Photo By Staff Sgt. Jerry Boffen | Pfc. Tyvan Blackwell, A Company, 102nd Infantry Division, Connecticut Army National...... read more read more
AVON, Conn. – More than a dozen members of the Connecticut Army National Guard’s 102nd Infantry Division competed in the 8th Annual Connecticut SWAT Challenge in Avon, Conn., Aug. 21-23. The soldiers of the 102nd faced off against 27 other teams comprised of law enforcement individuals from throughout the New England area, including one team from Canada.
The three-day event presented competitors with a variety of challenges, both physical and mental, and tested the teams on their individual skills as well as their ability to work as a team. The events included such things as pistol and rifle shooting, building clearing, hostage rescue and a five-mile “Spartan Run.”
The Spartan Run, which was the final event of the competition, consisted of more than 30 different stations spread out along a five-mile circuit. Many of the stations were physically demanding and required the teams to work together to complete such objectives as carrying a 185-pound cement ball, navigating barb-wire obstacles or even swimming across a lake. Still other stations had their own special twists. At the vertical rope-climb station teams were required to eat an entire package of cookies, while another station saw the competitors being timed on putting together a Minnie Mouse puzzle.
“At one point, they even had us jump rope while other members of the team had to thread a needle,” said Staff Sgt. Marcos Batista, a member of the 102nd team.
Sgt. Christopher Cassagrande, another member of the 102nd team, said the Spartan Run was a challenge in many ways, but it was also enjoyable.
“The Spartan Run was awesome,” he said. “It really pushed us individually and as a team and I liked that.”
Throughout the run, each team was required to carry a watermelon, which was meant to signify a baby. If the team dropped or broke the melon at any point, their final score for the event was penalized. The soldiers of the 102nd took unique measures to ensure they didn’t receive that penalty.
“On our watermelon we wrote the names of all of the guys that we lost on our deployment,” Cassagrande said with a slight waiver in his voice. “We did that as a way to have those guys go through the competition with us and to make sure that we didn’t drop it or leave it behind.”
The Soldiers Creed, a standard that all U.S. Army personnel are encouraged to live by, contains the proclamation, “I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.”
The members of the 102nd put this ethos on full display throughout the course of the Spartan Run. As they ran from station to station, the members of the team were constantly checking on each other, making sure that nobody fell too far behind the rest of the group. At times, some of the soldiers fell down but they got right back up and pushed on until they completed the task at hand. One soldier started suffering from leg cramps toward the end of the course, making it even more difficult to finish the already taxing event. Yet he persevered and, with the help of his teammates, completed the Spartan Run.
Amidst chants of, “Army! Army!” from hundreds of competitors and spectators, the 102nd team emerged from their swim across the on-site reservoir and helped each other over the eight-foot wall that was the final obstacle for the course. This idea of teamwork was a large part of the 102nd teams’ mindset.
“We had the right kind of team for this competition,” Cassagrande said. “This is a good group of guys with a good team dynamic. All of these guys wanted to be here and it showed in their motivation and effort.”
Unlike many of the law enforcement teams that competed in the SWAT challenge, the members of the 102nd don’t work together full time. Most of them are traditional National Guard soldiers and don’t do this every day.
“We trained together prior to this competition so that we could learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” Batista said, “[but] all of these guys volunteered their time. They had to schedule around work and their families to be here and compete.”
Batista added that while the motivation and effort from the soldiers that competed were great, he’d like to see more CTNG soldiers get involved and support this event. For the past six years, only one CTARNG team has competed. Batista stressed that this competition is a great way for non-commissioned officers to really lead from the front and he thinks that should be used to encourage more participation.
“I think this competition has helped me be better as a leader,” he said. “It helps me know how to improve myself and lead better. It also helps us build as a team. We can recognize how to fix the little stuff and become better as a whole.”
The 102nd team finished 20th overall in the competition, while the winner was the Connecticut State Police West Team.
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2012 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 93930 |
| Location: | AVON, CT, US |
| Web Views: | 177 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Connecticut Guard members compete in SWAT Challenge, by SSG Jerry Boffen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT