Soldiers with the 1st Infantry Division trained for the U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition from Jan. 26 to March 31 at Fort Riley and Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.
The five "Big Red One" Soldiers who participated in the Fort Riley Best Ranger completion on Jan. 25 trained twice a day, six days a week in order to be physically and mentally fit for the competition that takes place April 15-17 at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Soldiers trained and prepared as a group.
Capt. Mark Gaudet, the incoming commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., and 1st Lt. Tim Nelson, an operations and training officer with 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., earned the top two spots during the Fort Riley competition and will compete together in a two-man team.
"It would be very hard to do a competition like this by yourself," Nelson said. "You need a strong partner. Not a strong partner in the physical sense but someone who can motivate you."
Second Lt. Deaven Miller, an operations and training officer with 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., and Staff Sgt. Gustavo Medrano, a platoon sergeant with 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., came in third and fourth place and will be on the second team.
First Lt. Todd Sullivan, a scout platoon leader with 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 2nd ABCT, 1st Inf. Div., placed fifth and will serve as an alternate.
Gaudet, who competed in the 2015 competition, said their training includes running, strength workouts, ruck marches, swimming, medical, weapons and more.
"We are very prepared," Nelson said. "I feel good about where we are physically but also about our individual and collective skills. But we must remain flexible at Fort Benning."
The Soldiers trained with athletic professionals at K-State once a week for eight weeks. There they received guidance on recovery, nutrition, mental wellness and overall training guidance.
"The relationship we developed with Fort Riley and the Best Ranger Team was based upon recovery and helping them perform at their optimal level," said Phillip Vardiman, an associate professor and the director of the athletic training program at K-State. "They did a great job. We had a small team of individuals here at K-State who really were solid in providing support to help them."
Vardiman gave the Soldiers' guidance as they utilized K-State's newly donated hydrotherapy pool. This system submerged the Soldiers chest deep in water as they ran on an aquatic treadmill.
When they started eight weeks ago, their speed was 5.4 mph and at week seven their speed was at 6.2 mph, Vardiman said. The hydrotherapy pool also used resistance with underwater jet streams to challenge the Soldiers.
"This was great," Gaudet said. "K-State has been showing up at 6 a.m. once a week, bending over backwards for us and treating us on their own personal time. We have a great partnership. Hopefully, we can expand this into the future and build a bigger and stronger partnership for next year's team."
Joel Druvenga, a sports psychology intern at K-State and a master resilience trainer performance expert with Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness at Fort Riley, said the Soldiers are now mentally prepared with mindfulness training. Mindfulness training helps Soldier's concentrate on their goals and not allow physical obstacles hinder their performances.
Being acclimated to Kansas, the group of Soldiers studied the new terrain, climate and obstacles they will face at Fort Benning.
The Soldiers traveled to Fort Benning March 31, where they will continue to train for the two weeks prior to the competition.
"We are going to show up with that Big Red One patch on our shoulders," Gaudet said. "It will make it very special when we are standing on the podium."
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