Soldiers put athletic, military skills to test during Mountainfest

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Fort Drum conducted three days of sporting and military skills events for this year's Commander's Cup during Mountainfest. Each battalion entered teams that went head-to-head for the best scores, times and teamwork to find out who would win the Commander's Cup trophy for 2012.

Sporting events started June 25 with a 5K run and a 10K Army Ten-Miler qualifier run that had units from all around Fort Drum competing for the fastest times. Soldiers who finished in the top 10 places for each run earned points for the Commander's Cup.

Later that day, the flag football competition kicked off with teams from each battalion. The top four teams were 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, taking first place; 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, in second place; 3-10th General Support Aviation Battalion, 10th CAB, in third place, and 543rd Quartermaster Company, 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, finishing fourth.

The Mountain Athlete Warrior competition started with two-man teams to assess the physical abilities of the participating Soldiers. The event was a two-day affair in which teams would be tested on agility, strength and endurance at nine different stations. The stations consisted of an agility test, a backward overhead medicine ball toss, a set of metronome push-ups, a 300-yard shuttle run, a series of heel claps, a 20-meter shuttle run, a dead lift and a bench press.

The top four finishing teams of the Mountain Athlete Warrior competition were 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, winning first place; 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, second; 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd BCT, third, and 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT, fourth.

A double-elimination softball tournament began June 25 where teams represented their battalions at the Magrath Gym baseball fields. The top four teams were 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st BCT, first place; 1st Battalion, 32th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, second; Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division (LI), third, and 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd BCT, fourth.

A basketball tournament started the same day at Magrath Gym. Teams showed their skills on the court to help their battalions have a chance at winning the Commander's Cup in the single-elimination matchups.

The top four teams in basketball were 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd BCT, first place; 3rd BSTB, second place; 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, third place, and 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th CAB, fourth place.

On the second day of the sporting event week, the morning kicked off with an Endurothon, where two-man teams would be tested in a number of different events to show who had the best team in the division. The first event was a strength test where a Soldier would have to complete 30 sit-ups, 30 dead lifts, 15 box jumps and five rope climbs. The second event was a 10K run, followed by an 800-meter swim at the Magrath Gym and a 20K road march to Remington Park. When teams arrived at the park, they were given instructions where they had to row 800 meters on the pond. Once they finished, their overall time would stop.

Winning as the top two-man team for the Endurothon were Soldiers from 4-31 Infantry; 2-14 Infantry claimed second place and fourth place; and 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT, finished third place.

While other events went on during the week, squad-sized teams competed to complete an obstacle course, land navigation, a strike against a group of enemy insurgents, evacuate casualties and report to higher headquarters. After they had finished these events, they were taken to a range for an M-9 and M-4 stress shoot. Taking first place for the overall event was 1-32 Infantry; taking second and fourth place was 1-87 Infantry; and third place went to 4-31 Infantry.

Over at the fields at Monti Fitness Center, Soldiers competed in a soccer tournament. Teams played in a single-elimination matchup where Soldiers with the best eye-foot coordination, endurance and teamwork would win the first-place spot for the event. Winning first place was 1-89 Cavalry; taking second place was 2-14 Infantry; finishing third was 2-22 Infantry; and claiming fourth place was 3rd BSTB.

A tug of war event kicked off June 26 at the Monti Physical Fitness Center fields, where teams were allowed to have a maximum of 1,300 pounds on each team. It was conducted as a double-elimination tournament with a 100-foot rope to test each of the team's strength. Winning first place was 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd BCT; claiming second place was 3-10th GSAB; taking third place was 1- 71 Cavalry, and finishing fourth was 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd BCT.

The last event for the day was a volleyball tournament, where teams would test their hand-eye coordination in single-elimination matches. Teams consisted of six Soldiers from battalions across Fort Drum. The top four teams for the volleyball tournament were 1-10 Aviation winning first place; 1st BSTB taking second place; 4-31 Infantry finishing third, and 10th CAB claiming fourth.

The points system for team events awarded 15 points for first place, 10 points for second place, eight points for third place and seven points for fourth place.

The overall winner of the Commander's Cup was 2-14 Infantry, scoring 50 points. Second place went to 1-87 Infantry, with 48 points, and 4-31 Infantry claimed third place with 45 points.

Maj. Gen. Mark A. Milley, Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division (LI) commander, awarded the Commander's Cup to the 2nd BCT commander, Col. Dennis Sullivan, and senior enlisted adviser, Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Jones, at the beginning of the Salute to the Nation ceremony on the final day of Mountainfest.