(By: Sgt. Jessica M. Kuhn)
ILOPANGO, El Salvador — As the temperatures rose at the Special Counter-Terrorism Command operations center, the competitors of this year’s Fuerzas Comando competition started their first event — the physical fitness test.
Fuerzas Comando, established in 2004, is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored Special Forces skills competition and senior-leader seminar which is conducted annually in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The physical fitness test challenges the 6-man team in a five event test including sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, parallel bars and a 3.2 kilometer run.
After all 19 teams completed the first event, the Guatemalan competitors had the overall highest score and were named the winners of the physical fitness test.
All other teams were assessed based on the predetermined standards for scoring. The host nation, El Salvador, currently sits in 5th place, and their partner in this year’s competition, the United States, stands right behind them in 6th place.
Today, the events will include a sniper stalking, range estimation, pistol and rifle qualification, and the sniper night shoot.
The week-long competition will conclude on June 23 with a ceremony where this year’s winning team will be announced.