Photo By Staff Sgt. LaShic Patterson | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Pagano, 1st Sgt. Christoher Worrel, and Pfc. Patrick...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas – Nine U.S. Army squads with the 1st Armored Division competed in the Iron Squad Competition at Fort Bliss, Texas, April 19-22. The four-day event included tasks and missions that tested each competitor’s knowledge, physical stamina, and battlefield skills in hands-on and situational testing.
The event started off with a quick layout of each competitor’s required uniforms and equipment. The competition consisted of a 12-mile tactical foot march, knowledge board, obstacle course, M4 rifle qualification range, Army Combat Fitness Test, battle drills, and medical simulation training portion.
Staff Sgt. Jacob Pagano, Pfc. Patrick Scully, Spc. Travis Breazeale, Spc. Robert Howard, and Sgt. Jacob Granillo, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Division Artillery (DIVARTY), 1st Armored Division, represented for DIVARTY as squad seven.
According to Pagano, the team was selected by the company’s first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Christoher Worrel. For Pagano and Scully, it would be their first time meeting each other.
“Before this, I didn’t really know him that well to be honest,” said Scully, detailing what it was like working with Pagano, their team captain. “We all work in DIVARTY in different sections. Having him brings a different aspect. It’s good having him around.”
Pagano, a Texas native who has been in the Army for five years, accepted the challenge as team captain after joining the unit just four months ago.
“I decided to participate in the Iron Squad competition because I wanted to challenge myself and push myself to new levels,” said Pagano. “I think that you can learn a lot from your team. The Army is composed of people from all different walks of life. They’re going to have different experiences than you do even if they’re younger than you. I think that’s important to remember especially as you climb up the ladder.”
Scully, a New Jersey native who has been in the Army for 19 months, believed that competing is a part of good Army training.
“Competition is important just to keep morale up,” said Scully. “Your duty as a Soldier really is to stay fit. It kind of tests your knowledge of what kind of Soldier you are. It’s just sharpening your skills against the best of the best.”
According to Scully, his decision to join the DIVARTY squad stemmed from his love to compete.
“What made me decide to join in this competition is I’ve always loved to compete,” said Scully. “I played football. I compete in power lifting. I just felt like I could represent my unit with my fellow brothers who are doing this competition.”
Pagano and his team trained for the ACFT portion of the event for the last two months. While he believed the ACFT would be the easiest event for his team, Pagano knew the overall competition would not come without its challenges.
“The event I think is going to be the most challenging is going to be the battle drills, more specifically battle drill six. Simply because as a non-infantry team, we don’t typically train on how to clear a room,” said Pagano.
The competition included three battle drills. Knock out a bunker, react to a chemical attack and clearing a room. The DIVARTY team trained on battle drill six, entering and clearing a building, just days before the competition.
“I learned how to properly clear a room last week for the first time. It took a little of breaking a shell with the rest of the team. I think overall as we continued to do it, especially towards the end, we built a lot of cohesion.”
Pagano and Scully were aware of their strengths but also identified their weaknesses and prepared for the challenges to come.
“We’ve been preparing for this, and we’re just going to put our best on the line no matter what happens,” said Scully. “I think the most challenging aspect of this competition is just keeping a steady head with all of the challenges thrown at us and just staying strong and motivated through the whole thing.”
While the DIVARTY team did not go on to win the Iron Squad competition, Scully was recognized as first place Iron Soldier and received an Army Commendation Medal.
The culminating event was an award ceremony recognizing the Iron Squad. Maj. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, commanding general of 1AD and Fort Bliss, presented Army achievement medals to the second place Squad, Iron Noncommission Officer, and Iron Soldier. Army commendation medals were awarded to the Iron Squad and participants who earned first place for the respective categories.
After pinning his medal, Bernabe not only encouraged Scully to call his father to tell him the good news but also spoke with his father during the ceremony.
“Pfc. Scully is great. Honestly, he’s different than the rest,” said Pagano thinking about his Soldier as an asset to the team. “It’s very motivating having Pfc. Scully as part of the team especially since he has a lot of prior experience with the civilian world. He was going to go play college football. He also does a lot of power lifting competitions. He’s actually headed to Austin this upcoming weekend right after this competition to do a power lifting competition. He’s a beast.”
Pagano, no stranger to competing to himself, participated in previous Soldier and NCO of the quarter boards and won. He too looks forward to more competitions with his eyes set on being selected by the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club in the near future.
The DIVARTY squad looks forward to competing in the 2023 Iron Squad competition.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2022 13:03 |
| Story ID: | 419251 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 190 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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