FORT BENNING, Ga., (May 13, 2015) -- The 2015 Gainey Cup called for 19 scout squad teams to disregard individuality, focus on the group and be selfless throughout the competition May 5-8, as encouraged by retired Command Sgt. Maj. William J. (Joe) Gainey, the competition's namesake. They heard Gainey's when he cheered them on from the sidelines during the three-day competition.
"I'm so proud of them, I'm thinking about what I never was," Gainey said. "You'd think I was going to say 'what I was when I was younger,' but no, (I'm thinking about) what I wasn't when I was younger. These Soldiers, they impress me beyond words."
The 2015 Gainey Cup competition tested the six-man squads on individual and collective scout skills. The teams chose the order of events through the competition based on how well they did on a written test on Day 1.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Rose, 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado, said his team started on the recon lanes.
"It's testing us on all sides of the scout world," Rose said of the competition. "(Gainey Cup) tests your toughness as well as your smarts."
Throughout the competition, teams negotiated obstacle courses, performed route and area reconnaissance, day and night land navigation, live fire exercises and a weapons test, call for fire, security operations, medical skills exercises, vehicle identification, operating in a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear warfare situation, written exams, communications, a recon run, obstacle analysis and a "Final Charge" as the end of the competition.
The obstacle course required Soldiers to maneuver their way through 10-obstacles, some with prepositioned equipment, one with a litter, a snap link and a nylon rope to carry a casualty over an obstacle, another with water jugs, a snap link and a nylon rope. Two of the obstacles required the Soldiers to obtain puzzle pieces and place them to recreate two different images, one a map and the other a photo of Gainey in uniform. The squads negotiated monkey bars, executed rope climbs, balanced walking across logs and climbed several walls.
"Fatigue mixed with the heat, and all of the other things that they're doing during the Gainey Cup is starting to play into effect - the lack of sleep, lack of food, it's all going to play into effect on how they do," said Staff Sgt. Alan Frink, noncommissioned officer in charge of the obstacle course and call for fire.
Rose and his teammate Spc. Nathan Buford said the heat was definitely affecting them.
"It's been a challenge, it's been good, though," Buford said. "We're learning a lot - that is what I came down here for, to win and learn."
Despite the team's fatigue, Frink said he saw no lack of motivation in the scout Soldiers, that they were all highly motivated.
"We just have got to keep driving on for the people we love," Buford said, placing emphasis on his wife - Tia Buford - and her desire for his team to win.
When the teams reached the CBRN task, exhaustion was left in the dust and Georgia heat consumed the Soldiers as they put on mission oriented protected posture level three (MOPP-2) - camouflage pants, jackets and footwear covers, - which immediately adds 5 degrees to their core body temperature, said Sgt. 1st Class Rebecca Johnson, CBRN NCOIC. Another 5 degrees is added when they adorn MOPP-4 with their mask, gloves and hood.
The objective of CBRN is for the scout squads to survive in a CBRN environment without any casualties and conduct unmasking procedures.
Each event was scored according to how it directly correlates with the scouts' military occupational specialty, with area and route recon carrying the most weight.
The final day of competition, scout squads endured the "Final Charge," complete with a run, a Stryker tire flip, log drills and weapons assembly.
Gainey said the competition was designed with no task comparable to another task; they were all individual, collective scout combat-related skills that either tested physical or mental strength.
"(The teams had) to reach down deep inside," Gainey said.
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