'Crimson Talons' take top EOD team honors

Facing extreme heat, rattlesnakes and some of the best explosive ordnance disposal Soldiers the Army has to offer, a Fort Riley-based team brought back top honors from the 71st Ordnance Group Team of the Year competition at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Three Soldiers -- Staff Sgt. Christian Mason, Sgt. Zachary McDaniel and Spc. Ryan Stratis -- from the 84th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade, competed June 20-24. The event is held each year to determine the highest performing team across all units assigned to the 71st OD Group.

This year's events included an Army physical fitness test, ruck march, land navigation, warrior task challenges, 12 specific EOD situational training exercises, a written test and an EOD capabilities brief.

"I lucked out having these two Soldiers on my team," Mason said of McDaniel and Stratis. "We ended up working out really well with each other."

Lt. Col. Gregory Hirschey, commander of the 84th EOD Bn., said the unit embraces competition while working as a team.

Hirschey said, "We strive for first place in everything we do and our team did just that."

Stratis said the competition was an eye-opener for the three.

"The hardest part was day one while it was hot and humid," Stratis said. "It was an APFT in the morning, then a ruck and straight to land navigation with 60 pounds on our back."

Mason said the first day was designed take the wind out of competitors to see how they dealt with fatigue and exhaustion as they worked on their tasks. Though tough, winning the PT test and ruck march helped put the team in the lead, Stratis said.

"We were more physically fit than the rest of the teams," McDaniel added.

The competition consisted of four scenarios the team had to accomplish with a three-hour time limit assigned to each event. Mason said the scenarios ranged from a suicide vest to stuck rounds in an artillery piece to a multi-ordinance situation where the team had to render safe any ordnance they came across.

"Most of our job is calculating risk and then reducing those risks in a way that would be the safest," Mason said.

McDaniel said since the entire competition was silently graded, the team didn't know how well they were doing until the end.

"We could gauge whether or not we thought we ran it well or not, but there isn't any cross-talking between the other teams," McDaniel said. "All of the EOD teams out there were really good."

McDaniel said he learned a lot about tactics, techniques and procedures relating to EOD.

"You do some things that you don't have a chance to do," McDaniel said. "A lot of the things you do there, you have heard about or you have read about in our publications systems, but you have never actually done them."

Confronting new scenarios allowed the team to learn about not only themselves, but the team as well, Stratis said.

Stratis said, "You learn your own capabilities and learn what you are good at, what you are bad at, what works, what doesn't work."

McDaniel said the most fun part of the competition was getting to do the full scope of his job instead of one small, specific task.

Stratis said, "There were definitely some hiccups during the competition, from learning the team dynamic to how we work best in different roles."

McDaniel said the team members felt as if they were at a disadvantage as this was their first time working closely together.

"A positive attitude went a long way," McDaniel said. "There were some times when quitting sounded nice, but you're just not going to do that."

The Soldiers said they were shocked and in disbelief when they found out they won, but were glad to take the title for their unit.

"The 84th team of the year represents everything the 'Crimson Talons' stand for and that's excellence," Hirschey said. "We take pride in everything we do."

Hirschey said the Soldiers remained focused throughout the competition to bring the trophy home.

The team members said they loved challenges and what they learned at the competition correlates directly to their purpose -- saving lives.

"It's nice to know that when I go out (on a mission), there is a purpose behind that and that's to protect fellow Soldiers," Mason said. "It's definitely challenging."

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