Soldiers from A Troop, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, carry a boat around the track behind Magrath Gym as quickly as possible during the Wolverine Physical Training Challenge, Friday, at Fort Drum. Troopers competed in five different events to ...

Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, help one another in overcoming an obstacle during the Wolverine Physical Training Challenge, Friday, at Fort Drum. Troopers competed in five different events to build team work skills and un...

Soldiers from D Troop, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, move sandbags and gear from one obstacle to the next during the Wolverine Physical Training Challenge, Friday, at Fort Drum. Troopers competed in five different events to build teamwork skil...

Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, competed in the Wolverine Physical Training Challenge on Friday at Fort Drum.

Wolverine Challenge is a quarterly event in which troopers from 1-89 Cavalry compete in different events aimed at challenging their warrior tasks and drills and teamwork skills.

“Wolverine Challenge helps with building teamwork, unit cohesion, combat-focused fitness and the execution of functional movements,” said Capt. Josh Dailey, commander of B Troop, 1-89 Cavalry.

This quarter’s challenge tested teams’ abilities on five events: a boat carry, land navigation, weapons system check and gear movement, cargo net climb and gear movement, and an improvised construction event.

Teams varied in size, with an average of 16 troopers. Teams were scored based on time, number of laps completed and ability to follow instructions.

“Functional PT is very important for all units; we are doing PT we will use in Afghanistan,” said 2nd Lt. Jake Matthews, 1st Platoon, A Troop, 1-89 Cavalry.

This quarter’s winning team was 3rd Platoon, A Troop.

“We do this once a quarter to test the physical, mental and warrior skills of our Soldiers,” said Lt. Col. David L. Sanders III, 1-89 Cavalry commander.

“This helps me as a commander to know where my Soldiers’ physical capabilities are, where we have weaknesses or areas that need to improve, and our strengths,” he added.