Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Banzhaf | Lt. Col. Steve Erickson (left), commander of the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – The 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division held a multi-event test, called the Spartan Challenge, where teams of Soldiers pushed to complete every task as fast as possible here July 16.
“The purpose of the Spartan Challenge is to stress the principles of the Warrior Ethos: I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, I will never leave a fallen comrade,” said Sgt. Andy Ford, a motor transport operator from Albany, New York.
The Spartan Challenge consisted of four stations: qualifying with the M9 pistol, assembling a radio and requesting nine-line medical evacuation in under three minutes, plotting three points on a military map, and completing an obstacle course while carrying a 160-pound dummy on a litter.
The stations were scattered several miles apart throughout Fort Hood and get to each station, the teams had to ruck on tank trails, or dirt roads. Trying to get the fastest times, the teams had to complete all of the events as a team.
“I wanted to stress the idea that we are as strong as our weakest ones in all aspects,” said Capt. Marie Malvoisin, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “Not just physically, but also the Army knowledge that all Soldiers are supposed to retain, no matter what the MOS [Military Occupational Specialty] of the Soldier.”
Adding to the challenge of both the difficult tasks and the ruck marching was the heat, with the sun attempting to suck the motivation out of the Soldiers, one bead of sweat at a time.
“The hardest part of the challenge was getting to each station, in the heat. It really affected me mentally. I just wanted to stop, but I couldn’t let down my team,” said Pfc. Ryan Murray, and information technology specialist from Augusta, Georgia. “I also wanted to run and get to the next station. It was aggravating because we couldn’t leave our comrade on profile.”
Once the teams got to the finish line, they heard music blasting out of speakers and smelled hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.
“Hearing the music, a feeling of relief came over me. I was like ‘Finally, I did it’,” said Pfc. Jonathon Melendez, a human resources specialist from Brooklyn, New York, “But then first sergeant said ‘You’re not done yet!’ and I was like ‘Oh my goodness.’”
As the teams got closer to the finish line, every team was given the opportunity to cut seconds off of the time that they completed the obstacle course in. They had a minute to do pushups and a minute to do sit-ups. Every 15 pushups and 15 sit-ups trimmed off 10 seconds off their team’s time.
At the end, the battalion’s automations section was the team who completed the challenge with the shortest time and was awarded the Spartan Cup and battalion coins by the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Steve Erickson, and Command Sgt. Maj. Danny Richards. Overall, every team completed the Spartan Challenge without leaving a teammate behind.
“The Spartan challenge was mentally challenging because of the heat and my profile. However, my team encouraged me to push on and they wouldn’t let me quit,” said Spc. Donte’ Morton, a power generation equipment repairer from Columbus, Georgia. “Everyone’s knowledge of basic Soldering skills were refreshed with the help of teammates. The challenge built up my section’s teamwork and communication.”
| Date Taken: | 07.20.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2015 16:38 |
| Story ID: | 170792 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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