{"id":75523,"date":"2023-12-27T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=75523"},"modified":"2023-12-30T21:21:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T21:21:44","slug":"u-s-soldier-conquers-french-desert-commando-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=75523","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Soldier conquers French Desert Commando Course"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army SGT Liliana Munday, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa liaison officer, practices combative movements during the French Desert Commando Course in Djibouti, Nov. 29, 2023. Munday was one of 40 U.S. service members to participate in the FDCC, a rigorous course designed to teach desert survival skills and tactics. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Haden Tolbert)
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\n U.S. Army SGT Liliana Munday holds her French Desert Commando pin Dec. 19, 2023, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. Munday was one of 40 U.S. service members and the only female to go through the most recent iteration of the French Desert Commando Course. (Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Gentile)
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Back to\u00a0U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For nearly 50 years, French soldiers stationed in Djibouti have made their way to Arta Mountains for the French Desert Commando course<\/a>, a grueling five-day course designed to test soldiers\u2019 physical, emotional and mental limits. This year 40 U.S. service members signed up for the challenge, among them was U.S. Army Sgt. Liliana Munday.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Munday, a Soldier with the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade<\/a>, South Carolina National Guard<\/a>, gravitated toward physical activities that kept her outdoors as often as possible. She was immediately interested in the French Desert Commando Course but hearing about the physical demands of the course brought on feelings of doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think I was ready for it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Staff Sgt. (Samuel) Perez kept pushing me to try out because he saw that I wanted to do it and he had faith in me that I could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FDCC has two phases, the pre-assessment and commando phase. The first phase ensured service members met the basic physical requirements and evolved into a preparation program over several weeks. During this period service members consistently trained to earn a spot in the commando phase. The second phase took them out to the field where they faced numerous courses including a night obstacle course, a ropes course and a swimming course incorporated with various combative and desert survival skills.<\/p>\n

With the paperwork submitted the next step was to prepare. Her training regimen began in September and included rucks and runs around the installation before dawn, weight lifting, and dynamic, high-intensity exercises nearly every day. At the peak of her training, she fit in three workouts each day while balancing her regular work schedule.<\/p>\n

After three months of training Munday remembers the nerves she felt on the drive out to Arta Mountains where her hard work was put to the test immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost had an aneurysm, I was so scared,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the way out there I kept thinking, ‘Am I ready? Am I gonna do this? These guys are gonna smoke me, I\u2019m just gonna be out here stranded and be sent home on day one’.\u201d<\/p>\n

Day one consisted of a five kilometer ruck-run with a full kit, followed by a PT test and rope climbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was nervous because rope climbs are very hard for me and in training, I could only do one,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

Her training partner, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Samuel Perez, was there to support and encourage her, watching as she steadily made her way to the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see she was nervous because we saw the other competitors struggling with this climb,\u201d Perez said. \u201cI was there telling her she could do it; I knew she could. She got up there and when she came back down she had a big smile beaming from her face she was so excited and she ran over and gave me a big hug.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the first big hurdle behind her, Munday moved forward in the course with a newfound confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, after completing that first day I was good. I started to feel like I could do this thing and I proved to my squad that I was here to work and I deserved to be here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army Sgt. Liliana Munday, a Soldier with 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, South Carolina National Guard, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, practices grappling techniques with the assistance of another Soldieras a part of combative training during the French Desert Commando Course Nov. 29, at the Centre Dentrainment Au Combat Djibouti. Participants who successfully completed the training, which was hosted by the hosted by the French 5th Overseas Interarms Regiment, received the prestigious desert commando badge (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Haden Tolbert)
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Each day and night Munday and her squad faced a new obstacle, the most difficult for her she says was the mountain obstacle course.<\/p>\n

Positioned 200 meters above the ground, participants were required to jump across five platforms spaced several meters apart, jump and grab on to a steel pole and slide down to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re doing that mountain obstacle course you don\u2019t realize how far each platform is from one another and there are points when you\u2019re not clipped in,\u201d she explained. \u201cI thought, if I missed even a little bit, I\u2019m going down.\u201d<\/p>\n

On day three, after pushing herself through numerous challenges and rucking non-stop from one training location to another, she thought she had reached her breaking point and seriously considered quitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour joints just start to scream. It\u2019s painful,\u201d she confessed. \u201cI kept thinking I cannot take this pain anymore. I\u2019m almost done but I cannot do it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the dirt, mud, sweat and pain, it was Munday\u2019s spirit and drive within her that helped her push through. That spirit and drive, she said, comes from two of the strongest people she knows.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom and my grandma\u2014they\u2019re such strong women and they never let me quit when I was younger. They have strong personalities and it\u2019s within me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was very nice to tell them that I did this. They were like, \u2018No way, that\u2019s awesome!\u2019 and when I told them I was the only female they said, \u2018You\u2019re kicking ass!\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n U.S. Army SGT Liliana Munday holds her French Desert Commando pin Dec. 19, 2023, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. Munday was one of 40 U.S. service members to go through the most recent iteration of the French Desert Commando Course. Established more than 50 years ago, the course teaches desert survival skills and tactics. (Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Gentile)
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At the end of it all, the feeling of accomplishment came when she received the French Desert Commando pin at graduation. Black and gold in color, the pin prominently features a scorpion resting on the outline of the country of Djibouti. Along the rim are the words “Aguerrissement Zone Desertique” which translates to “Desert Zone Hardening”.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m now able to look back and say, I did that. We did that,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cCompleting something and not giving up even though you may want to \u2026 it sticks with you forever. I use this as fuel to my fire when I feel like I can\u2019t do something. I think to myself, \u2018You can, because you have already\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the support she received from her family and teammates, Munday\u2019s success is a testament to the old adage \u2018preparation is the key to success.\u2019 It\u2019s a message she\u2019s taken to heart and shared with her fellow soldiers since completing the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone I work with said he wanted to do the FDCC but he didn\u2019t think he was ready,\u201d she said. \u201cI said, \u2018Sir, you\u2019re never going to be ready.\u2019 I didn\u2019t think I was ready. But I got ready. So if you truly think or know that you want to do something no matter the current status that you\u2019re in, if you want to pursue it you\u2019re just gonna have to train and do what it takes to get to that point. There is no other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

About CJTF-HOA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Combined Joint Task Force \u2013 Horn of Africa<\/a> conducts operations to enhance partner nation capacity, promote regional stability, dissuade conflict, and protect U.S. and partner interests.<\/p>\n

About SETAF-AF<\/strong><\/p>\n

SETAF-AF provides\u00a0U.S. Africa Command<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. Army Europe and Africa<\/a>\u00a0a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

Follow SETAF-AF on:<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0DVIDS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 U.S. Army SGT Liliana Munday, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa liaison officer, practices combative movements during the French Desert Commando Course in Djibouti, Nov. 29, 2023. Munday was one of 40 U.S. service members to participate in the FDCC, a rigorous course designed to teach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75525,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75530,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75523\/revisions\/75530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/75525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}