Army vs. Navy: The Patriot Games

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 17, 2015) - It was a beautiful morning in the heart of one of America's oldest cities, Dec. 11. The Army-Navy weekend began at 8 a.m. on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the same steps Sylvester Stallone climbed in the Oscar Award-winning movie, "Rocky."

U.S. Military Academy at West Point Cadets and U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen gathered at the foot of the 72 stone steps looking up at the building, excited to begin the first event of Patriot Games.

The Patriot Games are a series of five events, the first four take place Friday with the final event happening on Saturday--the day of the Army-Navy Game.

Maj. Jeffery Marshburn is the Officer-in-Charge of the Obstacle Course Relay team, a DCA sponsored club that is accustomed to challenges like those in the Patriot Games, however, every year is different. "As an officer, I am used to being able to plan against a known enemy," Marshburn said.

But this specific event had never been done before. "Not knowing how to guide the team was difficult from a leader perspective," Marshburn said.

A Rocky impersonator explained the rules of the "Rocky Relay," telling the future service members about the pushups, jump roping and dummy-carrying they would have to do as they raced to the top.

The Rocky theme song played in the background and the event began as the cadets and their rivals pushed their way to the top.

The match was close, but the cadets were edged out by their Naval counterparts and the score quickly became 25-0 Navy.

Assistant Cadet-in-Charge, Class of 2017 Cadet Kayla Carpenter said losing the first event was the most difficult part of the games. "We were more than capable of dominating that event," Carpenter said. "It was challenging to overlook (that) to accept the loss."

Going into the second event, the Leadership Reaction Course, the crew had to take on a different strategy. A series of mini events would determine who won the overall event. However, the cadets were just seconds shy in the final event and lost to the Midshipmen again.

The score was 50-0 Navy.

"The most challenging part of the competition was maintaining a positive attitude after losing the first two events," Cadet-in-Charge Class of 2016 Cadet Daniel Camacho said. But as the team leader, Camacho knew that his team was better than their nemeses. "Victory is born out of the seed of preparation and we knew that we came into the Patriot Games in superior physical condition to our competitors," Camacho said.

With that attitude, the team was ready to continue their fight. This time in a pull-up competition.

The group showed up to the Shops at Liberty Place, a mall in downtown Philadelphia. Each level of the shopping center was packed full of people looking over the banisters to see the action below. On the ground level was an Army versus Navy pep rally.

"The atmosphere at the pull-ups was amazing," Marshburn said. "Walking into the mall and hearing both bands and seeing both sets of cheerleaders, with the amazing crowd was just intoxicating."

The event began with an introduction from the local news station, televising the events to come. The cadets and mids lined up next to two pull-up bars ready to jump up and start pulling.

As the competition started, the crowd of people rooted for their teams. Once one competitor got tired, he or she would hop off and let their teammate jump onto the bar. Cheerleaders battled to see if "Let's Go Army!" or "Let's Go Navy!" would be the loudest.

The countdown began and the cadets and mids tried to get as many pull-ups as they could before the buzzer sounded. When the event came to a close, the room of cheering people became silent and the winner was announced. Army was the victor and the score became 50-25.

"I joked that we are Army Strong," Marshburn said.

With the final event of the day being the Tug of War, Marshburn knew his team had the advantage. The Tug of War is an event that is regularly played in the Patriot Games and Marshburn wanted his team to dominate.

"I asked the Men's Army West Point Rugby team to help train against our Patriot Games team for the Tug of War competition," Marshburn said. "That was extremely helpful and just a lot of fun putting those two teams together, especially when Rugby was so eager to help us out."

When the teams arrived at the USS New Jersey Battleship, they were more than ready to compete in the event they had practiced.

Army conquered and won all three pulls.

"The most fun part of the competition was dominating the Tug of War competition," Camacho said. "We were confident in our strength, technique and ability to work as a team. It was also nice that we did it in Navy's backyard in the shadow of the USS New Jersey."

At the end of the day on Friday, the score was tied 50-50.

Camacho and the Midshipman-in-Charge traveled to Lincoln Financial Field that night to design an obstacle course they would compete in the next day.

"That night we were able to get in a couple run-throughs of the course and decided to have Carpenter, Josh Bassette and Eric Zenger run it the next day."

Saturday came fast and the final and determining event, the Obstacle Course, was ready to begin.

"With the incredible support the Corps was showing us and the excitement of the event, adrenaline was going," Carpenter said.

A stadium of people watched as the cadets dodged through barriers and moved through obstacles.

"We are the West Point Obstacle Course Race team," Marshburn said. "We went into Saturday tied with Navy at 2-2 with an obstacle course race ahead of us."

The Cadets lived up to their team name and they beat the Midshipmen in the final event and became the 2015 Patriot Games victors.

"We had won the games. That moment was exhilarating," Carpenter said. "Our celebration after the relay got a little out of hand; I actually chipped Eric's tooth in a celebratory team mob when we collided after he had finished. I still feel horrible but he jokes about it now as the 'price of victory.'"

"I had the utmost confidence in my teammates," Camacho said. "(I) knew that with the Corps at our backs we would perform and do what the Army does--accomplish the mission."

Related Links:

U.S. Military Academy at West Point website

U.S. Army Garrison West Point website

U.S. Army Garrison West Point Facebook

U.S. Military Academy at West Point Facebook