Photo By Staff Sgt. Walter Lowell | Soldiers assigned to the 1-221st Cavalry, Nevada National Guard, sprint to the finish...... read more read more
FORT BENNING, Ga. – Scouts assigned to the 1st Squadron, 221st Cavalry Emerged as the second best National Guard scout team in the entire nation this month at the 2017 Gainey Cup – Best Scout Competition.
The West Virginia National Guard was the only guard team to score higher than the 221st and took second place overall in the competition.
The Gainey Cup, started in 2013, is a four-day event that tests competitors’ physical stamina, reconnaissance skills, and teamwork. Twenty-four teams across the nation, including three National Guard teams, meet at Fort Benning every other year for the competition.
They are evaluated in events including reconnaissance skills, calling for artillery (call-for-fire), a timed obstacle course, and land navigation.
The cup is named after retired Command Sgt. Maj. William Gainey, the first enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gainey was in attendance for the event this month.
Gainey said the competition brings the best scouts from every command together and rewards the most skilled team with a prize.
In January, the National Guard held its qualifying competition at Fort Benning to select the teams to represent the National Guard. Nevada was one of those teams picked.
The event kicked off May 1 with a live-fire demonstration and ceremony.
“It was 56 hours of continuous operations,“ said 31-year-old Staff Sgt. James O’Connor from Phoenix Ariz., the squad leader of the Nevada team. “Everything had a really clear timeline. We would do one event, hop on a [truck] and drive to another one,”
“We didn’t really get any sleep,” said 23-year-old Spc. Carlo Tinoco from Las Vegas, Nev, a scout team member. “Just straight up, activities, activities activities.”
O’Connor said it was a challenge just trying to keep the Soldiers focused, hydrated and fed in the short times between events.
The event ended in a deluge May 4. For the final event, Soldiers ran a relay of tasks, then assembled an M2 .50 caliber machine gun as a team. That afternoon the winning team was announced.
1-1 CAV, 1st Armor Division from Fort Bliss Texas won first place. Nevada finished 12th overall.
“The competition was good. It was a good experience for the whole team with an emphasis on basic scout tasks,“ O’Connor said.
“I learned that as a scout, you have to be a well-rounded Soldier. You need to be a master at everything like call-for-fire, sending reports, patrolling and being stealthy and deliberate,” Tinoco said.
“The National Guard is going to benefit, but the Cav [1-221] will benefit most because it is part of an armored brigade combat team,” said O’Connor in regards to the training and competition.
“I can't wait to tell my “Joes” about it and forward what I learned,” Tinoco said. “Topics such as how to patrol, what to do for actions-on-contact, and how to be stealthy — all that good stuff.”
Gainey said a Soldier came up to him and told him the entire experience was valuable, had taught him how to be a better scout, and that he can now go back and take better care of his troops.
“Never doubt yourself. When you start doubting yourself, others will see and they will start doubting themselves,” Gainey said. “Always show a sense of confidence around your Soldiers.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2017 13:35 |
| Story ID: | 235113 |
| Location: | FORT BENNING, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 92 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Nevada scouts finish 2nd among Guard units at Gainey Cup, by SSG Walter Lowell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
