3ABCT Soldiers Reflect on Lessons Learned at 2019 Best Sapper Competition

Photo By Sgt. Liane Hatch | Sapper Teams finish Day 3 events of the 13th annual Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition April 10 on Gammon Field, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. U.S. Army photos by Michael Curtis, Fort Leonard Wood Visual Information Center/Released.  

KUWAIT

04.26.2019

Story by Sgt. Liane Hatch 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Missouri – When the winners took the podium at the 2019 Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers Best Sapper Competition, two Soldiers from Fort Carson, Colorado’s 4th Infantry Division stepped forward to accept third place.

Their accomplishments certainly made the division proud, demonstrating the Ivy Division’s readiness and fitness. But they were not the only 4ID representatives there – Sgt. Dylan Ledbetter and 1st Sgt. Joshua Pagan, “Team Nine,” from 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, may not have placed as top competitors, but the lessons they learned as Best Sapper competitors made the journey worth it from start to finish.

After traveling to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, from Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Ledbetter and Pagan had only 10 days to recover, train, and make sure they were ready to go before the BSC began.

“With the mission in Kuwait and all busy pre-deployment schedule we had very little dedicated training time,” said Ledbetter. “We were able to return to Fort Carson approximately 10 days prior to the competition, and we really dedicated ourselves to training during this time. It never seems like enough time, but we think that even this small amount paid off well.”

Team Nine’s journey began long before Kuwait, however, when Ledbetter, who earned his Sapper Tab in November 2017, was looking for a partner to compete with. Pagan and Ledbetter met in August last year while going over ideas for starting a battalion Sapper training program. After a previous teammate had quit during a Fort Carson best Sapper competition, Ledbetter was eager to find a motivated teammate who would not let him down.

“Sgt. Ledbetter needed a partner, and I answered the call,” Pagan said – adding an obligatory “Sappers lead the way!”

Pagan, who “earned the right” to wear the Sapper tab in May 2015, said he was eager to compete so he could show other Sappers that senior noncommissioned officers “can still keep up.”

For both Ledbetter and Pagan, competing at the national level was a first-time experience, and neither knew entirely what to expect; though the format of the competition is the same as the one they completed at Fort Carson, the specific events are not released beforehand. They could guess, but not know for certain, what they were getting themselves into.

For instance, an unknown-distance ruck march is usually one of the last events, requiring Soldiers to carry 50-55 pound rucksacks without knowing how far they’ll be traveling. And while some events were intimidating, both Soldiers were eager to play on their strengths; for Ledbetter, demolitions, and for Pagan, physical fitness. Both were able to utilize their strengths, and both pushed each other to continue the mission when things got tough.

In addition to the ruck march, over the course of 50 hours, competitors had to take a non-standard physical fitness test, conduct land navigation,
Ultimately, Ledbetter and Pagan came in 12th place out of 49 competing teams.

The competitors represent some of the best Engineer Officers and Soldiers in the regiment,” Pagan said. “Regardless of the place, simply finishing the competition requires a degree of mental toughness and endurance that most people don’t have."

Though the team may not have placed like their Fort Carson peers, the two Sappers were eager to show what they were capable of despite what others might perceive as disadvantages. Pagan wanted to show that senior leaders can still compete with the best, and Ledbetter said that while armored brigades focus heavily on maintaining vehicles (as they should, he said), Sapper Soldiers in armored units who put in the time and dedication can hang with – and beat – the light fighters.

Now that they’ve returned to the 3ABCT mission in Kuwait, instead of looking back to what they could or should have done differently, Ledbetter and Pagan are looking ahead to 2020.

“If we want to do better next year, we’ve got to start preparing earlier,” Ledbetter said. Time starts now.

• Date Taken: 04.26.2019
• Date Posted: 04.26.2019 07:30
• Story ID: 319613
• Location: KW