FORT RILEY, Kan. - In the name of team unity, pride and bragging rights, Soldiers of 701st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, geared up March 26 to head outside and trek approximately 20 miles across the rugged terrain of Fort Riley's ranges.
Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Moser, 701st BSB, said the Diligent Challenge was designed to promote team cohesion and competition while showing Soldiers they can push themselves to the limit and get missions accomplished.
"It helps our whole organization," Moser said. "Our intent is to see where we're at as a unit and see where we need to go. It's a tool we've got where we can establish everything we do back in garrison to make us a better combat focused organization."
The test began at 6 a.m. as 60 personnel from the battalion embarked on a voluntary 24-hour battle of physical strength and mental toughness.
Starting 30 minutes apart, six teams, consisting of 10 Soldiers each, strapped on their helmets, boots and body armor to complete a two and one-half mile run as part of the first phase of the challenge. At run's end, teams were given one minute to strip off their helmets and body armor before taking on a 30-minute barrage of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups. One at a time, Soldiers performed as many of each exercise as possible as the rest of the team members eagerly awaited their turns. When one Soldier stopped, the next immediately began. Ten minutes later, counts were tallied and teams progressed to sit-up and chin-up stations where the same process was repeated.
Following the physical training segment, teams were taken to small arms ranges to qualify with the M4 Carbine and M9 pistol. Again, performance was judged and a fixed amount of points were awarded for efficiency.
After completing the marksmanship course, teams were trucked to a maneuver area for the remaining portion of the challenge. Upon their arrival, vehicles were dismissed and teams were required to navigate tactically between seven sites - each roughly one mile apart and designed to test Soldier's ability to perform unfamiliar tasks. Events varied from producing range cards and sector sketches to operating under a gas attack to communicating with an Arabic-speaking Iraqi citizen. Some of the most strenuous sites however, required Soldiers to transport heavy equipment from one point to another.
At the first site, teams were told that their vehicle had broken down and they were given 15 minutes to push the two and one-half ton vehicle 400 meters, uphill. If a team was unable to reach the finish line in the allotted period or the vehicle stopped moving forward, progress was marked and scored against others.
Second Lt. Jenna Burneskis, executive officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and the rest of her team were among the first to attempt the push. As rules permitted, the group stacked up behind the truck and pushed their way toward the finish line. Shouts of encouragement rang throughout the group as the initial steady pace, slowed to a crawl. In the end, HHC completed approximately 300 of the 400 meter course.
"It was intense," Burneskis said. "I was thinking, 'don't give up, don't give up,' because it hurt and I was tired, but I knew if I stopped then it would affect the entire team. If one person stopped or two people stopped then that truck was going to stop, so I was thinking I can't quit, and I can't let anyone quit."
Site three also was physically demanding. Teams were asked to move a Humvee tire, two full five-gallon fuel cans, a mechanics tool box, bottle jack and a 20-pound jack plate, 500 meters across a field while taking direct fire. The event was timed and teams were scored based on their ability to move across the field quickly, but safely.
At the end of seven events, the Soldiers had covered 11.5 miles and executed foreign tasks, in addition to only being issued one meal ready-to-eat package for the entire 24 hours.
"A person who gets three meals a day thinks differently than a person who gets one meal a day," Moser said. "We just added that condition so Soldiers understand whatever environment we throw at them is realistic."
Eleven and a half miles in, the teams still had a ways to go. Following the final event, each team was given three hours of rest before tackling an eight and a half mile ruck march back to the battalion's headquarters. As teams arrived early the next morning, exhausted, cold and hungry, they were greeted by a steak dinner provided by cooks from HHC, 701st BSB.
While the event was intended to build team chemistry, it also was focused around old-fashioned competition. Each quarter, the battalion conducts a Diligent Challenge and each quarter the overall winner is awarded a yellow streamer for their unit's guidon. One unit in particular has dominated the competition.
Company C, 701st BSB has brought home the last three Diligent Challenges.
Co. C Commander Capt. Reuben Doornink said through all three Diligent Challenges, not one single person has dropped out due to injury or other inabilities.
"It's not ability, but heart that plays the biggest role," Doornink said. "I think it boils down to dedication and upmost commitment and the willingness to go the extra mile for the team as a whole."
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