Spirits were high as Soldiers of the 891st Engineer Battalion's Task Force Tornado rose to the occasion of coming together to overcome adversity during the Esprit De Corps Challenge held at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait Feb. 13. This event, much like the Best Warrior Competition and the Soldier of the Year Competition held at home stations, challenged Soldiers to come together and overcome individual and physical obstacles.
The challenge broke down into several parts, starting with a written test based on various Army topics. Once the teams finished the test, they began their ruck march to eight stations spread out over 8.91 miles. Stations included physical and knowledge based tasks such as basic first aid, tactical decision making, calling up a nine line medical evacuation, loading and unloading a litter into an ambulance, and pushing a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) uphill and downhill. In the end, the team with the highest test scores combined with the fastest time to complete all tasks was determined to be the winner.
Once a much deserved rest and lunch break concluded, the competitors met once more for an awards ceremony. Col. Andrew Stone, 16th Engineer Brigade commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Abraham Johnson, 16th Engineer Brigade, presented Army Achievement Medals and Army Commendation Medals to the first and second place team while Lt. Col. Justin Nusz and Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Hargis presented the third place team with battalion coins.
It is in a Soldier's nature to strive to live the Army values and represent the Force of the Future, which is why competitions like Soldier of the Year and Best Warrior exist. However, these competitions are limited and not available to everyone. Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Curry, Operations NCOIC, 891st Engineer Battalion, said this challenge was created with boosting morale and giving each Task Force Tornado Soldier an opportunity to compete in something unique in mind.
"There were a lot of Soldiers within the battalion that wanted to do something physical to pass the time here, so with that in mind, we brought in people from each company to give their input," Curry explained. "We had several 1st Sgt's, junior enlisted, and senior NCOs each give an idea on what the competition should look like."
Congratulations to the teams that placed in the first 891st Engineer Battalion Esprit de Corps Competition:
1st place: Spc. Thomas Jefferson Ang, Sgt. Kelly Brill, Sgt. Devan Walski, Staff Sgt. Bennet Kaye, 996th ECC
2nd place: Spc. Kevin Butler, Spc. Mikhal Lewis, Spc. Malachi Rogers, Staff Sgt. Jose Castro, 996th ECC
3rd place: Spc. Tyson Gilbertson, Spc. Cheik Sawadogo, Sgt. Paul Jordan, Sgt. Barry Redd, 327th EVCC
| Date Taken: | 02.13.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2021 02:24 |
| Story ID: | 390169 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN , KW |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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