmatically taught leadership principles, and personally witness and experience positive habit transfer. Thousands of PAX across F3 have been challenged, inspired, humbled, and battled through adversity to dynamically accelerate themselves, their lives, their relationships, and just generally become the leaders they’ve always had the ability to become but did not for one reason or another during this weekend.

GrowRuck is a physically, mentally, and emotionally charged weekend that I truly believe every man should experience. Yes, every man. I am a firm believer that every man needs F3. And every F3 man needs to experience a GrowRuck, whether or not you can complete the entire weekend. There is value in the offerings of the entire weekend.

I have completed three (Pinehurst/Louisville/GrandStrand) and all three challenged me in different ways –  thus accelerating me in different ways. The weekend is peak F3 with a Friday night social we call the Rally where we gather as men, break bread as men, and listen to leadership from within various levels of F3 to set the stage and the tone about what GrowRuck is all about and why we are here. Saturday morning starts early with the Kickbuilder one hour beat down where we get in our merkins, side straddle hops, and bear crawls, but the crux of the morning is incorporating the G3L (Get Right, Live Right, Lead Right, Leave Right) into evolutions of the beatdown. Leaders make leaders and this is on full display during the Kingbuilder. Next is GrowSchool where we have some breakfast chow and jump right into the schooling phase of the Leadership Development Process. Trainers with intensive knowledge and passion of the Q Source lead sessions along with socratic breakouts for the men of the weekend to really dive into reflective discussion about what’s going on in their lives, in the lives of those around them, and how to accelerate yourself by focusing on what’s most important. The final phase of a GrowRuck weekend is the ruck. I’m not going to dive into the specifics of the ruck phase because you need to experience the ruck phase up close and personally. You need to train for it as it provides much needed high stress and limited visibility that is likely lacking in your everyday life. One thing I will say….the ruck is not about you. You individually will benefit from it but it isn’t about you. In shared suffering, there is growth.

IJ: You summed the weekend up very well. We’ve recently heard about the need for Cadres. Tell us about Cadre Academy and the application process.

R: My GrowRuck SLT and I, along with Cadre Danny, are working hard to not only effectively and efficiently manage GrowRuck, but also grow and scale this thing so we are reaching as many PAX as possible with a GrowRuck event. With that comes the need for people to execute all phases of these weekends described above. Cadres lead the Ruck phase in various roles from a single Cadre who is the lead for the entire Ruck phase, to additional Cadres who are leading individual platoons of men during the Ruck. Cadres are dynamic leaders who not only have extensive training and experience leading men in austere environments, but also being virtuous in that leadership to get the very best out of every man he leads. Up until now, GrowRuck Cadres have mirrored backgrounds and experiences you see at a GORUCK event where the Cadre have a military background likely rooted in special operations or some other specific set of training/skills/experiences.

As we seek to scale this program, we need to be our own best practitioners of what we teach and create leaders to lead the next generation of GrowRuck participants. Simply put, we need a deeper bench of Cadres.

Being a GrowRuck Cadre does not require a military background, but it does require passion, commitment, discipline, and training. The Cadre Academy is designed to develop men into Cadres who have existing skills and experiences reflective of what one might experience had they been in uniform. Applications are due now, 10/29, but if you are working on an application or you are now convinced to fill you out, please reach out to me and Cadre Danny. You can access the Cadre Academy application on GrowRuck.com and F3nation.com. Cadre Academy will convene Class 001 the weekend of December 4, 2021 at a location in Ohio. 

IJ: As always, brother, it has been a pleasure. Your passion is palpable. What advice would you give to the men out there wanting a little something more?

R: Don’t sit on the sideline and watch others do the work. Jump in somewhere, you have something to offer. That’s the whole point. Lead a 3rdF effort collecting food for a food bank or start a study meetup of going through the Q Source. Organize a 2ndF ruck and do a brewery hop or bar crawl. Establish some 1st goals for your region with Respect Week Qs, VQ weeks, or lead an effort to run back IPC. When you remain within the F3 mission, credo, and core principles, you are ABSOLUTELY FREED TO LEAD. We’ve got podcast content pushed out daily with everything from stealing ideas from the News of the Nation of the COT Podcast to or getting schooled on Stuff Worth Trying that goes out on Saturdays. Reach out to Nation leadership. Every single one of us is approachable and responsive. Ask to help. Make suggestions. Show up. Be present. And get after it!
5 2 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Candy Cane

No mention of this HIM’s supreme KY mountain interstate driving skills in this? C’mon man.

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x