FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Feb. 23, 2017) -- Officers from the 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade celebrated unit history and banded together during a daylong "Muleskinner Avalanche" challenge on Fort Drum last week, building esprit de corps and ingraining unit pride through a variety of physical and mental team challenges.
After participating in a trial run of the challenge's events on Feb. 15, Col. Shawn Schuldt, brigade commander, and the unit's other field grade officers approved the course for company grade officers to complete the next day.
"It was great to go through the lanes with the field grade officers; we got a chance to laugh and get outside," Schuldt said. "Plus, it was great to get out of the office and be a Mountain Soldier.
"The most important part of going through the lanes the day before the junior officers was to know that I would never ask someone to do something I wasn't willing to do myself," he said.
The event began Feb. 16 with a Medal of Honor Run, in which six teams of eight to 10 officers ran a four-mile course, marked with stops for additional physical training in honor of the 10th Mountain Division Medal of Honor recipients.
After returning to the start point, the officers conducted a gear layout and received a briefing on division and brigade history.
They then ruck marched through the snow to the Division Hill training area, where they rotated through six lanes, each incorporating physical and mental components that required the officers to demonstrate knowledge and proficiency of basic Soldier skills, such as first aid and weapons assembly.
"By the time we did the sixth lane, I was beat," said Capt. Scott Koritz, brigade plans officer. "The team was really into it, very focused. It was everything that I perceive the Muleskinner to be."
Koritz said he particularly enjoyed the first lane his team completed, "Sword Resupply," which required the team to move approximately one ton of supplies over about 200 meters.
"The (Muleskinner Avalanche) represented teamwork," Schuldt said. "Each of the stations required the group to work as a team, and each event tied into a historical representation of the division and the Sustainment Brigade."
After the challenge lanes, the officers returned to the 10th Headquarters and Special Troops Battalion motor pool and, in teams, competed in a board chaired by Schuldt and the brigade's other senior leaders. Teams were expected to remember details of unit history that they had learned throughout the day, and they were required to answer whatever questions and perform whatever tasks they were given.
Finally, the event concluded with the induction of the officers to the Order of the Muleskinner, which was followed by a social hour and dinner.
"The event really brought the culture together in a way that hit home," said Capt. David Sparks, commander of the brigade's Headquarters and Headquarters Company. "Through everything, we got to know the history and culture of the unit. I feel more like a Muleskinner."
Overall, Schuldt counted the mission a success.
"I think it was very successful in bringing together the team," he said. "We were able to bring together officers that don't normally work together, or may never meet each other, to accomplish some training, build stronger bonds and add to our esprit de corps.
"The best part is the event focused on the history of the 10th Sustainment Brigade, the 10th Mountain," Schuldt added. "It honored all the Soldiers who have served in the unit before us, and those who will come after us."
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