The UTM ROTC Skyhawk Battalion placed first in their division for the second consecutive year at the annual Ranger Challenge at Fort Jackson, S.C. Oct. 27-28.

The competition hosted 19 universities from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Over a period of 48 hours, the teams participated in a variety of events including a written map reading and patrolling test, a commander’s event, weapons disassembly and reassembly event, army physical fitness test, hand grenade assault course, fit-to-win obstacle course, land navigation course and a 6.2-mile foot march with weapon and pack.

The battalion, coached by Capt. Donny Hebel and Master Sgt. John Buckley, placed in the top three in each of the nine events The challenge yielded tougher competition as a result of fewer teams participating in the competition. Last year nearly 30 teams were hosted at Fort Jackson.

“This ensured a tougher competition than previous years as the challenging schools came better prepared to win,” said Hebel.

This year the Skyhawk Battalion was followed by MTSU running a close second and ETSU in third.

“The adrenaline was pumping as we kept gaining and losing the lead from MTSU. We never knew exactly how close we were, but we knew we had to give our best and limit mistakes to win it,” team captain Travis Payne said.

Hebel says that this year they stepped it up a notch when training for this competition.

“They made some mistakes, but never let those mistakes break their focus for the upcoming events. They worked hard as a team and pulled together when the competition was high,” Hebel said.