Photo By Maj. Jessica Donnelly | Engineer Soldiers from engineer units throughout the South Carolina Army National...... read more read more
Engineer Soldiers from throughout the South Carolina Army National Guard participated in the two-day Best Engineer Competition at the McCrady Training Center in Eastover, South Carolina, Aug. 5-6, 2016.
The competition kicked-off with a 12-mile ruck march while carrying a 35-pound pack, followed by an afternoon of engineer tasks, to include building a small room for vertical engineers, operating equipment in confined spaces for horizontal engineers, and combat effects for combat engineers. The second day of the event was filled with Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills, including react to contact, hasty engineer route recon, construct a wire obstacle, crew serve weapon assembly, among other tasks.
“We really challenged the Soldiers this year,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Kevin Berry, 178th Engineer Bn. commander. “They all really impressed me.”
This was the second year for the combined competition between the 178th and 122nd Engineer Battalions, explained U.S. Army Capt. Paul Reed, 178th Engineer Bn. assistant operations officer. More than 100 Soldiers competed in the event as 10-person squad teams made up of a staff sergeant, two sergeants and the rest of the members being specialists and below. To participate in the competition, the Soldiers have to be engineer qualified and being fit helps complete the physically demanding tasks, added Reed.
The winners of the competition were formally announced Aug. 13 during the annual “Castle Rally” banquet in downtown Columbia. The winning squad for combat effects was from the 1221st Clearance Company, 122nd Engineer Bn., from Graniteville, South Carolina. The winning squad for construction effects was from the 1223rd Engineer Company, 178th Engineer Bn., from Walterboro, South Carolina. The 1221st was also the overall winning squad for the competition.
“The 1221st squad won because they excelled in every lane,” said Berry. “They were spot on with everything…They really deserved to win. The other teams were good also, but they were not at the level of the 1221st squad.”
Competitions like this keep Soldier’s skills sharp for when they’re called on for real world missions. Most recently, Engineer assets were used throughout South Carolina in the aftermath of a statewide flood in October 2015 where roads were washed out and dams were breached. The engineer battalions spent approximately 45 days repairing roads, filing in sink holes, installing culverts, laying rocks and clearing debris, allowing transportation avenues to return to normal. They also assisted in reinforcing dams and fixing the Columbia Riverfront Canal.
Additionally, these engineering skill-sets are used to compliment active duty counterparts while deployed to overseas missions. The 125th Multi Role Bridge Company demonstrated this capability during Exercise Saber Guardian 2016, July 27-Aug. 7, in Romania. The 125th MRBC set up a 13-bay water bridge to allow a convoy of heavy armored vehicles to cross a river, allowing ground units to be able to continue the mission.
The number of competitors for the South Carolina Army National Guard Best Engineer Competition increased from approximately 80 Soldiers during its first year as a combined competition, to the more than 100 this year. They would like to see it continue to grow, added Reed.
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2016 11:16 |
| Story ID: | 207407 |
| Location: | EASTOVER, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | GRANITEVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 213 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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