The 1st Inf. Div. 2015 Gainey Cup team, which is from Troop A, 1st Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt., 4th IBCT, is pictured in front of division headquarters Feb. 25 at Fort Riley. They are set to compete May 4-8 at Fort Benning, Georgia, for the title of best c...
A cavalryman team from Troop A, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Team is set to represent the 1st Infantry Division at the 2015 Gainey Cup competition May 4 to 8 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The Gainey Cup is a competition named after retired Command Sgt. Maj. William "Joe" Gainey, the first senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Gainey, in a video on the competition's website, gave a warning to the teams: "You need to tighten up your stirrups," he said. "I guarantee these tasks are going to be both physically and mentally challenging, and your basic scout combat skills will be tested to the max."
The event was designed to identify the best scout squad in the Army. Units can't create teams exclusively for the competition -- they have to be an existing squad, according to the competition's rules. Luckily for the "Quarterhorse" squadron, there was a team that shined in competition after competition leading up to the Gainey Cup.
Competing on behalf of the division and Fort Riley are Staff Sgt. Brian J. Heather, Sgt. Juan F. Rocha, Sgt. Timothy M. Yanez, Sgt. Dawonta R. Henderson, Spc. Joeland Garcia and Spc. Christopher Omara.
To represent the "Big Red One" in this prestigious event, the Quarterhorse squad had to first win battalion and division-wide competitions. The battalion competition, Quarterhorse Crucible, was scored individually. Every Soldier in the squad scored in the top 10 percent, with two securing first and second places.
Heather credited his squad's success to the Soldiers hardworking and adaptive mindsets.
"What separates all of these Soldiers from their peers -- not only in this squadron, but the cavalrymen I have seen elsewhere -- is their commitment to success," Heather said.
The squad has been training daily since winning the division competitions in December, using every bit of time they could to master their basic cavalryman skills. The Soldiers accomplished this all while the squadron to which they were assigned was inactivating. The 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., is set to reorganize on June 16.
"We were able to overcome every road block that came our way and get in some good training," Heather said. "If they have learned anything from this whole experience, win or lose, they have learned when you find an obstacle, you have to find a bypass. You have to get past your roadblocks and keep moving forward."
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