LongWire
12-15-2009, 04:36
http://news.soc.mil/releases/News%20Archive/2009/December/091214-04.html
RELEASE NUMBER: 091214-04A
DATE POSTED: DECEMBER 1, 2009
Spiritual, physical, ethical competition hone Soldier skills
B Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Crisp
3rd Special Forces Group PAO
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Dec. 14, 2009) – Capt. Shawn Harkins lined up his broadsword. His goal: slice cleanly from right-to-left through the top one-tenth of a banana sitting on top a wooden post, then bring the blade around and slice off the remaining upper half.
He had to do it in less than two seconds.
Then Harkins, commander of Headquarters Support Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), had to put on 40pounds of chain mail and rescue a fellow soldier wounded in the tree line. All while warding off adversaries attacking him with dummy swords. But he had help. His five teammates from 1st Bn. were alongside him.
They were by his side all day in a team-building exercise that pitted his group against 1st Bn.’s Operation Detachment Alpha 3111 in medieval battle; hammer throwing, ruck marching, weight lifting and tests on ethics, morality and civics.
Operation Desert Eagle Warrior, a pilot program of the United States Army Special Forces Command and the brainchild of the USASFC (A) Chaplain, Lt. Colonel Marc Gauthier’s, was a grueling, all-day event that was designed to test the spiritual, moral, ethical and physical strength and endurance of both teams.
“The competition was designed to instill spiritual leadership and resilience in our warriors,” Randall said. “Our goal was to reiterate doing the right things while deployed and at home – as warriors, fathers and husbands.”
The teams met at the 3rd SFG parade field to begin a 3.2-mile group run to start their journey through the competition.
Following the run was the much anticipated Scottish Highland Games.
Professional highland games athletes Chris Chafin and Eric Frasure came to Fort Bragg to instruct the soldiers in the art of throwing a 16-pound hammer, a 22-pound heavy stone and a 20-pound ball-and-chain.
Chafin, a sergeant for the Carolina Beach, N.C. police department, has been competing professionally in the highland games for eight years, but felt a profound sense of pride in teaching his trade for the first time to soldiers.
“It’s great to come out here and support the troops,” Chafin said. “I’ve done demonstrations at schools before, but this is the first time teaching soldiers, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a morning.”
The soldiers were given instruction on the best methods to hurl each item before stepping behind the line to start the competition. Hammer throws hit the dirt at upwards of nearly 60 feet, whereas the stone and ball throws came down in the 20 to 30 foot marks.
“Some of these guys could really compete in the ‘games’,” said Chafin, who admitted he was quite impressed at the physical abilities of the rookie highlanders.
After the first two events, ODA 3111 was in the lead, having the fastest group run time and highest average throws in the highland games.
Then it was time for a ruck march and an ethical test at the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters before heading to Tucker Gym to compete in a maximum repetition weightlifting contest.
The event included a 225-pound squat, 135-pound shoulder press and rounded out with 225-pound dead lift, with some soldiers doing upwards of nearly 50 repetitions in some events.
The weightlifting concluded; the teams headed upstairs to take a moral and ethical leadership test.
Questions were geared at testing the knowledge of the soldiers in the history of the United States and Law of Land Warfare, with queries such as “The constitution of the United States has how many amendments?” and “FM 27-10 provides for how many categories of POWs?”
Another ruck march back to the group parade field, another practical exercise, and the soldiers saw themselves picking up medieval swords and armor to test their quickness and accuracy.
After cutting a banana to pieces with a four-foot broadsword, Staff Sgt. Josh Thompson with ODA 3111 had one word to say on how he felt about the competition thus far: “Awesome.”
“We are putting everything we have into this – mental, physical, and spiritual. It’s a true test of the ultimate warrior,” Thompson said.
He was also confident on how his team was going to do in the overall scheme of things.
“Oh, we’re winning. You can count on that,” Thompson said. “We’re going to take this thing.”
The final event to round out the day was a hands-on application in knife forging.
Charles F. Ochs, a master bladesmith with the American Bladesmith Society came in from Largo, Fla., to show the soldiers how to forge blades and offer his guidance in the spiritual and ethical aspects of how knife making and forging things from one’s own hands can instill values in servicemembers.
“We were created, and just as well we were given the power to create,” Ochs said.
Ochs said he has a two-year backorder on the custom knives he makes. However, another day would be added to his backorders as the winning team of the competition would spend the next day forging custom knives from raw steel with Och’s equipment and guidance.
The day rounded out with a presentation and dinner at the Green Beret Club, where the winner of the competition was announced and the cooks of 1st Bn. barbecued a whole hog for the competitors.
Thompson’s premonition came true. ODA 3111 won the competition, winning by narrow margins in every event except the written exams.
“The competitors did very well,” Randall said. “All the chaplains administering the practical, ethical exercises said the soldiers were very engaged and interactive. It was a fun event for all of us.”
Randall said the competition would be looked at by USASFC to expand it to other units under their command. The goal is for a yearly competition of this sort by the group.
--usasoc--
RELEASE NUMBER: 091214-04A
DATE POSTED: DECEMBER 1, 2009
Spiritual, physical, ethical competition hone Soldier skills
B Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Crisp
3rd Special Forces Group PAO
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Dec. 14, 2009) – Capt. Shawn Harkins lined up his broadsword. His goal: slice cleanly from right-to-left through the top one-tenth of a banana sitting on top a wooden post, then bring the blade around and slice off the remaining upper half.
He had to do it in less than two seconds.
Then Harkins, commander of Headquarters Support Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), had to put on 40pounds of chain mail and rescue a fellow soldier wounded in the tree line. All while warding off adversaries attacking him with dummy swords. But he had help. His five teammates from 1st Bn. were alongside him.
They were by his side all day in a team-building exercise that pitted his group against 1st Bn.’s Operation Detachment Alpha 3111 in medieval battle; hammer throwing, ruck marching, weight lifting and tests on ethics, morality and civics.
Operation Desert Eagle Warrior, a pilot program of the United States Army Special Forces Command and the brainchild of the USASFC (A) Chaplain, Lt. Colonel Marc Gauthier’s, was a grueling, all-day event that was designed to test the spiritual, moral, ethical and physical strength and endurance of both teams.
“The competition was designed to instill spiritual leadership and resilience in our warriors,” Randall said. “Our goal was to reiterate doing the right things while deployed and at home – as warriors, fathers and husbands.”
The teams met at the 3rd SFG parade field to begin a 3.2-mile group run to start their journey through the competition.
Following the run was the much anticipated Scottish Highland Games.
Professional highland games athletes Chris Chafin and Eric Frasure came to Fort Bragg to instruct the soldiers in the art of throwing a 16-pound hammer, a 22-pound heavy stone and a 20-pound ball-and-chain.
Chafin, a sergeant for the Carolina Beach, N.C. police department, has been competing professionally in the highland games for eight years, but felt a profound sense of pride in teaching his trade for the first time to soldiers.
“It’s great to come out here and support the troops,” Chafin said. “I’ve done demonstrations at schools before, but this is the first time teaching soldiers, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a morning.”
The soldiers were given instruction on the best methods to hurl each item before stepping behind the line to start the competition. Hammer throws hit the dirt at upwards of nearly 60 feet, whereas the stone and ball throws came down in the 20 to 30 foot marks.
“Some of these guys could really compete in the ‘games’,” said Chafin, who admitted he was quite impressed at the physical abilities of the rookie highlanders.
After the first two events, ODA 3111 was in the lead, having the fastest group run time and highest average throws in the highland games.
Then it was time for a ruck march and an ethical test at the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters before heading to Tucker Gym to compete in a maximum repetition weightlifting contest.
The event included a 225-pound squat, 135-pound shoulder press and rounded out with 225-pound dead lift, with some soldiers doing upwards of nearly 50 repetitions in some events.
The weightlifting concluded; the teams headed upstairs to take a moral and ethical leadership test.
Questions were geared at testing the knowledge of the soldiers in the history of the United States and Law of Land Warfare, with queries such as “The constitution of the United States has how many amendments?” and “FM 27-10 provides for how many categories of POWs?”
Another ruck march back to the group parade field, another practical exercise, and the soldiers saw themselves picking up medieval swords and armor to test their quickness and accuracy.
After cutting a banana to pieces with a four-foot broadsword, Staff Sgt. Josh Thompson with ODA 3111 had one word to say on how he felt about the competition thus far: “Awesome.”
“We are putting everything we have into this – mental, physical, and spiritual. It’s a true test of the ultimate warrior,” Thompson said.
He was also confident on how his team was going to do in the overall scheme of things.
“Oh, we’re winning. You can count on that,” Thompson said. “We’re going to take this thing.”
The final event to round out the day was a hands-on application in knife forging.
Charles F. Ochs, a master bladesmith with the American Bladesmith Society came in from Largo, Fla., to show the soldiers how to forge blades and offer his guidance in the spiritual and ethical aspects of how knife making and forging things from one’s own hands can instill values in servicemembers.
“We were created, and just as well we were given the power to create,” Ochs said.
Ochs said he has a two-year backorder on the custom knives he makes. However, another day would be added to his backorders as the winning team of the competition would spend the next day forging custom knives from raw steel with Och’s equipment and guidance.
The day rounded out with a presentation and dinner at the Green Beret Club, where the winner of the competition was announced and the cooks of 1st Bn. barbecued a whole hog for the competitors.
Thompson’s premonition came true. ODA 3111 won the competition, winning by narrow margins in every event except the written exams.
“The competitors did very well,” Randall said. “All the chaplains administering the practical, ethical exercises said the soldiers were very engaged and interactive. It was a fun event for all of us.”
Randall said the competition would be looked at by USASFC to expand it to other units under their command. The goal is for a yearly competition of this sort by the group.
--usasoc--