FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- It was 4:30 a.m. More than 70 candidates had assembled in back of 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), to earn the right to wear the silver spurs.
For the next 32 hours, these reconnaissance leaders would show their mental, physical and cavalry knowledge in the annual Spur Ride.
Lt. Col. Thomas Smith, 1-89 Cavalry commander, kicked off the Spur Ride with a few words: "Spur candidates, continue as a team to earn your spurs. You are all leaders, and that demands pride of yourself, of your unit and your country."
"You are now the example for what the Soldiers are going to look for in the next Spur ride," he continued. "Remember, part of being a leader in the Army is passing on traditions. One of our traditions in the cavalry organizations is the earning of your silver spurs.
"It is not the winning, it is the earning," Smith added. "I expect for the next 30 or so hours, motivation, teamwork, pride, companionship, but more importantly effort, effort for every single thing we ask you to do. It's going to be a mission of physical, mental, tactical and technical skills. Acknowledge it all, work as a team, and succeed!"
And with those words of encouragement from the commander, the Spur Ride began, and so did the 30-minute physical training session before candidates boarded vehicles for their "Cavalry knowledge lanes" across Fort Drum's training grounds.
Spurs rides honor the tradition of cavalry Soldiers who have come before and serve throughout the Army. The Soldiers who can participate are in leadership positions, not pending legal action. Each must be a sharpshooter on the M-4 and must score a minimum 210 out of 300 on the Army Physical Fitness Test.
Spurs are a symbol of tactical, technical and physical excellence that cavalry Soldiers strive to earn -- either gold spurs, which are earned while deployed, or silver, which are earned after a Spur Ride.
Each candidate carried a red motivational item. The items varied from soda cans, to a replica Civil War sword, to eggs. These items were meant to act as a personal reminder of why they were out in the field, staying up for 32 hours, enduring physical fitness extremes to earn the spurs, as other leaders before them have done.
Maj. Nicholas Graham, squadron operations officer, described the event as a comprehensive training opportunity.
"We are out here training the basic fundamentals of that we do as cavalry troopers," he said. "We have five lanes that we have run by each of the troops' leadership team -- commander and first sergeant."
The first five lanes were separated by approximately 18.9 miles if the candidates followed the right path and took a majority of the first eight hours of training.
"Each troop's lane has different tasks and details that the Soldiers are learning and taking away from," Graham continued. "For example, Delta Troop's training the class of supply. They are separating the equipment into the nine different classes of supply. Everything from the Humvee from Class VII, the Soldiers have to push 189 meters, to Class VIIII repair parts. LMTV tires, they are flipping 189 meters."
The night portion of the Spur Ride consisted of reconnaissance training and finished with an obstacle course during physical training hours. Candidates were then shuffled into the 1-89 Cavalry headquarters, where they were tested on their knowledge of unit history and cavalry history. Then came time for the final layout of their rucksack before they were deemed worthy of their silver spurs.
Staff Sgt. Michael Resendez, master gunner, first earned his silver spurs in 2003 at Fort Irwin, Calif. He has made it a point to try and earn his spurs at every duty station where he has been assigned.
When Resendez works with the candidates, he reminds them of the "tradition of the history of the lives that were sacrificed from the unit and the cavalry, the campaigns that the unit fought in. His aim is to put them in that mindset and remind the candidates "why we do this, why we do the Spur Ride, and why we continue to march as the cavalry."
Seventy-two candidates earned the right to wear their silver spurs. Soldiers of 1-89 Cavalry who have successfully completed their Spur Ride wear their spurs every Friday within the 2nd Brigade Combat Team footprint.
Second Lt. Andrew Ju, adjutant, reflected on what it means to him to receive his silver spurs.
"Having my spurs makes me feel like I've become part of a brotherhood," Ju said. "When I see [other Soldiers] wearing spurs, I feel an instant connection with them, knowing that they've gone through the same tradition and physical toughness of a Spur Ride that I have."
Once the candidates earn their spurs, they pass that knowledge onto the next young cavalry leader who serves in the organization. It's a tradition that keeps giving as long as the Army keeps marching with the cavalry -- "the red and the white."
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