FORT BENNING, Ga., (April 8, 2015) -- The Command Sgt. Maj. William J. (Joe) Gainey Cup will be held here May 4-8.

Named after retired Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, the first senior enlisted adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - a position created in 2005 - the Gainey Cup is a competition hosted by the U.S. Armor School to identify the best scout squad in the Department of Defense, said Lt. Col. James Hayes, commander, 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment.

Scout squads conduct reconnaissance and security operations in close proximity to enemy forces and civilian populations to meet the commander's intelligence requirements, Hayes said. They can use fires and enablers, and help the commander to develop situational understanding. They develop early warning and decision space for the commander, developing the situation when necessary through direct action.

This year marks the second bi-annual competition and will test the Scout squad competitor's mettle. It is also the first time international competitors have been invited, Hayes said.

While multiple international teams were invited, as of yet, only Canada has confirmed.

The Gainey Cup is three and a half days of continuous competition where squads will be tested on individual and collective scout skills. Hayes said all competitors have reconnaissance backgrounds and are part of a scout squad.

The six-man squads were chosen based on their performance in the separate brigades' internal competitions to identify best squads in their organizations.

"They'll learn a lot about operating as a six-man squad," Hayes said. "It is something that is new to the Army, so this is a good opportunity for units to develop standard operating procedures and determine how they can best employ six men in a squad formation."

The competition will require Soldiers to demonstrate their proficiency with weapon systems and communications equipment, perform in physically demanding events, such as obstacle courses and runs and complete field exercises, where they will be evaluated on route and area reconnaissance as well as land navigation.

"It is all continuous, and however they manage their time, they can figure out if there is time to eat (or sleep), or not," Hayes said.

Squads will be ranked from first to last in each event, with certain events carrying more weight than others. A reconnaissance run task will not be worth as much as an area reconnaissance task, Hayes said.

"Generally, they don't have to be the best in every single one of the events, but if they do place near the top in most events and win a few, that's the team that is going to win the competition," Hayes said.

The first-place unit award is the Gainey Cup with a plaque identifying the squad's names and their unit. The trophy travels from unit to unit of the top squad, but there is another, which stays with the Armor School's headquarters and displays the winning squad's names and unit. They will also be awarded several other memorabilia.

There will be awards for second- and third-place squads, as well.

The competition has evolved since the first Gainey Cup competition in 2013 when the competing teams consisted of four-man squads. Since then, Hayes said the competition is much more physically and mentally demanding.

"The team, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (from Alaska), won in 2013 and they are pretty proud of that fact," Hayes said. "They'll be coming back again and they'll realize that this one is significantly harder than the one they went through in 2013."

The competition is a great way to share information and lessons with squads from across the Army and DoD, Hayes said. He said it also provides the 3rd Sqdn., 16th Cavalry Regt., as a schoolhouse, good feedback on how well scouts out in the force are being trained.

"This is a great indicator because we have teams from across the Army coming in and we can get direct feedback on how good are they at communication, at weapons employment, at reconnaissance; all these things we're doing, so it's good feedback for us here," Hayes said.

Additionally, he said Gainey is scheduled to observe the competition.

Following the competition, Hayes said an after action review will be conducted to help shape the 2017 Gainey Cup competition.

"It is a lot of the things that we would want a scout squad to be able to do," Hayes said.

Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Detty, 3rd Sqdn., 16th Cavalry Regt. said the competitors will know how good they really are.

"They'll be able to test their skills and compare it to other teams to where it'll give them a better assessment of where they actually stand," he said.