Courtesy Photo | Spur ride candidates U.S. Army Spc. Jason Cook, a resident of Wichita, Kan., left, a...... read more read more
LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – After the sun set, soldiers and airmen deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 3/6 Kansas Cavalry Agribusiness Development Team-III, were restless as they awaited the start of the ‘spur ride,’ a tradition exclusive to cavalry units.
The official start time was 3:30 a.m., May 25, to take advantage of the cool pre-dawn, but true to the Army spur ride tradition, the cadre, known as spur-holders, arrived 9 p.m. the night before, calling forth the ‘Shavetails’ to begin establishing their teams.
Participants threw on their gear, and team leaders raced to fulfill their first assignment: gather three service members of higher rank. Each candidate was required to have all of the required items. However, some Shavetails returned missing required items, and soon they paid for it.
Service members without a camel back found themselves carrying a series of water bottles tied together with parachute rigging cord. No watch? A wall clock hung around their neck as a reminder of the importance of keeping track of time. The boisterous cadre elicited laughs from all as they singled out candidates for infractions, good-naturedly berating the unprepared and making a ruckus as the Shavetails looked anywhere but in the eyes of the cadre as they had been instructed.
“Back to your bunks!” ordered the spur-holders around 11 p.m. to the teams standing at parade rest. The participants needed their rest for the 3:30 a.m. competition start and the long day ahead, the cadre said.
The tradition of the spur ride and ‘earning the spurs’ goes back to the origin of the U.S. Cavalry, with new riders learning the ropes prior to donning the spurs that earmark a cavalryman. The term ‘shavetail’ refers to their assigned horse having its tail shorn close, visible at a distance and serving the dual purpose of identifying the novice riders and marking their time. There was an understanding that by the time the horse’s hair grows to a full tail, both rider and mount will have learned the core skills of cavalry movement, orders and tactics necessary to operate within a horse-mounted military unit.
Modern times have seen the retirement of the horse, but not the pride or traditions. Hooves have been replaced with wheels, armor tracks and rotor blades; the bugle call to “Charge!” replaced by radio-borne affirmatives. However, the tether to the cavalry of old can be seen in the spurs, Stetsons and sabers soldiers traditionally wear today for formal armor and cavalry functions, and it is primarily through spur ride events that soldiers earn the honor of wearing the Stetsons and spurs.
At 3 a.m., the Shavetails poured from their living areas into the predawn darkness into the teams they formed the night before. The cadre rearranged the teams, dictating the rosters.
“The whole time it reminded me of basic training, but this time I got to talk back,” said U.S. Army Spc. Jason Cook, resident of Wichita, Kan., a truck crewman with the 3/6 Kansas Cavalry ADT-III. The exchanges between the spur-holder cadre and the candidates, seeking to earn their spurs, maintained its tempo and humor as the Shavetails mustered for their next task — a two mile ruck-march called the “hump-walk”.
The teams marched around the perimeter of Forward Observation Base Mehtar Lam, past the living areas, firing range, maintenance bays, and airfield.
The seven teams split to one of seven performance stations: six static stations with additional ruck-march iterations serving as the seventh station. During the spur ride, the cadre graded the candidates on weapons, maintenance, emergency resupply, marksmanship, medical and a written exam on cavalry history. Candidates traversed two-mile ruck-marches between each station.
An element of the competition, the teams earned more points for faster march times, and the timer only stops when last member crosses the finish line.
“It was good for the simple fact that so many guys haven’t seen a traditional spur ride …. The biggest thing is can [the service members] think outside the box with their skill sets,” stated U.S. Army Master Sgt. Michael L. Crist of Basehor, Kan., a personnel officer for the ADT.
As the sun rose and the Afghanistan heat arrived competitors joked "It’s a dry heat." The first casualties of the spur ride were a few of the "extra" team members, a soft boiled egg each team was required to name, protect and carry through the spur-ride. By the end of the day, three eggs were lost, and in the heat, fried to perfection.
Significant to this particular spur ride, despite being in a combat zone, was the entry of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Melissa Hidalgo, a medic attached to the ADT, and native of Costa Rica who currently resides in Topeka, Kan. Female spur-holders are rare, and Air Force spur-holders rarer still.
According to U.S. Army Col. Howard E. Wheeler, a native of Manhattan, Kan., commander of the ADT and Crist, Hidalgo may be the first female Kansas Air Guard spur holder.
“It was an honor to … partake in the spur ride,” said Hidalgo. “To find out I’m the first female Kansas Air Guardsman to receive spurs, just brings it closer to home.”
The competition remained fierce, with the ultimate prize of having Wheeler pay for the winning team’s Stetsons.
In the end, Team Sweets, comprised of U.S. Army Spc. Richard Tyson Kane of Scott City, Kan., a truck crewman; U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Schloetzer of Harveyville, Kan., a truck commander; and U.S. Army Sgt. Chase Taylor of Leavenworth, Kan., a gunner, all with the ADT, took the top spot by slim margin. The clincher for Team Sweets was their quick ruck-march times; they were the only team to earn all points available in that category.
With the conclusion of the spur ride, the teams retired to their hooches to rest and refit for the traditional dinner. The candidates capped their day serving a meal to the cadre and current spur-holders, and the good-natured jibes, a undercurrent of the event, continued. Each team was prompted to sing the team theme song they’d sung numerous times that day, to the obvious delight of the gathered crowd and chagrin of the team. Everyone smiled as the cadre got their final ribbing in and the candidates knew the day was concluding, their spurs all but on their boots.
Twenty-seven members of the 3/6 Kansas Cavalry Agribusiness Development Team-III, from specialists to lieutenant colonels, male and female alike, earned their spurs.
Two soldiers earned special recognition U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Olson of Manhattan, Kan., a truck gunner for the ADT, was chosen as most motivated by his peers, and U.S. Army Spc. Jason Cook, a resident of Wichita, also a truck gunner for the ADT, was chosen as most motivated by the cadre. The soldiers received a special plaque commemorating their achievement.
The pride and traditions of the U.S. Army Cavalry will carry on in the 3/6 Kansas Cavalry and though the hoofed thunder of a mounted charge may never again be heard on the modern battlefield, it will echo forever in the hearts and minds of the cavalrymen anointed here.
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2011 19:18 |
| Story ID: | 72562 |
| Location: | LAGHMAN PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 169 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Kansas ADT-III conducts spur ride, by SGT Kenneth Kumle, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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