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DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska – Summer in Alaska is a great time for people who love to be outdoors. Most Alaskans fish, some hike and some even compete in exotic mountain races, triathlons and biathlons.
With deployments and training exercises, the Soldiers assigned here at Fort Wainwright and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson don’t always get the chance to take full advantage of Alaska’s long summer days, but one group of Cavalry troopers from Fort Wainwright recently managed to turn training into an adventure of Alaskan proportions.
About 70 Soldiers from Crazy Horse Troop, 5th Battalion, 1st Cavalry Regiment completed a 26.2-mile foot march march in Denali National Park and Preserve, July 26-27, to combine sight-seeing with an important test of the unit’s physical readiness. The march route took the Soldiers along the park road from the Mountain Vista rest area to a turnaround point just before the Teklanika River campground.
Two busloads of tourists stopped at the half-way point where the Soldiers were resting, with many visitors stopping by to thank the troopers for their service and shake their hands.
Capt. Brian Fiallo, C Troop commander, explained that he arranged the marathon march with an eye toward preparing his unit for combat.
“Given world events, there are any number of locations we could be sent to on a moment’s notice,” he said. “We need to be prepared for any type of terrain, any place, any time. I have a number of new Soldiers, and it has been a while since we old Soldiers have been to Afghanistan or anyplace like that, so it’s crucial to put them in an uncomfortable situation in a terrain that’s not familiar to them that is physically challenging and tough, because that’s what we may be called to do.
“As a commander it’s my responsibility to train them, and I can’t let the first time they experience that be in combat,” he said.
The march also gave unit leaders an opportunity to evaluate their Soldiers’ physical fitness, said 1st Sgt. Alex Richardson.
“This type of event really pushes our Soldiers to the limit,” he explained. “This 26.2 miles really helps us as leaders to determine our Soldiers’ level of fitness and what we need to focus on to be able to answer the nation’s call, whatever type mission it may be.
“We have a good group of guys,” Richardson said. “This terrain, especially the rolling hills, are challenging, but these guys have really pushed through and helped keep the camaraderie and morale up, just laughing and joking the whole way. It’s really paying dividends and helping each other out.”
Katherine Belcher, Denali National Park public information officer, pointed out there is a long tradition of cooperation between the nation’s military and national parks. In fact, the original caretakers of the earliest parks, such as Yellowstone National Park, were Soldiers.
| Date Taken: | 12.28.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.28.2017 15:50 |
| Story ID: | 260572 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cavalry Soldiers take a marathon hike through Denali National Park, by John Pennell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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