Photo By Staff Sgt. Trenton Lowery | Staff Sgt. David Fitzpatrick (left) and Capt. Daniel Logan (right), assigned to 1st...... read more read more
The competition started with an introductory brief followed by a written test consisting of 66 questions to test the competitors on OC/T knowledge. The next event was the M17 pistol qualification, followed by an equipment layout to ensure the competitors were prepared for the next 48 hours of non-stop competition.
The second day of competition continued with an Expert Physical Fitness Assessment (EPFA) designed to mimic Army expert Soldier standards. Competitors then flew out to the lanes on UH-60 Black Hawks to enter the competition area. There, the competitors rucked from lane to lane and slept the night as part of the event. The lanes they had to complete included Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) response, unmanned aerial systems report, hand grenade assault course, tactical combat casualty care, and radio communications.
The OC/Ts progressed to an M4 carbine zero and stress shoot. The stress shoot required the competitors to memorize a box of items to test their mental fortitude, followed by exercises to test their physical fortitude. After completing the shoot, consisting of crouching, kneeling, and standing shooting positions, the competitors had to list the items they saw in the box. After finishing the shoot, they had to complete weapon assembly and function checks of an M17 pistol, an M4 carbine, an M249 light machine gun, and an M240 machine gun.
After the second day, competitors had time to sleep under the stars while also preparing for land navigation. The land navigation event combined night and day navigation by starting early in the morning before dawn and finishing just after sunrise, with only three hours for competitors to find four different points using only a compass and a map. The same skills used for land navigation would continue to be tested with a call-for-fire lane where OC/Ts had to use a map to pinpoint and call in artillery on a vehicle out in the open. The OC/Ts used the Call-For-Fire Trainer, one of the many simulators at Fort McCoy’s state-of-the-art simulation facility, to complete the lane.
It wasn’t over yet for the competitors, because they had to endure an unknown distance ruck march to finish the competition. By the time they completed, the OC/Ts had marched twelve miles to make it to the end.
“When it comes to these kinds of events, it's up to 48 hours, which isn’t super long, but grinding for that amount of time and doing a bunch of different things takes a toll on the body and the mind. That’s the hardest thing about this competition,” said U.S. Army Capt. Daniel Logan, one of this year’s Eagle Best OC/T Competition winners and an OC/T team leader in 1-337th Brigade Support Battalion.
The competition only lasted three days, but that speaks to the abilities of the planners, like U.S. Army Capt. William Gagnon-Brubaker, the brigade operations officer in charge of planning and hosting the competition. Gagnon-Brubaker spent months preparing and securing the training areas, training equipment, and the necessary personnel to staff the lanes.
“This event represents over four months of planning and collaboration from across the brigade, from brigade to battalion staff members,” said Gagnon-Brubaker, “We took the Sergeant Major’s guidance and intent, and we ran from there. It took numerous organizational planning times and planning groups in order to shape it so that it best mirrors the Division West competition and provides not only a physically rigorous, but also an intellectually rigorous course to challenge competitors. It allows us to identify the best team with the greatest chance to be victorious at the Division West competition and hopefully the First Army competition later this year.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2025 14:45 |
| Story ID: | 494292 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 155 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Eagle Brigade Hosts Third Annual Best Eagle Observer, Coach, and Trainer Competition, by SSG Avery Cunningham, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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