Photo By Maj. Danielle Phillips | Lance Cpl. Jordan Back, an electrician with Black Sea Rotational Force 14, looks...... read more read more
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MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania – Throughout history, Marines have continued to prove themselves as a virtuous, proud, and strong military force. Training in all climes and places both night and day, motivated only by the will to raise their own standard, Marines continue to succeed.
It is this culture and reputation that keeps the Marine Corps thriving today. The Corps continues to do everything to ensure Marines stay mentally and physically proficient. One tactic for sustaining such excellence is through a unit-wide squad competition.
Marines and sailors with Black Sea Rotational Force 14 completed their own two-week long, unit-wide super squad competition at Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, Jan. 6-17, 2014.
In the early 1980s, it was a Marine Corps-wide competition. The winning squad received a gold badge to wear next to their marksmanship badges and members of the squad were promoted and awarded accordingly. Today, the competition remains a division-level event. The graded events simulate what a Marine would encounter in a combat situation and each squad is evaluated and scored on academic and physical performance.
BSRF-14 Marines began the competition with a full week of classes, dubbed ‘academic week.’ They received instruction on the combat orders process, land navigation, radio operations, assembly and disassembly of weapons, and combat lifesaving.
Marines obtained combat lifesaving certifications and were able to apply those skills during the competition week.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory Hopper, the assistant leading petty officer with BSRF-14, said the CLS certifications played a significant role in the squad competition.
“The way that [CLS] tied into the competition is that [Marines] were physically trained so they were ‘battle weary’ and they came up on a scene with a set of simulated casualties on the ground, and with the set of skills that they’ve learned from class, and for some of them, first-hand experience, they had to figure out the right intervention,” said Hopper. “It plays on the mental aspect of the Marine, so when you take a good set of Marines and teach them combat lifesaving, and they can turn around and apply it in training, it makes it that much easier and probably that much more successful when needed in the real world.”
Corporal JohnCarlo Barbatano, a team leader with BSRF-14, said having an academic week set the standard and expectations for the events to come.
“I think it’s easy to become over-confident. It’s easy to assume that you know what you’re doing until you’re asked to demonstrate it, and then you realize you didn’t know as much as you thought you did,” said Barbatano. “It was basically making people aware of what they didn’t know. There are also problems that come up when you have people from different backgrounds, different units and different operational strategies. Having an academic week gets everyone on the same page.”
After a week of classes on basic Marine Corps knowledge, Marines began the second half of their squad competition, otherwise known as ‘competition week.' This week began with a back-to-back physical and combat fitness test, a pull-up and push-up competition, and a weapons assembly and disassembly relay race.
“The first day was the hardest because of the anticipation of the week to come. You’re being asked to put out, and every event that you put out in leaves the trepidation that you’ll spend yourself before you get to the harder parts of the week,” said Barbatano.
Tuesday consisted of members of each squad fireman carrying their buddy and a rope for a set distance, applying CLS skills on simulated casualties, a litter run, and a physical training tactical decision game similar to capture the flag. In this game, Marines ground fought using Marine Corps martial arts techniques and maneuver strategies in order to exploit opposing teams’ weaknesses to reach a designated objective.
Wednesday was no less demanding. The entire day was executed on a live-fire range. Events included the disassembly and assembly of weapons, conducting a proper function check, calling for fire, identifying potential improvised explosive devices and conducting a combat orders test while employing a gas mask in a haze of tear gas.
Thursday proved to test the Marines’ grit and endurance with a six-mile pack run. The course included six stations where Marines were tested on physical exercises, recalling details from memory while under stress, carrying a casualty while maintaining a full weight load, and transporting water jugs. As the squads crossed the finish line, the score cards were turned in and final calculations began.
“There was a lot of apprehension, especially from the junior Marines, on whether they were going to be able to perform some events [throughout the competition],” said Barbatano. “On the surface they appeared to be really daunting, so it’s easy to let them mess with your head, but the best way to become confident in doing something is simply to do it. I think everyone is a lot more confident in their ability to perform pack runs or longer movements with their weight and gear than they were previously.”
On Friday, the squads stepped back from the BSRF-wide competition and engaged in a unique opportunity to compete in field-day style events against two Romanian squads. Both squads, one from the 9th Mechanized Brigade in Constanta and one from the 307th Marine Battalion, Naval Infantry out of Babadag, Romania, competed against BSRF-14 Marines. Each Romanian squad had 11 soldiers. The events included a relay race, a vehicle pull, grenade toss, tire flips and kettlebell throws.
Lieutenant Colonel Cracea Catalin, the spokesperson for the 9th Mechanized Brigade, recognized the advantages of this opportunity.
“First, [the competition] contributes to building mutual trust. Then it increases the professional level through the exchange of experience and, last but not least, significantly contributes to the improvement of the level of English language,” he stated Friday.
The event concluded with the Marines and Romanians appreciating time well-spent in each other’s company and a little closer camaraderie between the partner nations.
As Marines collected their gear, stories and bragging rights, they prepared for the Warrior Night dinner, where the top squad would be announced. Intensity and aggression was readily apparent in every squad throughout the competition, but, like all competitions, one squad came out on top. Second squad, the winning squad of BSRF-14’s ‘super squad competition,’ claimed the title by fractions of a point.
Sergeant Nicholas Leogrande, the squad leader for the winning squad, said that he can’t take all of the credit for the amazing job his squad did.
“I’m just happy for my boys. It doesn’t mean as much to me to have led them as it does to have been there with them for it. I enjoyed being able to spend time with Marines and teach them. I enjoy that camaraderie and getting to be miserable with them. I’m a firm believer that misery breeds brotherhood,” said Leogrande. “It’s good to know that their hard work didn’t go unnoticed, and that they’re getting a chance to really be acknowledged for what they’ve done. They know they’re the best, it’s just good they get to see it.”
Lance Cpls. Samuel Bowers and Michael Cossalter, team leaders with BSRF-14, both agree that the squad competition ultimately tested Marines mental fortitude, physical strength and endurance, Esprit de Corps and warrior spirit.
“It will bring everybody up to the same level of preparedness. Instead of being prepared for one theatre of battle, we’ll have general skills [that we can] implement wherever we decide to go,” said Bowers.
“I think it shows that when the going gets tough, you have to pull together as a squad. You’ve got to put your heads together and get through it, because it’s all one big family and you’re fighting for the people left and right of you,” said Cossalter.
Win or lose, the Marines all walked away with a better knowledge of basic Marine Corps skills, stronger unit cohesion and a deeper brotherhood than before.
| Date Taken: | 01.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2014 17:50 |
| Story ID: | 119410 |
| Location: | MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, RO |
| Hometown: | ABILENE, TX, US |
| Hometown: | HUNTINGTON STATION, NY, US |
| Hometown: | ROSEMOUNT, MN, US |
| Web Views: | 333 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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