Rugged Competition for 6th Engineer Battalion’s “Best Engineer”

  • Published
  • By Air Force 2nd Lt. Michael Trent Harrington
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Most of us would prefer to fish in Eagle River--not dangle inches above it. Laden with 35-pound packs, boots and M-4 rifles, 30 Soldiers did just that--and more--as they sweated through four exhaustive days of physical and mental competition to be named the 6th Engineer Battalion's "Best Engineer."

From Aug. 12 to 15, top NCOs and Soldiers competed in written tests, a non-standard physical fitness test, land navigation, weapons round-robin, reflexive fire, marching, water crossings, rappelling, drill and ceremony, urban orienteering, obstacle courses and faced a board of senior NCOs.

This was the first best engineer competition not specific to a certain military occupation or skillset. Army Lt. Col. William Conde, 6th Engineer Battalion commander, said his team sought to build an event which emphasized Soldier skills over more job-specific abilities.

"The higher-stress training of the competition was geared toward what we expect them to do in combat," he said. "The competitors were some of the best Soldiers and NCOs in their companies already, and we needed something even more difficult to challenge them fully."

Most of the tasks were common skills with an extra combat and competitive edge. The non-standard physical fitness test, for instance, was administered with no rest between events--which included a draining sequence of tire flips, kettle bell swings, bear crawls, elevated pull-ups and a shuttle run with two ammunition cans.

Soldiers began the third day in the dark, trekking with their packs through the woods on a rough and narrow trail marked with tape. Outlined against the backdrop of a grey and drizzly morning, the Soldiers stood at the summit of a stark ravine above the Ship Creek dam in northern Anchorage. The Soldiers rappelled down the rocky face, testing their footing and their nerve, lowering themselves as quickly as they dared. Next they reached a one-rope bridge stretched between the riverbanks, where most clambered rapidly through the first two-thirds of the passage.

Shooting out over the rushing waters and the rocks, the barrel of his rifle dipping to inches away from the surface, Spc. Steve Sersha, 240th Engineer Company, thought he was across. Starting to feel the efforts of the past hours and days, he stopped and looked back.

"Suddenly, I still had ten or fifteen feet left to go," he said.

He wasn't alone. Most competitors said they found their limbs tired from three physical days and a twelve-mile march, straining and pulling against a suddenly heavier gravity with the far shore a few taunting yards away. Most made it, however, with some posting times of less than 20 seconds.

The reflexive-fire event showcased the battalion's efforts to heighten the realism of its units' training and strengthen Soldier skills. Course cadre led the competitors in calisthenics and physical training until their turns were called. On a timer, Soldiers evacuated a Humvee and then hauled a "wounded" (and 150-pound) plastic dummy to the firing line. Fellow Soldiers and senior NCOs joined in to offer instruction and encouragement to the competitors, politely reminding them the proper sequence of targets--a rapid sequence of shapes, levels, positions and ranges--and the handling of their weapons--right- and left-handed, as well as M-9 pistols at close range.

"The key is to block out the noise and just cancel out all the stress and the screaming in your ears," said Army Sgt. Robert Blanco, Forward Support Company, the top-scorer on the test. "It carries over into combat. Your surroundings are chaotic, and you know how to react."

For others the most grueling moments came indoors. Each of the competitors underwent a rigorous uniform inspection, trading grime and grit for polish and, in a few cases, more than they had bargained for in spit. One Soldier, hesitating in his recitation of the Ranger's Creed, found himself doing one-armed push-ups until he delivered it cleanly. Ribbon racks and insignia were measured to fractions-of-fractions of an inch.

The event sought to strengthen espirit de corps, bolster unit pride and challenge Soldiers and NCOs in rigorous competition against themselves and their surroundings.

"It was challenging but generic enough that any Soldier or NCO in any company could compete on an equal playing field," Conde said.

"There's nothing really hard, specifically. You just don't quit," Blanco emphasized.

"I probably would not do it again next week," Sersha said. "But I'd definitely do it again."

Army Sgt. Kyle Ashley, 56th Engineer Company (Vertical) won the NCO category, and Pfc. Ryan Fitzhugh, 23rd Sapper Company, captured victory among the junior enlisted members.