First Sgt. Brad Moses from Headquarters Company, 193rd Infantry Brigade, and Command Sgt. Maj. Vern Daley, the brigade's senior enlisted leader, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C....

Capt. Byron Zajdel, from Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C., tries to crawl back in his canoe after capsizing during the boa...

First Sergeant Aaron Bullard with Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C., attempts to complete the belly crawl obstacle, Dec. 9. ...

Capt. Glenn Barrazo, with Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 19rd Infantry Brigade, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C., attempts to grab the rope in an effort to complete the Be...

(From left) Sgt. 1st Class Eric Basile from the Fitness Training Company, 120th Adjutant General Battalion, and Sgt. 1st Class Cody Haynes with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment help 1st Sgt. Tabvarnisha Warner, from Bravo Company, ...

Capt. Bryon Zajdel with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C., attempts to complete the belly robber obstacle, Dec. 9. The Rubic...

First Sergeant Robert Berry with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, participating in the Rubicon Command Team Challenge with the 193rd Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, S.C., takes a break after completing the confidence course on ...

Just as Julius Caesar passed the point of no return during his fateful crossing of the Rubicon River in 49 B.C., so too did the leadership of the 193rd Infantry Brigade located on Fort Jackson, South Carolina, when they crossed Weston Lake.

Twenty-six command teams consisting of company commanders, first sergeants, and chaplains throughout the 193rd challenged themselves physically and mentally on Dec. 8-9 during the 2016 Rubicon Command Team Exercise.

The purpose of the exercise according to the event's organizer, Sgt. Maj. Michael Kelly, 193rd Infantry Brigade operations sergeant major, was to "exercise the leadership and combat skills of the company command teams throughout the brigade while at the same time building esprit de corps among the different groups."

For two days and one night the teams trekked nearly 30 miles during unusually harsh weather conditions to complete nine events. Each event was kept secret from the participants until it was time to complete it. They included a buddy team physical training event, a foot march, the confidence course, and even a river crossing.

Other than bragging rights and the opportunity to build upon the camaraderie within the different command teams, there was no prize for finishing first. But that didn't stop the participants in the challenge from giving it their all for each and every event.

Capt. Brian Kriesel and 1st Sgt. Eric Basile, Commander and First Sergeant, respectively, of the 120th Adjutant General Battalion's Fitness Training Company, came in first place in the physical readiness training event with a time of 30 minutes and 51 seconds.

While they say they share a confidence in each other's abilities to stay at the top, they both expressed some reservation about finishing first in the remaining events.

"I feel physically pretty good now but we don't know what's coming," Kriesel said.

Basile added, "The most important thing is I am confident with my partner and I think we make a good team. No matter what we're going to have fun."

While the brigade has hosted a Rubicon before, Kelly says previous challenges have not been to this scale.

"This is the first one of this kind in the brigade that we know of," he said. "While we've done shorter Rubicon's before with runs and such, this is the first multiple day event that we've done."

By the time the second day of events rolled around, the mental and physical effects of endless activity combined with the bitter cold were noticeable for just about everyone involved.

"We started out at zero five (5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) yesterday morning and we've been going on for about 30 hours now," said 1st Sgt. Michael Fletcher of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment.

"My feet are a bit beat up now. In fact they feel like somebody hit them with a hammer," he said. "I feel myself starting to get mentally drained and I have been saying stuff that I normally wouldn't."

In the end though, for all those making the decision to cross the Rubicon, the event and the camaraderie that came with it were worthwhile.

"I think overall it's been a positive experience," said Fletcher. "I hope we get some teams from the other brigades on post but I hope to do it again next year."