FORT BENNING, GA - Spectators, including active-duty, retired Rangers and family members, filled Briant Wells Gym for the Ranger Rendezvous combatives and boxing tournament Wednesday.
The tournament was one of many events that were part of Ranger Rendezvous, a three-day kickoff to the 75th Ranger Regiment change of command ceremony Thursday. Other events included softball, tug-of-war and football in addition to a mass tactical airborne operation.
The Rendezvous is a tradition in the regiment, said MAJ Jeth Rey, who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regt., in the 1990s and now is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. He said the rendezvous is something great to come back to.
"Rangers stay in touch throughout the years, but the rendezvous is what brings us all back together," he said. "It's pretty competitive between the battalions. And they may compete, but at the end of the day, we are all Rangers. "
Rey said his favorite part of the Rendezvous was the boxing tournament.
PV2 Keith Radcliff, of 2nd Bn., 75th Ranger Regt., boxed for the first time in the tournament.
"I was going to compete in combatives, but there were too many guys in my weight class that were better than me and the boxers needed another competitor," he said. "I think I did well for my first time boxing and no training. I tried to keep my hands up. My opponent was a tall guy and had a little more of a reach. My strategy was to stun him with my jab and go with a right hook - that's all I had. I did it and it worked. He almost got me a couple times, but I was able to stay strong."
Radcliff took first place in the 205-pound weight division.
The Ranger Rendezvous wrapped up with the change of command ceremony Thursday.
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