Photo By Staff Sgt. Ryan Rayno | Soldiers of 1st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 310th Infantry Regiment, 181st...... read more read more
Remagen Battalion complete Week of the Remagen
By Staff Sgt. Ryan Rayno, 181st Multifunctional Training Brigade
Soldiers of 1st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 310th Infantry Regiment, 181st Multifunctional Training Brigade, conducted the unit’s organizational week April 19-22, 2022, at Fort McCoy, Wis.
The battalion was split into four groups of Soldiers and completed a bevy of events that challenged each individual and team physically and mentally, while also educating them on the battalion’s long heritage.
“The Week of the Remagen is an annual crucible-style event that tests each team member’s physical and mental abilities to the far extreme,” Lt. Col. Robert McTighe, the commander of 1-310th BEB, said. “It perpetuates the ‘team of teams’ mindset as we randomly assign the battalion Soldiers to team structures that are different than our normal battalion structure.”
The first event required each team to cross the Elroy-Sparta Trail Bridge carrying a litter that weighed 150 pounds a total of 120 times, equaling approximately 20 miles.
“The 120 litter crossings represented the amount of killed in action Soldiers from First Army during the World War II seizing, crossing and retaining of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany,” McTighe said. “The established crossing distance at the Elroy-Sparta Trail Bridge was set at 1,066 feet to symbolize the distance of the Ludendorff Bridge.”
According to Capt. Curtis Hubbard, an observer coach/trainer for 1-310th BEB, the event did a good job honoring the history it was based on.
“The first several crossings were easy to execute, but after fatigue set in, teams had to rethink their strategy in order to maintain momentum,” he said. “Overall, it was a grueling event, and I believe everyone walked away from this feeling accomplished knowing that they have the capabilities to carry heavy loads over long distances.”
The next day had teams participate in a scavenger hunt across Fort McCoy as a way to test their urban orienteering abilities and to develop a strategy to locate the different locations as quickly as possible.
“The scavenger hunt had challenges as far as the distance on the running and the questionnaire for where each location was,” Staff Sgt. Matthew Hengstl, an observer coach/trainer for 1-310th BEB, said. “We definitely had to think about where the locations were and who could go to the different locations the fastest.”
After the completion of the scavenger hunt, the battalion met at the Tomah Veterans of Foreign Wars post for lunch and a viewing of the movie, “The Bridge at Remagen.”
The next day of the Week of the Remagen once again physically challenged the teams through the Iron Remagen event, which required each team to collectively complete a 112-mile ergonomic bike ride, run 26.2 miles, swim 2.4 miles, row 30,000 meters, and burn 1,500 calories on an assault bike.
“Thursday’s Iron Remagen was the final gut check! There was no escaping it,” Hubbard said. “Every team member had to grind whether your team had five or 10 personnel. Overall, this event defined the comradery of 1-310th BEB. Towards the end we had one team still fighting to finish the Ergo stationary bike when the rest of the battalion came together to assist. That team did not ask for help, but that is what family does for each other. I believe that was the defining moment of Week of Remagen success!”
Wrapping up the Week of the Remagen were cornhole and team-trivia tournaments, followed by an Easter egg hunt and barbeque for the Soldiers and their family members.
“The week was a resounding success and met my full intent,” McTighe said. “To really see your unit build mutual trust and get to know your people, you have to test them in all types of atmospheres. The Week of the Remagen did that.”
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| Date Taken: | 04.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2022 12:10 |
| Story ID: | 419335 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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