Lieutenants learn humility and humbleness

Photo By Sgt. Bailey Kramer | During the Lieutenants Warrior Challenge hosted by the 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, the participating lieutenants clamp a hook onto a five-ton towbar, Feb. 18. “When you get back to the Soldiers it’s a humbling experience,” Austin, Texas native, 1st Lt. Chris Mendez, the Muleskinner battle captain, explained. “You realize that although you are a leader, you don’t know it all. It was a great experience.”  

CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT

02.18.2012

Story by Spc. Bailey Kramer 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Frantically searching through his dumped backpack for a sewing kit, 1st Lt. Chris Mendez finds it, picks it up and removes the sewing needle from it.

After hastily warming up the end of the needle, his partner fills a flat piece of plastic foam with water, Mendez places the needle in the water and they wait patiently for it to start floating.

“That way is north!” Austin, Texas, native Mendez excitedly informs his battalion commander after the needle magnetically embeds itself into the side of the foam.

Mendez and six other lieutenants assigned to the 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division participated in the Lieutenant Warrior Challenge, Feb. 18.

“The events were meant to bring the lieutenants together to work as a team,” said Cpl. Yuriko Franceschi, a human resource specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Muleskinner Battalion.

The 13-hour event was designed and executed by corporals and young sergeants of the Muleskinner Battalion, and included nine events: a modified Army Physical Fitness Test, Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services, Drill and Ceremony, a mock board, a team ruck march, evaluating a casualty, radio operations and land navigation.

“I wanted to show that I am not just a lieutenant or a staff officer, I’m still a soldier,” Mendez said about his decision to participate in his second warrior challenge. “I also like the Army stuff, the challenges and demands.”

Although proving themselves was a big part in some of the lieutenants’ decision to participate, it wasn’t everyone’s.
“I learned that a lot of Soldiering skills are perishable,” said Humble, Texas native, 1st Lt. Rachel Dunn, the executive officer of Company C. “Like using a gas mask, assembling weapons and the radios.”

Although the event was designed for these officers to learn teamwork, it was not the only lesson they learned.

“When you get back to the soldiers, it’s a humbling experience,” Mendez, the Muleskinner battle captain, explained. “You realize that although you are a leader, you don’t know it all. It was a great experience.”

Mendez wasn’t the only one who found it to be a humbling and great experience.

“The most valuable lesson I learned was humility,” Dunn said.
The young leaders in charge of the event commented that they received many compliments on the event from the lieutenants.

“I had one tell me, ‘I appreciate the training it provided,’ and another, ‘it was a humbling experience,” Franceschi said about the compliments they received. “We definitely got positive
feedback.”

This was the second warrior challenge the Muleskinners have held, and Franceschi believes it won’t be the last.

“I would do it again,” Dunn concluded. “The lessons I learned were valuable, and I definitely learned a lot.”

• Date Taken: 02.18.2012
• Date Posted: 02.25.2012 02:00
• Story ID: 84328
• Location: CAMP BUEHRING, KW