Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Moore | Soldiers of the 525th Military Police Battalion fire their weapons for qualification...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - The air is crisp and cool before the sun rises as chosen Soldiers of the 525th Military Police Battalion gather for a chance to prove their greatness. The stillness of the early morning hour is broken by the motivational shouts of the gathering Soldiers. Twenty-eight of Joint Task Force GTMO’s finest security personnel from the 525th MP Battalion took part in the preliminary tryout exercise, with aspirations of becoming the 2015 Warfighter.
The Warfighter and Best Warrior competitions are held annually to test Soldiers’ physical fitness, endurance and level of proficiency at problem solving skills. The trial began with 28 Soldiers and two days worth of events to narrow the competitors to the six who will move forward to the national competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as primary and alternate three-man teams. Moving forward will be the best scoring noncommissioned officer as a team leader and two junior enlisted as a single team.
“During the MP Warfighter exercise, we are getting real sweaty and doing intense workouts,” said Spc. Brandon Hayes, a participant. “We did a lot of physical exercises like the modified PT test and four-mile run, live-fire rifle and pistol ranges and a 10–mile ruck march to try to get to the next round of the competition in Leonard Wood.”
The GTMO preliminaries consisted of a modified PT test; inclined pushups, 25 pound weighted situps, and a four-mile run in Army Combat Uniform with an M16 or M4 rifle. Other events included a Gator push/pull, and an ammo can/mannequin-carry relay at Cooper Field, Marine Hill obstacle course and combat lifesaver lanes, a 10-mile, 35-pound ruck march to Windward Range for rifle and pistol qualifications, a weapons assembly event and a written test.
“I’ve competed in both an MP Warfighter and Best Warrior competition back home, and I’d have to say that this is a lot more intense than either of those. Just being on the island, everything is more condensed. There are no breaks in between events,” Hayes said.
The day’s events began at 1 a.m. and continued until 5 p.m., with Soldiers making their own time to eat MREs on the go or trying to get far enough ahead of the pack to afford a quick stop for lunch.
Each Soldier had an independent approach to conquering the obstacles and trials laid out before them and motivations for competing.
“My teammate decided to try out, and I joined to support him,” said Spc. Jeffrey Leroux. “I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea it would be this hard. All of the competitors gave it everything they had. Even though there weren’t a lot of competitors, there was a lot of heart. I was very impressed with my fellow Soldiers.”
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.19.2015 18:29 |
| Story ID: | 154904 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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