CHIEVRES, Belgium - Driven by the power of competition, Soldiers of 39th Signal Battalion and HHC, USAG Benelux pushed beyond their physical norms May 19 during a quarterly training event.
Teams of six loaded up in full battle rattle with 35-pound rucks and navigated through a nine-lane obstacle that tested their minds and their endurance.
"The most challenging lane that I saw today was the MOUT site," said Staff Sgt. Lee Carney, an observer controller for the event. "That was challenging in the sense of just being able to make sure that each Soldier did their specific job when clearing a building."
But the training went beyond urban operations, teams also had to carry a Soldier on a litter to a medical evacuation point; they had to react to an improvised explosive device; perform a tire pull and push a dead Humvee to the finish line.
As teams lifted a casualty onto the stretcher, signs of fatigue began to show. The Soldiers had to manage their rucks and their weapons and deliver their patients with speed, but they couldn't make the trek in one carry. Exhaustion forced teams to rest and lower the stretcher a few times along the way.
Sgt. Ernest Street, 128th Signal Company, pushed harder when he saw his Soldiers starting to tire. While yelling words of encouragement, he grabbed another Soldier's ruck and drove on with the mission.
"I knew it had to be done," he said. "I've been in situations like that before. I had to crossload up stuff and continue mission. Regardless, it's gotta get done.
"I try to do as much as I can to help push everybody through," he added. "All of them did good, so I'm proud of that. Nobody quit."
Carney said that teamwork was a main portion of the training.
"You had to encourage each person on your team to make sure each one of them was going to accomplish the mission throughout the entire exercise," he said.
"A lot of teams came out with great motivation. By the time they got to my station, they were hard charging. Even when watching them trying to litter carry their buddies, a lot of them were showing a lot of motivation," Carney added.
As the day was coming to a close, the time to beat was two hours and 21 minutes. Team 3 from HHC, USAG Benelux held the lead, until the final team approached the last lane.
Unlike previous teams, Team 6 ran to the Humvee and pushed the 8,000-pound dead weight in record time. Then, they continued running to the finish line encouraging everyone to finish strong.
As a member of Team 6, Pfc. Shawn Black, 128th Signal Company, pushed through painful shin splints to help his team complete the tasks in two hours and 15 minutes.
"It feels great," he said after learning of their time. "I didn't know we were that far ahead. We kept running. We kept pushing each other. It was great to be the fastest time. We told them we would do it, and we did it."
Black has only been in Belgium for three weeks. He came to ChiAfA..vres straight out of Advanced Individual Training, and Street, who has served a tour downrange, said this training is for younger guys just like Black.
"We try to give as much knowledge and experience as we can to try to prepare them for the next step or the next place they may go because you never know," said Street.
Capt. Tim Lawrence, Black's company commander said he was proud of the Soldiers' drive and endurance.
"It was a successful day, and those guys gave their heart out, so I'm really happy with the outcome," he said.
Lawrence is already coordinating the next quarterly Commander's Prime Time training and hopes to include more U.S. and international units from SHAPE and ChiAfA..vres.
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