Photo By Staff Sgt. Fred Brown | Capt. James Teskey, plans officer, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry...... read more read more
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Two Fort Hood, Texas-based Army officers serving in South Korea are training for one of the Army’s toughest, most elite competitions.
Capt. James Teskey, plans officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team “Ironhorse,” 1st Cavalry Division, and 1st Lt. Nicholas Kiser, a platoon leader from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st ABCT, have teamed up to represent the Ironhorse Team in this year’s Best Ranger Competition, a grueling, 60-hour buddy team competition that will be held April 15-17 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Teskey, who has competed two times already, was chosen right away, but Kiser, who has never competed, had to beat out seven other lieutenants in order to make the team.
“I can never turn down any sort of competition,” said Kiser. “This is the best of the best, this is part of the elites and this is something I want to do. The tryouts for this team were tough. The other lieutenants really pushed me to earn my spot with Captain Teskey.”
In 1982, Richard A. Leandri created a competition to honor his close personal friend, Lt. Gen. David E. Grange, Jr. This competition would bring the toughest Soldiers in the world to Fort Benning, to compete in more than 29 events with very little rest, including the Malvesti Obstacle Course, a moving target range, a combat water survival assessment, foot marches, land navigation, demolitions, Ranger First Responder and many other events.
Teskey and Kiser trained for only a week at Fort Hood before deploying with the Ironhorse brigade to South Korea in February 2016. Soldiers from the 1st ABCT are serving as the U.S. Army’s rotational maneuver unit in the Korean Peninsula for a nine-month rotation, assuming responsibility from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div.
Their goal of winning Best Ranger won’t allow them to be affected by changing settings, said Teskey.
“At the end of the day, we are going to be responsible for the outcome of the competition,” said Teskey. “Obviously, we are in a different country, with new facilities and new responsibilities, but we are still doing the things we need to do each day. We are responsible and we will make sure we get to where we need to go, otherwise it’s just an excuse.”
Their ability to balance both their normal day-to-day tasks and rigorous training schedule has not gone unnoticed.
“I am impressed with Teskey and Kiser's ability to balance the training workload and their jobs as a staff officer and a platoon leader, respectively,” said Maj. Edward Arnston, operations officer, 1st ABCT. “They worked hard every day to be prepared for the competition, and I am very confident in their ability.”
Arnston, who competed at Best Ranger himself in 2011, said what makes a successful competitor isn’t his or her day job, it’s determination.
“It's a mindset,” said Arnston. “The competition is about excellence; it doesn't matter what type of unit you come from. James and Nick represent the best of Ironhorse - fit, disciplined, intelligent, motivated, agile and adaptive leaders.”
Even though the Ironhorse Brigade is a heavy armored brigade, Teskey feels that the work and training they do on a daily basis is no different than Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division or 75th Ranger Regiment.
“I think sometimes people self-impose limits on themselves thinking like that,” said Teskey. “Obviously we have a very different focus here with the platform we maneuver on, but with the training, specifically, we’ve gotten all the support we need like any other unit.”
While some might think it might be intimidating to compete alongside someone who has gone to the Best Ranger Competition twice already, Kiser feels that not only is Teskey in incredible shape, but has helped push him to his limits to prepare for Best Ranger.
“It’s definitely humbling to compete and work right next to him and see where I fall,” said Kaiser. “I know if I had not been training with him, then there is no way I would have been prepared for this competition. Being able to ruck 20-30 miles in a single day is a humbling experience and I know I’ll be ready.”
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.29.2016 22:33 |
| Story ID: | 193837 |
| Location: | CAMP HOVEY, 41, KR |
| Web Views: | 316 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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