BAUMHOLDER, Germany - A formation of Soldiers, toting weapons and battle gear fell in on Minick Field, May 9, to test their fitness and combat skills. The group was all but uniform. Some wore ACUs, some BDUs. Others sported a combination of both with either black or brown boots or sneakers.
Most had shoulder-length hair which was either braided, pulled back in a ponytail or adorned with pink ribbons.
They may not have looked like an elite fighting machine but they definitely felt like they were - their spirits and morale were high.
They were the family members of Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team who were participating in the second Iron Spouse Challenge.
Each team was baptized with a unique battle name. Rock Solid, with a total score of 412, was the day's champion. Second place went to Powder Puff, and third place was shared between GI Joes and Baumholder Angels.
Other teams in finishing order were Flower Power, Pink Sharp Shooters, 589th Angels, London Ladies, Rosie's, Bad News Babes, Survivor Sisters, Combat Barbies, The Divas, Angell-Hill, Team TAF, War Kittens, Fantastic 4, Pink Ladies, Sweet Victory, Iron Babes, Just For Fun and Queens of Battle.
Like the previous spouse challenge, there were plenty of disciplines in the competition to test their physical fitness and soldiering skills. The competition began with everyone's favorite, push-ups and sit-ups. Each team of four attempted to do as many of each as possible in a two-minute period.
The teams then took on an obstacle course that had the spouses carrying logs, crawling on their backs, carrying a patient litter and stepping/running through a course of tires.
After that they filled their rucksacks with 10 pounds of sand and marched to the next event, the shooting simulator, where they tested their marksmanship skills.
After that there was more marching followed by grenade tossing for accuracy from three different stations.
Again, more marching followed the grenade competition as they headed for the final test of the day, a paintball battle. The paintball battle was a four-on-four, capture-the-flag event.
The day concluded with the teams being shuttled to the Rheinlander Club for an awards ceremony and to participate in the annual volunteer recognition ceremony.
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