SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (Nov. 6, 2014) -- Leader development begins the moment troops join the Army, but operating within a squad provides one of their first opportunities to demonstrate and foster that leadership as part of a cohesive team.
The 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, emphasized, trained and tested those foundational squad-level skills through an intense 10-day Best Squad competition here, Oct. 23-29.
The 36 competing squads battled the full range of weather as they negotiated three phases of the competition -- the Army Physical Fitness Test, a stress shoot range, and the Warrior Task and Battle Drill Course -- while constantly being evaluated on their ability to work together as a team of Army professionals.
Capt. Jesse Cain, the current operations officer for the battalion, said, the unit's leadership wanted to break its formations down into smaller elements to truly evaluate and challenge Soldiers at the most fundamental levels.
The 8th Theater Sustainment Command battalion's seven companies are constantly conducting a variety of vertical and horizontal construction missions throughout the Pacific theater, often as platoon- or squad-level elements, in coordination with their joint and multinational counterparts.
Cain said that competitive training events like this give the unit confidence in its readiness, and "once [our troops] have gone through this type of an experience, it helps allow us to better prepared to be [U.S. Pacific Command's] unit of choice when it comes to specific engineer needs in the region."
The competition kicked off with the standard Army Physical Fitness Test, with each squad earning the average of its members' scores, before day two, when the troops attacked an intense stress shoot range held at the Infantry Demolition Range here.
"In this portion, basically we're trying to determine which squad is the most proficient with their weapons through this range, while also stressing them at the same time," said 1st Lt. William Hinkely, the battalion plans officer and range officer in charge of the event.
Prior to engaging targets from multiple firing positions, squad members did burpee pushups, squats with their weapons, pulled a Skedco holding a simulated casualty up and down a hill, and then moved to the firing lane and conducting 20 more pushups, all while wearing full body armor and simultaneously reacting to an unexpected, "Gas, gas, gas!" alert.
"It gets you used to being uncomfortable while firing," said Spc. Edward E. Martin IV, a heavy equipment operator and grenadier with 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, 523rd Engineer Company. "When you're out there, you're moving around, you don't really have time to stop and catch your breath. It's almost like being downrange."
The Warrior Task and Battle Drill Course course, the third and final event, consisted of a 10-kilometer (six mile) ruck march around East Range, while negotiated task-driven lanes requiring them to conduct decontamination procedures in a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environment, employ hand grenades, put together a radio, conduct a situation report, react to an IED, and evaluate and evacuate a casualty, followed by a mystery event and confidence course.
After factoring each squads performance based on event execution and leadership and communication throughout the competition, the results were announced.
-- First place: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 84th Engineer Battalion
-- Second place: 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, 561st Engineer Company
-- Third place: 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, 561st Engineer Company
The unit's senior leadership and participating Soldiers agreed that the experience was just as much a learning, training, and team-building evaluation as it was a competition.
Related Links:
8th Theater Sustainment Command
Social Sharing