NURSIPALU NATURE RESERVE, Estonia - In the dense vegetation of the Nursipalu Nature Reserve near Rouge vald, Estonia, 25 teams from eight NATO countries gathered in the spirit of friendly competition for the four-day Admiral Pitka Recon Challenge 2015, Aug. 4.
The Pitka Challenge, which began as the Erna Raid Challenge, is a competition that commemorated Estonian reconnaissance Soldiers during the wars, [WWII] who after escaping Estonia and trained in Finland returned to help liberate their country, said Finnish Army Cpt. Tom Haimelin, of Lielsinki, Finland, Chief Umpire.
According to the challenge website, the name was changed about three years ago in honor of Admiral Johan Pitka, the founder of the Estonian Defense League, who was the chief architect of the armored train units that helped win the 1918-1920 war against the Red Army and Germans.
In the challenge, "teams travel roughly 150km, along the way they have about 10 check points with different tasks such as: first aid, marksmanship, and an obstacle course, but the main part is the recon," said Haimelin. "The reconnaissance report they turn in is a big part of the points."
The competition took place during Operation Atlantic Resolve, which is an on going series of training events designed to build relationships, trust and interoperability between the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Since its initiation in 1995, "countries that participate are already allies, but this [event] builds friendships between the individual people who cooperate on all levels of the competition," said Swedish Defense League (retired) Lt. Col. Jaak Kallak, head of protest committee for the Pitka Challenge.
Haimelin stated this was a chance for Soldiers to gain insight on each other's tactics.
"This is great place to measure the differences in tactics and share experiences; we all learn a lot from the teams, the support and the umpires," said Haimelin. "It's a great experience and an opportunity for us [to] be even better Soldiers."
Participating in the Pitka Challenge was a new experience for Soldiers with Destined Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, who found navigating through the rugged terrain to be the most difficult part of the journey.
"After the long, hot days in the bog and walking twenty plus miles, you kind of start losing focus, but we were able to throw some jokes in and kept everyone in the right set of mind to complete this," said Sgt. Sean Fitzgibbons, of North Atterboro, Massacheusts, an intelligence analyst with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Bn., 503rd Inf. Reg., 173rd Abn. Bde.
At the end of the competition, the 173rd Airborne Soldiers had a newfound respect for their NATO allies.
"It's great to see the other teams out here strutting their stuff, it shows that we are all Soldiers out here, we all get hurt, but we keep pushing on," said 2nd Lt. Christopher Finseth, of Lucedale, Mississippi, the operations officer for Destined Company.
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