FORT BENNING, Ga., (April 15, 2015) -- For an Army-leading 13th time, a team from the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade earned top honors at the 2015 David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition.
Sgts. 1st Class Timothy Briggs and Jeremy Lemma were able to best a field of 51 teams, of which 24 made it to the finish line.
Briggs, who also won the competition with Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Santiago in 2013, and Lemma were both competing for the third time and said they were prepared for the toll the three-day competition took on them.
"We based everything off of endurance," Briggs said. "You have to be there at the finish to finish first, so we knew that was goal number one. (During training,) we did three and a half or four hours of movement five days a week. ... From there, it was tactics, techniques and hands-on experience. When we got something right, we did it again. When we got it right again, we did it again and tried to do it faster. It was just relentless."
Briggs and Lemma were presented with Colt .45-caliber pistols and induction into the Order of St. Maurice during the Best Ranger awards ceremony April 13, with Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel Dailey, himself a recipient of the Ranger tab, serving as the ceremony's guest speaker.
"Sgt. 1st Class Briggs and Sgt. 1st Class Lemma, you are an inspiration to every single one of us, not only in this room and not only every Ranger, but to every Soldier in the Army," Dailey said. "You have given, you have practiced, you have worked hard and you have achieved. For that, I thank you and I tell you that you are an inspiration to everyone in the Army. You are an inspiration to every one of those Soldiers who wants to be something every day and you're proof that if you try, you can be what you want to be in the Army."
Briggs and Lemma led after each of the competition's first two days, but said they had to overcome hardships and get a little help from Mother Nature to do so.
"Friday morning, it was extremely humid and got real hot," Briggs said. "We found ourselves in a position we didn't want to be in, which was leading the pack. When we got to day land navigation, we were hot. We were traveling down a road to dehydration. When it started raining, that was a Godsend. But, on the flip side, we spent the rest of the time wet. Your feet are wet, your boots are wet and your skin gets soft, so I know our feet are wrecked."
Lemma said as the competition neared its end, both he and Briggs' feet were in poor shape.
"We just had dead skin we were walking on," Lemma said. "Every step was pain, but we were able to just keep going. Day 3, we just did every event on brutal feet, but having that willpower to just fight through is something special."
Both men said their victory would not have been possible without the other.
"This is by far the toughest guy I've ever met," Briggs said. "He may not be the strongest, but he is the toughest. I can guarantee you I wrung every ounce of energy out of him. When I was running up the stairs at the (combat water survival assessment) and I looked down and saw him chasing me, I almost choked because that's the best performance I've ever seen. ... That late in the game, knowing the shape his feet were in, it was incredible."
Lemma credited Briggs with making sure the team conducted appropriate training in the weeks leading up to BRC.
"I learned how to follow an extremely strict training plan and be tedious with it and I don't know that I could have done that myself or with a different partner," Lemma said. "You become so close to somebody, and it's just an awesome bond that I now have for life."
While Briggs and Lemma were one of only 24 teams to complete the competition, they said they took no pleasure in seeing their fellow competitors fall.
"After you stare everybody down during competitor week and that gun goes off, you're cheering for everybody out there," Briggs said. "On the initial buddy run, when you saw guys start to (drop), our heart went out to them because we know the two and a half to three months they'd put in just to get to that point."
Dailey said those who finished, no matter their final standing, deserve recognition.
"Not only is the Best Ranger Competition a test of individual strength and stamina, it's a test of readiness and the resiliency of a team," Dailey said. "This contest is used to motivate others to exceed the standards. These competitors are expected to return to their units and pass on the skills they've learned as a result of the grueling experience they have endured during this competition. Fifty-one teams started, but only 24 completed the entire gauntlet.
"Make no mistake, a team that can say it completed the Best Ranger Competition has plenty to boast. That's why I'm in awe of your fortitude. ... These Soldiers have not only achieved something for themselves, but they have ensured the legacy, traditions and honor of the Rangers will once again endure. I am honored to be among these Soldiers. I am proud to represent them as their sergeant major. After witnessing all of you (this weekend), you have reminded me how proud I am to call myself a Ranger."
Briggs and Lemma also took home the Rippetoe Award for the best time on the unknown distance road march.
Capts. Robert Killian and Travis Cornwall of the Army National Guard were the second place finishers and the winners of the Leandri Award, which is presented to the team who wins the overnight orienteering course.
Staff Sgt. Philip Jewah and Sgt. Thomas Malphrus of the 75th Ranger Regiment finished in third place.
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