Interview with a co-founder of Empecinados 🐺🔥
On this occasion we bring you an interview conducted by our Discord staff with "Lobo", one of the co-founders of Empecinados . We want to thank Empecinados and the Discord Staff for conducting this interview.
If you offer to participate in one of our interviews, write to us! Join our Discord channel to participate in future interviews.
For readers who don't know you and "Empecinados"... Could you give them an introduction?
My name or who I am personally matters little. I am active in the military and I am one of the owners of EMPECINADOS.
Why the name "EMPECINADOS"?
According to the RAE it is said of someone obstinate, stubborn, persistent, and beyond the etymological root of the word, the meaning that today is bequeathed to us is thanks to Juan Martín Díez "el Empecinado" and all his followers. This nickname was received in a derogatory way by those who came from his hometown. During the war of independence, Juan Martín Díez was one of the most outstanding soldiers in the fight against the French, forming one of the most notorious guerrilla groups in the history of Spain, thus taking his supporters the same nickname and thus giving him a new meaning to the word. Although it is true that he always had a military vocation, it is said that he actively decided to fight against the French after an event that occurred in his town in which a girl was raped by a French soldier who he would kill. In time he would become a Cavalry Captain. Later, with the restoration of absolutism by Fernando VII, Juan Martín would be one of his opponents, despite having promised him wealth and titles, saying that of, "tell the king that if he did not want the constitution, that he did not I would have sworn it; that the Stubborn swore to it and will never commit the infamy of breaking his oaths». This would lead to his arrest and execution.
This is a brief summary of a truly exciting story from one of the most important chapters in Spanish history and I think that with this, the reader will understand the "why" of our choice.
Recently, it has been the day of the Cavalry Pattern... Would you like to tell us how important the pattern is for army weapons?
I would say that the patronage of weapons is almost as important as the history of the weapons. These confer the meaning and the very essence of them that to this day is a legacy. Beyond the religious sense, they provide an enormous sense of the human essence itself. Regardless of whether or not we believe in the events that led to its creation, what is clear to us is that the Spanish soldier, of all times, when he had no choice but to face an inevitable death in the face of a much superior enemy, has shown to be endowed, in an almost magical sense, with an unwavering faith of victory, thus achieving impossible feats.
Patronage, among other things, reminds us of this; they remind us that there have been other times when nothing was expected and instead everything was obtained. They tell us about tenacity and perhaps the highest form of human resilience. They remind us that we are heirs to everything, that it is there, and that we are and will be, because one day we were.
Why did you want cavalry?
At that time, when I joined, a new unit of this weapon was being formed in the Brigade that is housed in my land, so the idea of being one of the first soldiers that would form part of the history of the creation of this weapon seemed attractive to me at the time. a unit. To this day, this is a source of pride for me.
What would you say is the essence of chivalry, what shows the difference between the specialties, both tangibly as a intangible.
It is the quintessential weapon of aggressiveness, sacrifice, advanced reconnaissance... It is a weapon of resolution that today, with the emergence of a new dimension of warfare, is gaining more strength. In the past, cavalry units were the main protagonists, to the point that they determined victory or defeat. Thanks to their maneuverability and power in combat, they managed to cause enormous damage, but perhaps the first damage they did was psychological. The foot soldier knew that there was little or nothing he could do against a mounted horseman who was galloping at full speed towards him. And this need to face the cavalry even led to the creation of our tercios. Thus, to this day, the appearance of a cavalry unit represents a great challenge to combat it in tactical terms on the ground. Today, firepower and speed continue to be hallmarks of these units. No unit wants to face a cavalry squadron advancing on it.
What would you highlight most about cavalry?
For me they are their crews. In these, each one of the members has to know how to do their job autonomously and efficiently so that everything works correctly, sometimes making decisions on their own in close collaboration with the command. Technical training is crucial and, in addition, not only must they know perfectly the environment on which they fight, but also know how to fight without it. It is without a doubt a very versatile weapon.
What is the difference between mechanized infantry and cavalry?
Essentially that the cavalry fights mounted and despite having scouts it does not have the functional mission of fighting on foot. Therefore, in this case it is not so much the means, but the entrusted mission that constitutes the main difference. There are armored infantry battalions where their main combat element is CC Leopards 2E and cavalry squadrons where, in addition to the VEC, there are these vehicles, but in this case they are used in a completely different way in tactical terms.
What words would you dedicate to those who want to enter the cavalry?
The same ones that I would tell you if you wanted to enter any of the other weapons. I would tell him that he has a long way to go and that how to do it depends on him. He has a lot to learn, a lot to experience, and that it is his decision to be a good professional. This profession is really beautiful and offers us continuous opportunities to learn great things. Those opportunities are there for those who dare.
What is the mental process of adapting to military life like? Are you born a soldier or are you made?
Being a soldier is a profession, so a soldier is made. Another thing is the kind of soldier you are when you become it. This is closely linked to what type of person you are in life, how you interact and you face her. In this case we could talk about being a warrior and whether it is born or made. My answer in this case would be that you are born a warrior. There are people who, from an early age, demonstrate high values and innately defend them. Show mercy, empathy, face injustice, help the helpless, have courage and cunning, etc. Others, however, discover it over time, are trained and instructed in what they consider to become that kind of modern warrior.
The process of adapting to military life is a specific subjective process that everyone experiences in their own way with a certain intensity. We would talk about something else if we talked about what for me is the process of become that modern warrior that he spoke of a few lines ago, but that would be another conversation.
We have the debate nowadays of the movies, the series and the shock of reality, what message would you give to those who enter the army to go to special operations?
I would recommend that you try to get rid of the bias that movies and video games induce in you, as it is a very distorted view. It is normal and logical that we find inspiration in the world that surrounds us and today movies, video games, series and others flood our lives and there are those who feel the call to be what they are seeing when they see it. In a way it has always been like that. The human being has always set his eyes on the figure of the hero. We have this archetypal idea embedded in our DNA and it evolves at different times with its own contemporary characteristics.
A few years ago, a child would probably be inspired by the exploits of Achilles when reading the Iliad, or by Captain Thunder's comics or watching Sylvester Stallone in Cornered, that is, inspiration, the call to arms, the great deeds and adventure has always been there and there are people who embrace it and others who don't, so it is normal that among those who feel attracted to this world, they are especially attracted to special operations units since In them, the entire ideology of the hero is poured, of his journey and in an abstract sense in these units is the figure of the modern warrior who undertakes the personal path towards excellence and for which he must overcome great challenges and difficulties.
It is there where is that call to adventure that has been written about in all ages. Many of the great passions of man converge on this path and in our days they are shown to us through the elements of our time. By what to the one who feels that call when watching that movie, that series, or that book that inspires, I would tell her to hug her and feed her, but not to be fooled by the attractiveness and aesthetics and that before getting there she must go through a long process of transformation.
Have you commented on some occasion that you did the special operations course, how did you know that you were mentally and physically prepared for it?
I didn't know. I just tried to be and worked hard for it. We never know if we are ready or not, there just comes a day when we are shown that fact. In my case, I defend the idea that you have to be prepared for when you give us the opportunity. In this case, first you had to pass some physical tests, that was the easy part, you train and that's it. The difficult thing came later, how do you prepare for something that you don't know its nature? I was completely unaware of the development of the course. In that year there was not yet this community that exists on social networks, where we can access certain hints of what it means or it is much easier to find someone to talk to. For my part, I tried to get as physically strong as possible, I got rid of everything in my life that would be counterproductive, I read a lot, I tried to connect everything that I could with myself and for the rest was to face the challenge. Only after facing it will we know what we can overcome and what not. But not before.
Do you think it is better to take the course when you feel motivated, for example right after leaving the training center, or when you feel more prepared?
I don't think there is a specific moment. It happens when it happens, neither before nor after. You will take the course tests when you make the decision to go. Motivation doesn't count here, you want to or you don't want to, and if you want to go, you'll probably be motivated to do so, if not, you may have to wait. I do not consider this to be a matter of time. In my course, there were very good, motivated and educated old ones, but there were also modern ones, also motivated and very capable. Everyone's life has its own times and there are no rules about it. written. There are those who make the decision as soon as they can and there are those who take longer to answer that call. The important thing is to pay attention to it or not.
Would you say that there is a way to mentally prepare for the course?
How do you prepare for cold water? Is it possible? No. In the same way, I think that there are certain things that we discover during the realization of them, especially those of a mental nature. It is only by pushing our limits that we find out if we have them or not, but the only way to find out is by pushing them. For a training to be fruitful, it needs a correct contextualization. During the course, whatever you do will be imbued with the very essence of the course and this will give everything a specific magnitude and completely different from what you have experienced before, even if you are doing activities that you already did before. So I think that the preparation is not prior but during. The preparation must be to be prepared, willing. Being ready and excited to meet the challenge whatever it is and come what may. It is true that we can have certain resources.
It helps me personally to read about those who faced great challenges. Their lessons learned can be my lessons learned if I am able to internalize them. For me, reading is a basic pillar in my personal education and where I get a large part of my intrapersonal resources.
What would you say is the best way to mentally prepare for the military?
Making and imposing challenges. The more you do them, the more you will demand of yourself and with the passage of time what was a problem for you will stop being a problem and then you will be mentally prepared to move on to the next challenge, and so on. It is almost an existential law, do you want changes? Do you want to be prepared? Okay, so start moving your ass. Get out of your comfort zone. Today you will only run one kilometer but over time, with careful training, you will run 10, and then 20. Mental preparation is all the intrapersonal psychological work during the process that you do to fight against all the forces that fight in your head to take you back to your comfort zone. Mental preparation is a continuous state of fighting against oneself. I do not consider that mental preparation has a state of beginning, of departure, but rather I consider that it is something that we pursue continuously and that we will not otherwise be able to achieve our objectives. The fickleness of life in all aspects is too much, there are too many things that influence us and there are in fact many unknown events that we did not anticipate in our preparation and that the only way to overcome them is to overcome them through adaptability and this is not trained, Rather, it is done by facing the challenges and studying ourselves, and over time we will push our spectrum of adaptability as soon as we equip ourselves with all that information.
If you want to enter the Military Academies for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers (both in the Direct Access modality and in Access by Promotion) consult in sermilitar.com the material available to prepare access or visit the online store buy.sermilitar.com
tactical material in sermilitar.store
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