FROM BELARUS WITH LOVE
I first met Greg Mihovich while training at Deep Woods Ranch, home to former SEAL and firearms trainer Rich Graham — owner of both Deep Woods Ranch and his training company, Full Spectrum Warrior. Greg and Rich are coauthors of some of FSW’s training material, including their unique Combat Mobility Program, which we’ll showcase in more depth in an upcoming issue.
During my time at the ranch, I had an opportunity to sit down with Greg and discuss his background and the experiences that brought him to partnering up with Full Spectrum Warrior. I was quite surprised to learn about the landmark disasters that had tested this soft-spoken man with a calmly commanding presence. His story is not only a Cinderella-slipper fit for the guiding principles of this brand but is also chock full of the realest of real-life lessons about living preparedness as a lifestyle and the risks of complacency.
RECOIL OFFGRID: Tell us a little bit about your background and childhood growing up in the USSR.
Greg Mihovich: I was an early ’80s child, born in Minsk — the capital of Belarus. My parents split early, and I was raised by my mother, stepdad, and grandparents on my mom’s side.
My mother was the creator and director of the Center for Esthetic Development, a project she built in 1984. The CED focused on preschool education in speech development, motor learning development, music, drawing, and other age-specific topics. It successfully operated about 12 schools with 400 kids each, aged 4 to 6.
My stepdad was a police officer with 10 years spent in narcotics, 10 years in homicide, and the last five years of his career as a dean of the five-year police university program. Many of the city’s cops were his alumni.
My granddad was a World War II distinguished veteran with four combat crests. Among many other feats, he helped liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp and participated in capturing Berlin. During my childhood, he was retired from the military and worked in the city’s council.
I lived right in the middle of the city and had a great childhood with lots of awesome adventures and a healthy dose of mischief. Thankfully, my generation never knew about cell phones and computers when we were kids. We had lots of places to play and explore — the apartment building playground with tons of climbing and obstacle course equipment; massive parks with plenty of trees and trails; many amazing libraries, exhibits and museums; a huge circus with new world-class shows every eight weeks right across the street; vast underground networks of basements, catacombs, bomb shelters,
