The UTM R.O.T.C. Skyhawk Battalion placed first in its division at the annual Ranger Challenge at Fort Jackson, S.C. Nov. 3-6.

The Skyhawk Battalion, coached by Capt. Donny Hebel and Master Sgt. John Buckley, placed in the top five in each of the competition’s 10 events. The team won the day and night land navigation courses and a 6.2 mile foot march for the second consecutive year.

The 36-hour event consisted of: written map reading and patrolling test, weapons disassembly and assembly, 50-meter swimming relay, Army physical fitness test, hand grenade assault course, obstacle course, day and night land navigation course, 6.2-mile foot march with weapon and pack and a mystery event, which turned out to be an eight-man Humvee pull that for 125 meters up an inclined slope.

Cameron S. Mays was selected as the Most Valuable Team Member for his overall consistency in the competition.

The competition began on a disappointing note for the Skyhawk Battalion as they finished only slightly above average in the first three events. The team rebounded during the middle sections of the competition and dominated the final three events, winning each of them.

“After the first three events the team started working together and became more consistent,” Hebel said.

The team placed second in the Ranger Challenge last year behind Appalachian State. This year the Skyhawk Battalion was followed by Presbyterian College in second and Furman University in third.

The past two years have proven to be the most rewarding for UTM’s R.O.T.C. program in the Ranger Challenge; before last year the team rarely placed in the top five in the event.

The competition began at 7 a.m. Nov. 4 with the Army physical fitness test. Over the next 24 hours the cadets participated in a round-robin style rotation that tested both their skills and endurance.
Included in the competition was a mystery event, which was an eight-man Humvee pull up an inclined slope.

“You kind of got an idea of it beforehand … so they didn’t actually seem too worried about that event,” Hebel said. “I was just hoping they didn’t mess up.”

The contest concluded Nov. 5 at about midnight with the 6.2 mile march. Participants were allowed to rest for only a few minutes between events, during which time they were permitted to eat any food they could manage.

Although the awards ceremony was held Nov. 6, the Skyhawk Battalion knew the day before that they had won the competition. The coaches had been keeping up with points as the competition had progressed.

“We were so exhausted at midnight after the entire day of physical and mental rigor, but we were so excited that we couldn’t sleep,” said team captain David Stamps.

To prepare for this year’s competition the team did more physical training and also spent additional time on technical training than in years past.

Training for the event began at the start of the fall semester and included physical training at 6 a.m. every weekday as well as many afternoon and weekend sessions.

Buckley says that the extra time he and Hebel put into training really made the difference, “I can’t speak for the leadership in the past, but I guess they didn’t have the tools or perhaps they didn’t put in the effort. It comes to how much time you are willing to give up; we sacrificed a lot of our time to make sure the cadets were ready.”

About two weeks into training the top 12 candidates were selected to continue preparations. Later the top 10 were picked to compete in the Ranger Challenge, while the remaining two members were kept on as alternates.