Photo By John Crosby | 1st Lt. Michael Strachan, OIC of Team E, high crawls beneath obstacles of the...... read more read more
By Spc. John Crosby
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. – Soldiers of the 2nd Training Support Battalion, 338th Transportation Regiment, 205th Infantry Brigade, 1st Army East conducted their sixth annual Marchon Challenge Saturday and Sunday at Camp Atterbury.
"We're continuing a tradition within our battalion," said Lt. Col. Craig Johnson, commander of 2-338th.
Seven Soldiers from seven teams within the 2-338th were elected to represent their respective team.
"The competition enables Soldiers to work together as a team to compete together for the title of 'best team' in the battalion," said Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Hutton, top non-commissioned officer of 2-338th.
The events included a written test followed by an individual Soldier skills quiz. Next was the stress fire event where Soldiers ran a quarter mile before firing on multiple targets, followed by a nonstandard-weapons-qualification event where Soldiers used shoot-and-move techniques. After the ranges, the teams competed for the fastest completion time on the conditioning course, which wrapped up the first day. Sunday began at 6 a.m. where the teams again competed for the fastest completion time, this time in a 10-kilometer road march.
Only five of the seven Soldiers on each team competed in each event, leaving the Soldiers to recognize each other's strengths and weaknesses.
"The key is to use gamesmanship to win," Johnson said. "You use your brute lumberjack strong Soldier to run the conditioning course, and your smarter Soldier for the written test."
The 2-338th is comprised of mainly infantrymen and truck drivers as they usually train transportation units, although there are several other military occupational specialties involved.
The unit is composed of several components including Indiana National Guard, Operation Warrior Trainer Soldiers, Army Reserve Soldiers, and Active Guard and Reserve Soldiers. Regardless of the component, these Soldiers work together on a daily basis as a team to complete the battalion's mission; training deploying Soldiers.
"One purpose of this event is to build camaraderie between the different components and strengthen team work and group organization," said Johnson.
Chief Warrant Officer Marie K. Kumar, Team G's operations officer, said it felt good to participate in the competition. "I was able to finish with a little help from my team."
Upon finishing the road march, the battalion held a family day, sponsored by the Family Readiness Group and the Camp Atterbury United Services Organization, where families and Soldiers ate hamburgers and hotdogs and played friendly games like tug of war.
After the Soldiers spent some time with their families, the scores of each event were tallied and the winners – and losers – were recognized.
The first, second and third place winners were announced and awarded with plaques for their achievement. Team E came in first and Team G came in last.
"We may have come in last but we still beat Echo Team in tug of war!" Kumar said.
The last place team received the honors of planning next year's event.
Unfortunately not every team was able to finish the challenge, due to other higher priority missions, but the event was an overall success, in that the bond between Soldiers was strengthened during the competition.
| Date Taken: | 10.22.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2008 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 25392 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 302 |
| Downloads: | 245 |
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