Courtesy Photo | Class of 2021 Cadets Griffin Hokanson (left) and Collin Hahn (right) run through the...... read more read more
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Class of 2021 Cadets Collin Hahn and Griffin Hokanson would be the first to tell you West Point not only teaches you about honor, integrity and the importance of selfless service, but also strengthens friendships and creates lifelong alliances.
Hahn and Hokanson learned about the importance of teamwork and the value of their friendship during the 14th annual Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition. The two cadets learned about their strengths and weaknesses in military operations but showcased their grit and perseverance while gunning for the top prize between May 1-4 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
“When we competed in each lane, we didn't pace ourselves, and we didn’t conserve our energy. We went the full 100% as hard as we could on every lane,” Hokanson said. “When we got to the end of each lane, we were just running on fumes.”
The duo represented the U.S. Military Academy as Team 49, going up against 49 teams across the Army and finishing in fifth place. They also took first place in two of the five major events: the non-standard fitness test and land navigation, fourth place in the Poncho Raft Swim and second place in the X-mile swim.
On day one of the competition, the cadets moved between 12 different events known as the ‘Round Robin phase,’ performing specific tasks that tested their physical endurance and combat engineer skills. The distance covered in between those events spanned 15 miles.
Subsequently, the land navigation event began. Hahn and Hokanson covered 12 miles of cragged and hilly terrain during nightfall. The headlights mounted on their advance combat helmets lit their path as they reached all of their destination points on the map.
Throughout the event, the two were feeling blisters forming around their feet. Hokanson felt patches of skin peeling with every hurried step he took.
“My feet have never been this blistered before competing in this event,” Hokanson said. “When I removed my boots after land navigation, my feet were bloody.”
At one point, Hahn and Hokanson had reached a destination point that sat on the top of a steep hill, and for the sake of time, Hahn ignored the pain and pushed forward.
“I was on my hands and knees grabbing between tree branches scaling a 20-foot hill to reach the point, and it continued like this during the course going up and down these hills. Whenever I was going downhill, I’d curl my toes so that it wouldn’t jam against the ends of my boot,” Hahn said. “I was beginning to feel pain on my toes because the impact of my movement through phases had my toes pressing hard against my boots.”
On day two, the duo showcased their combat engineering insight in the ‘Sapper Stakes’ event, which consisted of seven events that tested their survival and combat engineer skills.
Moreover, Maj. John Baer, an instructor in the Department of Physical Education, Maj. Johnathan Kralick, an instructor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, and Capt. Michael Ecklund, an instructor in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, spoke with Hahn and Hokanson about their Best Sapper Competition experiences and urged the two to submit an application and compete this year.
“Many people at West Point responded with so much positivity and encouragement throughout the competition, and in that support system, Hokanson and I probably met one of the best leaders I think I’ve ever met in this school in Maj. Baer,” Hahn said. “First off, Baer is like the godfather of the sapper competition. He’s won the competition five times. He’s been on the podium multiple times. Everyone at that competition knew who he was and respected him. Also, he drove around for 50 straight hours and followed us through each event to support and encourage us.”
Leading up to the event, Hokanson added how stimulating it was prepping for six-to-eight weeks with Baer and Ecklund. Their physical training regimen consisted of land and water rucking, lifting weights, and running, among other exercises. One of the most critical aspects of their training centered on building technical skillsets ranging from combat engineering to medical treatment.
The training leading up to the event was a welcomed change of pace for the two cadets. Usually, Hahn and Hokanson focus intently on their academic duties. Still, the call to action from their leadership reignited their personal and spiritual need to compete and test their determination.
“We were both cross country runners at West Point, previously. So we both shared the same competitive spirit,” Hokanson said. “Before we met at West Point, we were both very competitive at sports in high school, but then we came here, and I think, to some degree, we lost that competitive nature, and this competition was an opportunity for us to compete against some of the best active engineering units in the Army. The competition was definitely one of the main reasons why we were there. We wanted to compete, and we wanted to do well.”
With limited time to prepare, the duo studied different aspects of combat engineering to save time on going over a wide variety of techniques. When it was time for combat engineering challenges during the competition, either Hahn or Hokanson would tackle the obstacle based on who was most knowledgeable on the particular part of the challenge.
“The amount of time we had to prepare definitely played a role in how we did in during the competition. Because we had limited time to study, we divvied up responsibilities during our team-training sessions,” Hokanson said. “During the competition, we had to create a charge and calculate how far we needed to be from that charge to ignite it. I would learn how to calculate the minimum safety distance between us and the explosive. Hahn didn’t need to learn how to do that, and he was able to focus on other things that I didn’t have time to study up on. We thought this was the best way to operate as a team.”
Teamwork and balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses was an eye-opening experience for Hahn. Through this experience, he has formed a strong friendship with Hokanson and believes he learned much about himself through his difficult trials with Hokanson at West Point.
“The Army’s about like people and relying on each other, and I understood the value and importance in that when I tackled hard obstacles with Hokanson. For these awesome four years at West Point, he’s like a brother to me and this competition deepened that bond between us,” Hahn said. “Throughout the competition, there were moments when one of us was doing well and the other was doing poorly, and our performance ebb and flowed in a way where when I got hurt, I knew I could rely on him 100%. If one of us is complaining or hurt, we’d just look at each other and say, ‘let’s keep going.’ I think that synchronized mindset kept us both in the game, and we knew we were never going to let each other down.”
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2021 10:44 |
| Story ID: | 396918 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 177 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Friendship, willpower guides cadets through Best Sapper Competition, by Jorge Garcia, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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