Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | Spc. Susan Avina, a chemical equipment repair specialist, 540th Quartermaster Company,...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — Bravo team of the 13th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion won the Provider Challenge sponsored by the 3rd Sustainment Brigade, and hosted by the 394th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Feb. 19 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq.
Seven teams of five soldiers each competed in seven events. The 13th CSSB sent three teams, the 3rd Sus. Bde. sent two, the 394th CSSB sent one, and the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment sent one team.
The competition began with the push-up event before dawn and proceeded smoothly into the 300-meter litter carry. The five-mile ruck march ended at the rifle range, where teams went to qualify after the timed disassembly and assembly of weapons. The two-mile run started at the range and ended at the 394th CSSB’s headquarters for the final event of the day, changing a tire on a humvee
After a two-hour break to eat and perform personal hygiene, the competitors gathered at the North Morale, Welfare and Recreation center for an award ceremony to hear the results of the challenge.
“I always said we were going to win the challenge since I figured out who was on our team,” said Spc. Christopher Soto, an all wheel mechanic with the 289th Quartermaster Company, 13th CSSB, 3rd Sus. Bde., 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a Killeen, Texas native.
With a great deal of confidence and even more preparation and hard work, Soto’s team won the Provider Challenge.
“We started training around New Year’s, after the battalion tryouts,” said Sgt. Shawn Jepsen, ammunition specialist with the 289th Qm. Company, 13th CSSB, and a Folsom, Calif., native.
Jepsen and Soto participated in the Saber Challenge in December, and won a place on one of the Provider Challenge teams at the 13th CSSB’s tryouts. When training began, the two teams from the 13th CSSB were not aware of each other’s intensity of training.
“Midway through training, the leadership decided to pull our three reserve teammates and two from the other team to create a third 13th CSSB team, so we didn’t have any extras to fill in case one of ours had to drop out. It ended up working to our advantage, though, because that team came in fourth,” said Jepsen.
Bravo team’s training consisted of ruck marches with up to 70 extra pounds of equipment, pushups, disassembly and reassembly of weapons everyday, qualifying on the ranges at COB Speicher and Joint Base Balad, and extensive running while wearing body armor to build endurance.
“Our company gave us the opportunity to train from 0800 to 1000 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so we were able to balance training for the Provider Challenge with our regular mission,” said Soto.
When the time came to put their training to the test, the members of Bravo team agree their intense training paid off.
“Our team’s performance was stellar. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We were cohesive, and when we got into the competitive spirit with the adrenaline pumping, we couldn’t be stopped,” said Jepsen.
Spc. Courtney Pollard, ammunition specialist with the 8th Ordnance Company, 13th CSSB, and a Gadsden, Ala., native, was the lone female on the team and called the competition exhilarating.
“Everything came down to Spc. Pollard and how she performed during the ruck march,” said Sgt. Jason Emmele, Command Group noncommissioned officer-in-charge for the 13th CSSB, and a New Braunfels, Texas, native, and the group’s team leader.
Bravo team gained an early lead during the march, which kept increasing. According to Soto, they were so far ahead, the other teams looked like ants.
For winning the Provider Challenge, each member of Bravo Team, 13th CSSB, received an Army Commendation Medal, a four-day pass, a gold 1st place medal, a Gerber knife, flashlight, a battalion and brigade coin, and a hat. The team as a whole received a glass trophy.
“I am the proudest brigade command sergeant major in the Army,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Clifton Johnson, command sgt. maj. and senior enlisted advisor of the 3rd Sus. Bde., 103rd ESC, and a Lima, Ohio, native. “This kind of competition helps Soldiers get to a level even they didn’t know they could reach and it meant a lot to see all the soldiers finish.”
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2011 01:41 |
| Story ID: | 66265 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 186 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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