Two two-man Ranger teams will represent Fort Drum in this year's David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition, April 12-15, at Fort Benning, Ga.
Among those competing for this year's coveted Best Ranger Title will be Team 7, made up of Capt. Ian Kent, commander of G Company, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and 1st Lt. Oleg Sheynfeld, Pathfinder Company, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, and Team 8, made up of Capt. Matthew Stapay, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and Capt. Ian Allen, C Troop, 3-71 Cavalry.
"I feel we are going to do really well this year," said Sgt. 1st Class Vernon Kenworthy, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, coach of the Ranger teams. "We started our training at the right time and paired the teams up at the right time. That way, they got used to training with one another and worked on each other's weaknesses so they can be at their peak when the competition starts."
This year will mark the 30th anniversary of the competition. It was started in 1982 by Richard A. Leandri as a way to honor Lt. Gen. David E. Grange Jr. Leandri also established and activated the "Chairborne Rangers," a group of concerned business and professional men who support the military and sponsor the Best Ranger Competition annually at Fort Benning.
The competition will challenge two-man teams for 60 hours of back-to-back events that will test not just their physical condition and Ranger skills but how well they function as a team.
"Early in November, the training began with an assessment by division to select the teams," Kenworthy said. "Then in January, we re-assessed them to determine how many teams we were going to take. Based on that assessment, we paired them up by physical abilities; if they were physically compatible, I paired them up."
Since January, the teams have been traveling back and forth from Fort Drum to Fort Polk, La., Kenworthy said. There, the environment, weather and terrain are similar to that of Fort Benning.
Soldiers of 4th Brigade Combat Team have been assisting the teams with their training. They have trained on marksmanship, demolition, land navigation, medical training, first responder, extended road marches and other Ranger skills, he said.
All events are timed, and competitors score points for each completed event. Both team members must complete each task. Of the 50 teams at the starting line in 2012, only 34 finished the competition.
Over the past 30 years, the competition has evolved to what is currently in place for this year, to determine the best two-man Ranger team from the entire U.S. armed forces.
"A Ranger is what I always wanted to be," Stapay said. "My dad was in the Navy as an enlisted man for 21 years. I wanted to serve my country to the best of my ability. The Ranger route was a way to challenge myself, and having done it, I think is the most honorable thing you can do in the Army."
A good team is made up of experience and knowledge, Stapay continued. It seems that the guys that win this competition have both. Stapay said he and Allen make a great team.
"We really know each other's strength and weaknesses," Stapay said. "He's probably a little bit stronger than me physically, but maybe I have a little more endurance. I think together we're humble enough to be able to pick each other up whenever we are at our weakest point."
Competition will start at 6 a.m. April 12 and will finish at approximately 3 p.m. April 14. Award ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. April 15 at Marshall Auditorium.
"There are certain events that happen every year that you can count on," Allen said. "But then they mix the order and stuff like that. The mental preparation goes hand in hand with the physical preparation."
The hurdle that they had to overcome as a team was training together and tailoring that training to address both their strength and weaknesses, he said. Initially, they spent a lot of time in the gym dedicated to upper body strength, lower body strength, and aerobic fitness combined with extended ruck marches to toughen their feet.
As the competition drew nearer, they maintained their physical conditioning and dedicated a little more time to Ranger skills and base training supported by 4th BCT at Fort Polk. Being supported by 4th BCT and their facilities has made a huge difference, Allen said.
"I'm proud to represent the 10th Mountain Division," he said. "We want to build on last year's success. We had four teams enter the competition, and all four teams crossed the finish line. Our No. 1 goal is to win it for the division, but to see us place in the top five would be a great honor."
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