Courtesy Photo | Soldiers with 326th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - While most of Fort Campbell’s residents lay asleep in bed at midnight on Sept. 18, Soldiers with 326th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) began a 20-mile remembrance ruck march.
“The 326th Engineer Battalion has a deep and rich history, going back to World War II,” said Lt. Col. Eric Crispino, commander of 326th BEB. “They were involved with the invasion of Normandy and involved with Operation Market Garden, along with operations in the Battle of the Bulge. We wanted to commemorate and recognize some of the accomplishments of the battalion during Operation Market Garden, so we timed the ruck to coincide with the 71st anniversary.”
Operation Market Garden began Sept. 17, 1944, and was the largest airborne operation up to that time. It was an Allied military operation intended to capture key bridges over the Rhine during WWII.
More than 250 Soldiers from the battalion participated in the ruck. Each Soldier carried 25 pounds in their ruck, along with their Kevlar helmet, vest and assigned weapon. Along the route, companies stopped at specific mile markers to discuss battalion accomplishments that occurred during Operation Market Garden.
Crispino said he felt the remembrance ruck would serve as a motivator and assist others in understanding what the battalion predecessors did as they prepared to go off to war.
“I don’t think we really understand how physically challenging it was,” Crispino said. “It’s good to go back and reflect on what they went through. It was a really tough operation that turned into a tough fight for the 101st.”
The ruck served not only as a way to remind the current Soldiers of the accomplishments their processors had achieved, but to also push themselves physically, Crispino said.
“We wanted to have a physical fitness event that would challenge people beyond what we typically get out of a physical training session or one of our Sapper Athlete Warrior challenges,” Crispino said. “The goal was to really push people to the limit and encourage them to do something they’d never done before.”
The battalion had more than 220 Soldiers complete the 20-mile ruck, with the fastest march being completed in 5 hours and 51 minutes.
“We had some people who had just come off postpartum pregnancy profiles and had not completed a foot march in well over a year, and they got out there just to go as far as they could go,” Crispino said.
As Soldiers finished the march, dropped their rucks and grabbed breakfast, Crispino said there was a clear look of relief on their faces, but also something else.
“Seeing the people come back, they had a sense of relief on their faces, because it was over,” Crispino said. “But when they had a chance to set their rucks down and turn in their weapons, you could see the sense of pride that was really starting to set in.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Jerimiah Gan, command sergeant major of 326th BEB, said the morale throughout the battalion is outstanding right now.
“It was an unrealistic idea for many of the Soldiers – a feat they didn’t think they could do – and now it’s a wall they’ve knocked down,” Gan said. “The best aspect of it for me is the Soldiers knowing a 12-mile ruck is nothing for them now. They know they can do 20 miles and they are bragging about it.”
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2015 14:34 |
| Story ID: | 183295 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 225 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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