PETAWAWA, Ontario (Sept. 22, 2014) -- A team of 13 Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), earned top-team honors during the 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Ironman Competition here, Sept. 10.
The Warrior Brigade contingent was invited to participate in the 50-kilometer endurance race, which coincided with a mission-planning conference. The Soldiers were participating in Operation Ghost Springbok, a two-week multinational training exercise that included elements from 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and the 1st Brigade Combat Team. The two forces will meet up again when 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group participates in 1st Brigade's upcoming Mountain Peak exercise, at Fort Drum, New York.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team team was able to take advantage of Capt. Matthew Allen's experience as a Canadian officer who is currently assigned to the brigade as part of the NATO Reciprocal Unit Exchange program.
"This is my third one," Allen said. "We came up for a planning conference for three or four days. The event was going on, and we were invited to participate, so we did."
The 1st Brigade Combat Team and 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group are partner units participating in the Reciprocal Unit Exchange program. The purpose of the program is to enhance cooperation, improve interoperability and foster unit relationships with foreign military.
This was not the conventional swim, bike and run Ironman challenge; it included four different events.
"The first event was the 32-kilometer ruck march with a 40-pound rucksack," Allen said. "Second was a four-km portage, where you wore your rucksack and portaged a canoe, which weighed around 60 pounds. Next was an eight-km paddle on the river, where you put your rucksack in the canoe and paddle eight kilometers to your debus point. Then, the last was a six-km ruck run to the finish."
Despite the short notice for the competition, two 1st Brigade Combat Team Soldiers ran across the line to the tune of a bagpiper and applause from the spectators as they finished in the top five out of 208 competitors.
"It was pretty rigorous," said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Bruce Jr., a platoon sergeant with 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment. "I came in with my buddy -- fourth and fifth -- right there crossing the line."
Bruce's buddy, 1st Lt. Shaun Looney, a platoon leader assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, is no stranger to earning top finishes in grueling competitions. His team finished 15th out of 50 two-man Ranger teams in the 2014 Best Ranger Competition, at Fort Benning, Georgia, in April.
Looney reflected on the two competitions he completed this year.
"They're definitely similar styles in that they're both long, continuous events broken up into smaller subsections," he said. "With an event like this, it's shorter, so you're going to push harder for that shorter period of time, whereas "Best Ranger" you had to tailor back because it lasted longer."
Once Looney finished the race and removed his rucksack, he rushed over to a refreshment tent, grabbing four cups of water for Bruce and himself.
Minutes later, Looney and Bruce appeared to be re-energized with a new mission, as if there was something more for them to do beyond the 50 kilometers they recently completed.
"We're going back," Looney said. "We're going to go backtrack the route and see where the other guys are and rally them up."
Bruce and Looney weren't the only members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team team to do that.
After completing the Ironman, each member of the American team took a short rest and then turned back to run the last 200-400 meters of the race while cheering on their battle buddies who remained on the course.
"Just like you've seen some of the other units running their members in, we want to show them our presence," Allen said. "I'm quite proud of the job they did and how they represented 10th Mountain [Division] and 1st Brigade Combat Team.
"I think this helps spread the word of the Reciprocal Unit Exchange, and I think we ought to do it again next year," he added.
Related Links:
10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
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