Mountain Phase of Ranger School, June 2013. My Ironman 30 Shock read 1815:00, “heads down!” A few seconds later the arty sims boomed on the objective. 1815:30 the support by fire initiated, 30 seconds cyclic followed by 60 seconds of rapid, my assault element crept toward the wood-line, the Ironman showed 1817:00, I shouted “Shift Fire!” we push out of the woods online, “Lift Fire!” The machine guns went quiet, we cleared the OBJ and consolidated.
15 minutes earlier, as we pushed off to the final assault position, we realized the radio comms were down. Everything else had been going so well, on recon I had identified an excellent support by fire position, and we had pin-pointed the objective, but this was bad. “Well shit, I hope everyone remembers the PACE”. Luckily for all future Rangers involved, everyone did. The briefed “Alternate” in our PACE plan was time-hacks and the raid went smoothly. I was very glad that I ensured all watches were synced at the end of the OPORD that afternoon, the extra effort paid off and all leaders got their “GO” that night. That lesson, amongst many from my first year in the Army, stuck with me.
The author stands with his wife at Ranger School graduation 2013, not shown: the Ironman 30 Shock which was undoubtedly on his wrist.
Before my late 20s I only saw watches as a utilitarian tool to mark time. A durable case, large digital numbers, an alarm, stopwatch and a potent illumination button were the features I wanted. My trusty Ironman 30 got me through Ranger School, my first Afghanistan deployment, some other tough army schools and years of training in the Infantry as perfect as you please. For 45 bucks how could it get any better? Sure, there were times I needed to dress up and my Timex didn’t look the part, but that’s what my fake Afghani Rolex was for. Did it work? Hell no, but that’s not the point, it was shiny and that’s all I needed. My utilitarian mindset prevented me from seeing nicer watches as anything other than frivolous.
That all began to change when I passed Special Forces Selection and began the Qualification “Q” Course. Early on I decided I wanted to do what it took to attend CDQC (Combat Diver Qualification Course). As I gutted through the various cardio programs a trainer recommended that I get a Garmin Fenix. I nearly choked when I saw the cost, but the trainer showed me the various features I could use, Heart rate, VO2max, GPS, running stride and tempo… the list goes on. Hell, this thing even had maps and Spotify on it for my music. My 45 dollar Timex was still my go to for tactical operations but I decided to add the high tech Fenix 5X into my now growing utilitarian collection.
The author is about to step off on a jungle operation wearing his Garmin Fenix.
Throughout those years of training in the Q, I kept catching glimpses of a stainless-steel bezel popping out from under an instructor’s uniform cuff. Others sported a well-worn leather band paired with a very non-670-1 leather gun belt, and man I liked that look. I watched as I learned, and I started taking note of brands I saw: Omega, Sangin, Ares, Seiko. My interest peaked.
The trusty Seiko SKX007 strapped to the author’s wrist during a water airborne operation.
I started poking around the internet in my downtime and stumbled upon a rather illustrious relationship between special operations men and their watches. The Paratroopers and the OSS used what they could get their hands on in theater like the American A11 and other issued field watches. They made field expedient modifications to cut glare and reduce noise. Green Berets, LRPS and Navy Frogmen in Vietnam would spend an entire paycheck on a Submariner from the PX on R&R. These men put great value on time accuracy and durability in combat. The secondary value of having a bargaining tool should they need to make friends during evasion wasn’t lost on them either.
The author poses with his Promaster Dive for a team picture outside of a South American Ministry of Defense.
I decided I wanted to buy a nice timepiece. As a father of four I didn’t have the budget for a great piece but wanted to dip my toe into that world. I didn’t know why I wanted one, I couldn’t logically justify it, but the urge was there nonetheless. I needed justification for this frivolousness and to me graduating from the Combat Diver Qualification Course seemed to fit the part. My search began. This watch naturally needed to be a diver, I loved the look of the large aggressive bezel and I liked knowing that this watch was designed to go with me into the depths. I determined I could cough up $250 dollars for this self-gift and that really narrowed the pool. It needed to be from a well renowned maker, so the pool was cut even further. In the end I was left with 2 main options. The Citizen Promaster Dive and Seiko SKX007.
The Rugged Strap and SKX007 teamed up with the Author years after the basic dive course for the Diving Supervisor Course at Key West FL for some hard use testing.
The Citizen had Eco-drive, a very nice utilitarian feature, and a more modern looking brushed stainless case with sharper angles. The Seiko was more refined with a polished case and a more traditional look, a taller body and world famous illumination.
The Citizen won out and I went with a navy blue dial. I was a combat diver now and the extra color in uniform fed a bit of rebellion I longed for. The band had “no decompression” tables printed on it as well, a subtle uniqueness to show my pride in the diving community after all of the trials and tribulations. It was a perfect fit.
The Author in a Team picture before an ABN operation.
After about a year on my Detachment, we got our first OCONUS trip. We were headed to Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest. As I went through my kit I had to do a major adjustment from the Afghanistan load-out I had been wearing for years and now equip myself for jungle operations and a deployment to an unfamiliar foreign country. Security was just as important in the wood line as it was on the city street, but the way we went about it had to be very different. On mission I opted to wear my Fenix 5X as a back up to our tactical GPSs. We all knew that triple canopy would be a challenge for the signal, so redundancy was key. The built in maps were a huge benefit should I be separated from my kit or team in an emergency. While out on the town I elected to go for the Promaster, while both watches were eye-catching the Garmin was much more recognizable as expensive to a would be ladrao. While the GPS would be just as useful in urban emergencies as the rural ones, I had my phone and always moved with a buddy. While staying under the radar is pretty much impossible for a group of tatted, athletic 30-something white dudes; flaunting wealth is never a good TTP.
The Author, teammates and SOF Partners take the Promaster alligator hunting on the Amazon River.
I wore the Promaster Dive everywhere and on every deployment and training event, and within a year it showed the abuse. I didn’t mind, it was just more character. However, it was no longer fitting the bill for dress wear, it was time to pick up the Seiko. The only thing holding my Seiko 007 back was the cheap looking rubber band. Good thing I was a co-founder of a leather patch company. I took on the challenge and spent the next few months developing what I thought was the perfect leather band for men of action. I use a variation of our well known and trusted patch leather on our “Rugged” band. This hard use band had leather that resist scratching and a laminate Cordura(R) core to bring the durability we needed to take it into the gym, the jungle or the ocean. The more I worked on watch bands the more I worked and conversed with watch enthusiasts, the more I conversed the more I learned. That learning has almost always come from those willing to share their passion and I'm impressed time and time again of the positivity of the horology community.
Since I started to dip my toes into the world of watches my collection continues to grow. I have added a Stirling Timepiece Durant and 2 more Seiko’s to the list. I rotate them almost daily and struggle to pick a favorite. It just depends on the day.
Do I still believe anything more than a Timex Ironman is frivolous? Absolutely not, while I have goals for some major investments someday (the history of the Submariner has quite the magnetism), I’ve also come to admire the quality, beauty and potential of amazing watches that a working man can afford without too much grief with Household 6. Anyone can dive into this word and kindle a passion for timepieces. Who knows it may just start with a Timex on an assault position.
About the author:
Pat H is a Father, Husband and Green Beret. Raised in Marshall, VA he knew he wanted to be a Soldier from a young age. After commissioning into the US Army Infantry he served the 82nd ABN and 1st IN Div as a Infantry, Recce, and then Pathfinder Platoon leader deploying to combat in the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan. Yearning for autonomy and a more selective group of peers, Pat joined Special Forces where he continues to serve and deploy.
He can be found on instagram on his brand page @whiskey7_