An Army ROTC 10-cadet team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill won second place in its division in a rigorous Ranger Challenge over the weekend at Fort Pickett, Va.
An Army ROTC 10-cadet team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill won second place in its division in a rigorous Ranger Challenge over the weekend at Fort Pickett, Va.
The team, one of 10 competing in the division, brought home a three-foot trophy for its achievements in the Friday (Oct. 24) through Saturday (Oct. 25) competition. Teams from 21 Army ROTC units in Virginia and the Carolinas, divided into two divisions, participated in the event.
At Carolina, ROTC students in the Army, Air Force and Navy/Marines study in the military science department in the College of Arts and Sciences. About 45 students make up the Army component of the total ROTC Tar Heel Batallion.
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| UNC Ranger Challenge team |
After arriving at the fort about 3 p.m. Friday, the teams took physical and written tests, then performed night navigation until 10:30 p.m. They had to prepare for Saturday’s exercises before turning in, so they got about four hours of sleep before wake-up at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, they walked a six-mile loop with testing stations along the way. Team members were tested individually in first aid, marksmanship, grenade accuracy and radio procedures.
Also on the loop was a group competition in which the team was timed at building a rope bridge across an open space, getting every member of the team across it and then taking it down.
“I observed a superstar group of students come together and form a solid team,” said Lt. Col. Monte L. Yoder, professor and chair of military science at UNC. “In the rope bridge competition, our 10 members became one and successfully completed the task. I was awestruck by their execution of the rope bridge event.
What awaited them after all of the above? A six-mile march on which they each carried packs weighing 35 pounds. That was the hardest part, said team member Adam Kennedy, a senior from Raleigh. Motivation came from knowing that at the end of the march, the challenge would be finished.
“During the march, I continually observed encouragement and support that kept the team together,” Yoder said. “Cadet Joshua Pugh (the team leader), is an outstanding leader that made a significant difference and was a key factor in the team’s success.”
Two women were on the team, including freshman Lindsey Jeffries of Durham, who had been an alternate for the competition and stepped up to take someone’s place.
“They have to do all the same tasks that everyone else does and carry the same weight in their rucksacks,” said team member Adam Storck, a senior from Seattle. “They both did an outstanding job. We can’t speak highly enough of them.”
Elated at placing in the challenge for the first time in four years, the Tar Heel cadets nevertheless were chagrined at placing second to another North Carolina team from just eight miles down the road from UNC. Still, they know they worked just as hard.
Preparation for the event began in August, with the prospective team members training for an hour each weekday beginning at 6 a.m. Some days they ran two to five miles in boots and gear; some, they marched five miles with 35-pound packs on their backs; they did push-ups and sit-ups. And in September, they added another hour of training per week on Thursday afternoons, for a total of six practices per week.
Army personnel on the military science faculty accompanied the cadets on their practices, including Sgt. 1st Class Robert Sepulveda and Capt. Adam Carollo.
Team member Nick Miller, a senior from Durham, said the challenge brings out the best in the ROTC: “It shows when you come home with a trophy that some of our best cadets took on the challenge and succeeded.”
Other team members were Charles Bradley and Scott Csrnko of Fayetteville; John Green of Mill Springs; Kristi McNair of Okinawa, Japan; and Zach Pugh of Canton, brother of Joshua Pugh.
Army ROTC Web site: http://armyrotc.unc.edu/
Military science department contact: Sgt. Robert Sepulveda, (919) 962-5546, rsepulve@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919 962-8589